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Joe (singer)

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Joe

Joseph Lewis Thomas (born July 5, 1972), usually credited simply as Joe, is a seven-time Grammy Award-nominated American R&B singer and record producer.

Biography

Early life and career

Joe's extensive background in gospel music has allowed him to produce his albums as well as sing on them. A native of Georgia, Joe later moved to Opelika, AL; since he was the son of two preachers, he spent much time in church singing, playing guitar, and even directing the choir. Influenced early on by gospel stars like The Winans, Commissioned, and Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Joe grew to love soul legends Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye plus contemporary stars Bobby Brown and Keith Sweat.

1990s

Joe graduated from high school and continued to sing and write music while working at occasional temporary jobs. Finally, he traveled to New Jersey, hoping to make connections in the music industry. While working at a gospel record store and continuing his music education through a local church, he met producer Vincent Herbert and recorded a three-song demo tape. He signed to Polygram/Mercury and in 1993 released his album debut, Everything. This album produced a minor hit for him and he was subsequently released from his contract. Joe also had a song called "All the Things" that appeared on the soundtrack to the Wayans Brothers film Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (the brothers later used songs from Joe in loves scenes in their various films over the years). This song was the only smash hit from the entire album. Joe then signed to Jive Records for his 1997 album, All That I Am. This proved to be his breakthrough album, reaching #13 on the. Billboard 200 album charts and number 4 on the R&B charts. The hit singles from this album included the Top 5 R&B/Top 20 pop hit "All the Things Your Man Won't Do", the Top 5 R&B/Top 40 pop hit "Don't Wanna Be a Player", produced by Rodney Jerkins, and "The Love Scene". "Don't Wanna Be a Player", produced by Rodney Jerkins, was also featured on the Booty Call soundtrack, helping its success. All That I Am eventually went platinum in the US.[citation needed] Joe remixed a duet by Barry White and Tina Turner called "Never in Your Dreams" and wrote and produced debut albums by Ideal and Déjà Groove in the late 1990s. Joe also sang on the remix of Big Punisher's "Still Not a Player", produced by Knobody, which interpolated Joe's "Don't Wanna Be a Player".

Joe appeared on the track "Thank God I Found You" with Mariah Carey which appeared on her Rainbow album. This song was released as the second single and came a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. This track also became a hit internationally, helping to raise Joe's profile in other parts of the world.

2000s

Joe released his third album, My Name Is Joe, in 2000, which became his most successful album, reaching the top of the R&B album charts and #2 on the Billboard 200, eventually selling more than three million copies.[citation needed] This album was also his first to make an impression outside the US. It featured the Top 5 R&B (#2) and pop (#4) hit lead single "I Wanna Know", which also reached the top 40 in the UK and Australia. The second single released was "Treat Her Like A Lady", which enjoyed moderate success. The third single, the Roy "Royalty" Hamilton & Teddy Riley-produced "Stutter", was #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks chart, and part of the Top 10 in the UK and top 20 in Australia. Mystikal appeared on the remix of the single, which sampled The Pharcyde's 1992 hit "Passin' Me By", which in turn samples Quincy Jones' Summer in the City.

The Better Days album was released in 2001, reaching #32 on the Billboard 200 and #4 on the R&B chart. It featured two singles, "Lets Stay Home Tonight", which reached #18 on the US R&B chart, and "What If A Woman".

In 2002, Joe did another collaboration with Mariah Carey, which Joe join the vocals from Kelly Price and Mariah Carey which is the remix of the first single "Through the Rain" from Carey's album Charmbracelet. He also recorded a track called God's Work which was not released but appeared on a sampler on Jive Records

Joe recruited high profile guests for the And Then ... album released in late 2003. R. Kelly wrote the track "More and More", which was supposed to be on his Loveland album. G-Unit features on "Ride Wit U". The singles from the And Then ... album included the Top 20 R&B hit "More and More", "Ride Wit U", and "Priceless". A Double A-sided single "More and More" and "Ride Wit U" made the Australian top 40 in July 2004, as well as #12 in the UK Singles Chart. And Then ... reached #26 on the US album charts and #4 on the R&B charts.

