Truth Hurts

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Truth Hurts
Truth Hurts on the cover of her second album "Ready Now".
Truth Hurts on the cover of her second album "Ready Now".
Background information
Birth name Shari Watson
Born October 10, 1971 (1971-10-10) (age 36)
Origin St. Louis, Missouri
Genre(s) Hip Hop
R&B
Occupation(s) Singer, Producer
Years active 2001-present
Label(s) Pookie Entertainment
Associated acts Dr. Dre, Raphael Saadiq, DJ Quik, Joi, Lata Mangeshkar
Website TruthHurtsOnline.com

Shari Watson (born October 10, 1971 in St. Louis, Missouri), known as Truth Hurts, is an American R&B singer. She is noted for her funky and powerful vocal style.

Contents

[edit] Biography

After signing to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment label, Truth Hurts first appeared on Busta Rhymes' 2001 hit single "Break Ya Neck" as a background vocalist. She also appeared as a background vocalist on the D12 song, "Nasty Minds".For her first solo LP Truthfully Speaking, issued on Aftermath in 2002, she enlisted the production talents of Dr. Dre, Timbaland, Hi-Tek, and DJ Quik. Her debut single, "Addictive," was a Top 10 hit in the United States, and featured a verse from hip hop artist, Rakim. Though the original song, Lata Mangeshkar's Thoda Resham Lagta Hai, was used as the main base of the track within the chorus, the modern-style beats, rhythm, melody and even the video was copied from the original remake (first version), UMI10's Kaliyon Ka Chaman Jab Banta Hain featuring Meghna Naidu. This original remake was highly popular amongst the youths in South Asia, though it was almost non-existent within the West due to the language barrier. The first version was therefore only deemed popular to a specific niche market and culture. Although very little was changed to the original remake of the classic song, Truth Hurts' version was more marketable for mainstream release and therefore became more popular internationally whilst the original remake wasn't known to exist.


The song, produced by DJ Quik, utilized an uncleared sample of "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" by Hindi artist Lata Mangeshkar. The copyright holders sued Aftermath and parent company Interscope Records for $500 million dollars, and issued an injunction against further sales or performances of the record.[1] A judge later ruled that the album was not to be sold with out being stickered with proper credits for Mangeshkar.[2] In summer of 2002, Truth Hurts secured a high profile spot on the Smokin' Grooves tour with Lauryn Hill, Outkast, Cee-Lo, The Roots, Jurassic 5, and Erykah Badu.[3] However, following the buzz on "Addictive", Truth Hurts became relatively obscure, only contributing guest vocals to "The Watcher 2" on Jay-Z's Blueprint 2 album and "What" on Eve's Eve-Olution. To date, she remains as a one-hit wonder in both America and the UK. "Addictive" was followed up by a song called "The Truth" featuring R. Kelly on the chorus. The song underpeformed on American radio and video outlets. This was likely due in part to the firestorm of negative press Kelly received over sex crime allegations that hit media outlets shortly before the single's release.[4]

Truth Hurts returned in 2004 with her second album, Ready Now, on Raphael Saadiq's independent "Pookie Entertainment" label. Its first single, "Ready Now", was released in the summer of 2004 without much fanfare. The album was however critically acclaimed.

Some sources state that a Georgia based record company is looking for Truth Hurts for a possible spot on a movie soundtrack. Dream Leader Ent CEO Carlton Richard has stated that he has been a long time fan of hers and would like to know if she would be interested in being on the soundtrack.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Album Information
Truthfully Speaking
Ready Now
  • Released: June 01, 2004
  • Chart Positions: #173 Billboard [6]
  • Singles: Ready Now

[edit] Singles

  • 2002: "Addictive" (featuring Rakim) (U.S. #9, R&B #2)
  • 2002: "The Truth" (featuring R. Kelly) (R&B #47)
  • 2002: "I'm Not Really Lookin' (featuring DJ Quik)
  • 2004: "Ready Now"

[edit] References

  1. ^ Dr. Dre, Interscope Stung With $500 Million Lawsuit Over 'Addictive'. VH1 (September 19, 2002).
  2. ^ Kaufman, Gil (February 4, 2003). Judge Rules Truth Hurts' Album Must Be Pulled Or Stickered. VH1.
  3. ^ DeRogatis, Jim (July 26, 2002). Burning down the house. Chicago Sun-Times.
  4. ^ Reid, Shaheem (September 13, 2002). Truth Hurts Not Letting R. Kelly's Troubles Change Her Game Plan. VH1.
  5. ^ Billboard, "Truthfully Speaking" Billboard.com
  6. ^ Billboard, "Ready Now" Billboard.com

[edit] External links