Monica (singer)
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Monica Denise Arnold (born October 24 1980), professionally known as Monica, is a Grammy Award winning American R&B singer who first attained commercial success in the 1990s and, after a relatively unsuccessful period during the early 2000s, saw her career experience a second wind of modest popularity in 2003. She has gone on to sell over 14 million singles and albums in the U.S.
Early life
Monica was born in Oak Park, a division of Atlanta, Georgia. She is the eldest child of Marilyn Best, a former church singer and Delta Air Lines customer service representative, and M.C. Arnold Junior, a mechanic, working for an Atlanta freight company. She has one brother named Montez (born 1983), and two maternal half-brothers, Rashon Graves and Cypress Graves.
At the age of two Arnold followed her mother's reputation with regular performances in public at the Jones Chapel United Methodist Church. While growing up in the modest circumstances of a single-parent home, after her parent's separation in 1984 and their divorce in 1987, Monica continued training herself in singing. She became the youngest member of Charles Thompson and the Majestics, a traveling gospel choir, by the time she was 10. Monica also became a frequent talent show contestant, winning over 20 local singing competitions throughout her early teenage years.
Recording career
1992—1996: Career beginnings
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In 1992, at the age of 12, Arnold was discovered by music producer Dallas Austin at the Center Stage auditorium in Atlanta. Amazed by her voice, Dallas offered her a record deal with his Arista-distributed label Rowdy Records and immediately hired rapper and actress Queen Latifah as Monica's first manager. Shortly afterwards Dallas and Arnold entered the studio to start writing and producing her debut Miss Thang.
After years of recording Monica's debut album, co-produced by Daryl Simmons, Tim & Bob and Soulshock & Karlin, was released to mixed reviews on July 18, 1995. While the longplayer debuted at a moderate #36 on the U.S. Billboard 200 only, Miss Thang soon became a triple platinum success thanks to BET, MTV, and urban radio's support and its singles: Pre-released "Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)" and double-A-single "Before You Walk Out Of My Life / Like This And Like That" both entered the top 10 of the official Hot 100 and simultaneously became Platinum certified #1 hits on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop chart, making Monica the youngest artist to have two consecutive chart-topping hits on latter chart.
"Don't Take It Personal" reached #2 on the Hot 100 and, had it made it to #1 on that chart, would have made Monica the youngest female artist ever to have a #1 Pop single, breaking the record set by Little Peggy March in 1963, for "I Will Follow Him."
A third single and another top 10 song from the album, "Why I Love You So Much", and appearances on LL Cool J's album Mr. Smith and on The Nutty Professor soundtrack maintained Monica's popularity in music and on MTV through 1996 - the same year she went on tour with R&B/Hip-Hop groups TLC and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.
1997—2001: Worldwide popularity
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After graduating high school at age 16 with a 4.0 GPA in 1997 and a label change to Clive Davis's Arista Records, Arnold's mainstream success was boosted, when Diane Warren-written "For You I Will," from the Space Jam movie soundtrack, became her next top 10 pop hit.
The following year she was asked to team up with singer Brandy and producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins to record "The Boy Is Mine", the first single off of both of their sophomore albums. Released in May 1998, the duet became both the biggest hit of the summer and the biggest hit of 1998 in general in America, spending a total of 13 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and garnering multi-platinum sales of the single (to date, it remains as one of the top ten most successful American singles in history based on Billboard chart success).
On July 14, 1998 Arnold's same-titled sophomore album was released to positive reviews. The Boy Is Mine contained production by Jermaine Dupri, Dallas Austin, David Foster and Leslie Brathwaite and spawned two further international mainstream hits with the follow-up singles "The First Night" and "Angel of Mine" (a cover, first released by British group Eternal), both of which became number one pop successes in the United States and TRL video favorites on MTV. While the album's fourth single, "Street Symphony," failed to chart or sell notably in America, the album's fourth international single, "Inside", managed to enter the top 20 of the Official European Top 100. The album's final radio single, "Right Here Waiting", a 1989 hit by Richard Marx, re-recorded with 112, didn't feature a music video.
Afterwards Arnold focused on recording soundtracks. In 2000 she contributed chorus vocals for "I've Got To Have It", a collaboration with Jermaine Dupri and rapper Nas which sampled Peter Gabriel's 1986 number-one hit "Sledgehammer." Released as the Big Momma's House' theme song, the song saw minor success in the United States only. A year after Monica released "Just Another Girl", a song she had recorded for the Down to Earth soundtrack. The single fared better, but failed to reach the top 50 of the U.S. Hot 100.
Monica also started appearing in films and showed interest in acting. She starred in Love Song and was featured on Boys and Girls in 2000.
2002—2005: All eyez on After the Storm
Monica's career saw troubles between the years 2001 and 2003, during which time she dealt with more personal tribulations including the suicide of her boyfriend Jarvis "Knot" Weems. She planned to release her third album All Eyez on Me in 2002, but due to heavy bootlegging of the album and failure of its singles "All Eyez on Me" and "Too Hood" the album was never released outside Japan.