Joe's new album, Ain't Nothin' Like Me, is produced by Tim & Bob, The Underdogs, Cool & Dre, Bryan Michael Cox, and Sean Garrett. The album will feature guest appearances by Nas, Fabolous, Papoose, Young Buck and Tony Yayo. The album was released on 24 April 2007 according to Joe's official website. The first single was "Where You At", written by Sean Garrett and produced by Chrisclusive featuring rapper Papoose. The video for the single hwas shot by music video director Billie Woodruff. The video for "If I Was Your Man", Joe's second single, was been shot and premiered across the Internet and television.

And as of 2007, he will be on the new season of Making the Band (4) which he is going to be a current judge.

Pepsi Smash exclusive

Joe performed a cover version of "Before He Cheats", a Carrie Underwood hit, as a Pepsi Smash exclusive on Yahoo! Music. He changed the lyrics to fit a male's perspective and titled his version "Before I Cheat".[1]

Sabotage and Departure From Jive Records

After recording for 11 years on Jive Records, Joe discovered a pattern of stalled promotions and adjusted radio play all linking to one man, R. Kelly.[2]

In a surprising interview with EURweb’s Lee Bailey this week, the R&B star talked about his shocking discovery after leaving Jive Records earlier this year, which is also home to R. Kelly. Calling the singer/songwriter out as the man behind stalled records and promotion, Joe says “R. Kelly was very instrumental in making a lot of decisions when it came to my records being played on the radio, He would make a call to the radio station or to the label and say, 'Hey, this Joe record is too hot right now. Ya’ll need to pull that back.' And they would oblige.”

Joe is not the first R&B crooner to address R. Kelly, Ne-Yo who was booted from R. Kelly’s tour last year, sued the ‘Pied Piper’ in January as a result of a highly publicized “feud” that R. Kelly allegedly had with the singer. Kelly was reported to have had a problem with the attention Ne-Yo was receiving as an opening act and promptly removed him from the tour shortly after it started.;;;;

Since his 1997 sophomore “All That I Am,” Joe and R. Kelly have released albums and singles under Jive around the same time including 2003's “And Then” and “Chocolate Factory” respectively. Ironically, R. Kelly produced Joe’s hit single “More & More” which reached #15 on the R&B charts that year followed by the G-Unit collaboration “Ride Wit You.”

Despite their work together in 2003, Joe says R. Kelly put pressure on Jive executives and radio stations to pull back on promoting his records when the singles appeared to be getting too much attention. “He did try to make some decisions when it came down to my records being on fire, and climbing up the charts and on the radio stations” says Joe.

Kedar Entertainment

Joe playing the guitar at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in New York in June 2009

Now that Joe has a new home with Kedar Entertainment/Universal, where he will release two new albums, he says, "It's incredible that now I get the opportunity to, I don't know, maybe pay R. Kelly back in some sort of side bar kind of thing." He does stress however, that he did not know what was truly going on until after he left Jive six months ago.

Joe released his highly anticipated album "Joe Thomas, New Man", independently on September 23, 2008, and his second independent album, titled Signature, was released on July 14 2009 in Japan and the US. He is also working on a record with singer Ayoade Adeyinka.

On January 26th, 2010, a new single by Joe appeared on the internet. Titled, "When The Light Goes Off", it may be a song from his next upcoming album.

Joe has collaborated on a new single with Keith Sweat, who has also joined Kedar Entertainment. Titled, "Test Drive", it may be a new single from Keith Sweats next project.

Awards and nominations

  • Grammy Awards
    • 2002, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance: "Let's Stay Home Tonight" (Nominated)
    • 2002, Best R&B Album: Better Days (Nominated)
    • 2002, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group: "More Than a Woman" w/ Angie Stone (Nominated)
    • 2000, Best Pop Collaboration w/ Vocals: "Thank God I Found You" w/ 98 Degrees & Mariah Carey (Nominated)
    • 2000, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance: "I Wanna Know" (Nominated)
    • 2000, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group: "Coming Home" w/ Brian McKnight & BeBe Winans (Nominated)
    • 2000, Best R&B Album: My Name Is Joe (Nominated)
  • Soul Train Awards
    • 1999, Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video: "Still Not a Player" w/ Big Pun (Nominated)

Discography

Main article: Joe discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Christmas albums

References

  1. ^ Yahoo! Music Videos
  2. ^ "Joe Debuts New Album".

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joe_(singer)&oldid=346441508"