After recording new songs, Monica returned in June 2003 with After the Storm, the new-titled and re-recorded version of her partially scrapped 2002 release All Eyez on Me. It featured collaborations with Kanye West, Jermaine Dupri, Darkchild, Soulshock & Karlin, Jazze Pha, and executive producer Missy Elliott and became Monica's most critically-acclaimed album to date. The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, although it was certified Platinum by the RIAA and sold more than 987,000 copies in the United States and 3 million WW. However, due to a lack of promotional appearances and limited release After the Storm saw minor success abroad only.
The album spawned four singles, including its lead single "So Gone", a Missy Elliott-produced hit that was a staple at urban radio and music video stations during the summer of 2003 and that peaked at #10 on Billboard's Hot 100, becoming Monica's first top ten hit since 1999 and ending up as the most-played song at urban radio for 2003. The second single off the album, "Knock Knock", failed to crack the top 20 of the charts, while simultaneously released "Get It Off" managed to peak at #13 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. The album's fourth single "U Should've Known Better" (originally written for the scrapped All Eyez on Me album) went on to become another hit more than a year after the album's release.
On May 21, 2005, Monica and her fiancé, producer and Rowdy co-founder Rodney "Rock" Hill, Jr. welcomed a son into the world. The couple named the child Rodney Ramone Hill III, after his father. His godfather is rapper Ludacris, Monica's cousin.
2006—present: The Makings of Me
Monica's fourth studio album The Makings of Me was released on October 3, 2006 in the United States. The album debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200, did very well during the first week of release. It became Monica's third top 10 album on the Billboard 200 and her fourth top 10 album on the R&B charts.
The album's lead single, the Jermaine Dupri produced "Everytime Tha Beat Drop", was serviced to radio on July 24, 2006, and has peaked at a moderate #48 on the U.S. Hot 100, and #11 on the R&B charts. The second single from The Makings of Me will be "A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me)", a Missy Elliott produced song that samples Curtis Mayfield's 1970 record "The Makings of You".
Discography
For more information about her singles, albums, and certifications, see Monica discography.
Albums
| Year | Album | U.S. | U.S. R&B | U.S. Sales Certification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Miss Thang | 36 | 7 | 3x Platinum |
| 1998 | The Boy Is Mine | 8 | 2 | 3x Platinum |
| 2002 | All Eyez on Me | - | - | (Japanese release only) |
| 2003 | After the Storm | 1 | 2 | 1x Platinum |
| 2006 | The Makings of Me | 8 | 1 | Uncertified |
Filmography
Films
- Love Song (2000) (TV)
- Boys & Girls (2000)
- ATL (2006)
Television
- Living Single playing "Marissa" in episode: "Kiss of the Spider Man"
- Felicity playing "Sarah Robinson" in episode: "Miss Conception"
- American Dreams playing "Mary Wells" in episode: "R-E-S-P-E-C-T"
- MTV Faking the Video
Awards
Won
- 1996 Billboard Music Award: R&B Artist of the Year
- 1998 Billboard Music Award: Top Dance Maxi-Single for "The Boy is Mine" with Brandy
- 1998 Billboard Music Award: Top 100 Singles Sales for "The Boy is Mine" with Brandy
- 1998 Billboard Music Award: Top R&B Sales for "The Boy is Mine" with Brandy
- 1998 Billboard Music Award: Best Clip (R&B/Urban) for "The Boy is Mine" with Brandy
- 1999 Grammy Award: Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "The Boy Is Mine" with Brandy
Nominated
- 1996 American Music Award: Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist
- 1997 American Music Award: Favorite Female R&B/Soul Artist
- 1998 MTV Video Music Award: Best R&B Video for "The Boy Is Mine" with Brandy
- 1998 MTV Video Music Award: Video of the year for "The Boy Is Mine" with Brandy
- 1998 Soul Train Music Award:Best R&B/Soul Single--Female: for "For You I Will"
- 1999 American Music Award: Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist
- 1999 American Music Award: Favorite R&B/Soul Female Artist
- 1999 Grammy Award: Best R&B Song
- 1999 Grammy Award: Record of the Year for "The Boy Is Mine"
- 1999 Soul Train Music Award: Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "The Boy Is Mine" with Brandy
- 1999 Soul Train Lady of Soul Award: Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "The Boy Is Mine" with Brandy
- 1999 Soul Train Lady of Soul Award: Best R&B Soul Single, Solo for "Angel of Mine"
- 1999 Soul Train Lady of Soul Award: R&B/Soul Album of the year for "The Boy is Mine"
- 2003 Soul Train Lady of Soul Award: Best R&B/Soul Single, Solo -"So Gone"
- 2004 BET Awards: Female R&B Artist
- 2004 Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Awards: Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists - Female
See also
- List of number-one hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart