Raheem DeVaughn

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Raheem DeVaughn

DeVaughn performing in September 2010
Background information
Birth name Raheem DeVaughn
Also known as Chronkite, Radio Raheem
Born (1975-05-05) May 5, 1975
Newark, New Jersey, United States
Origin Washington, D.C.
Genres R&B, Neo soul
Occupations Singer, songwiter
Instruments vocals
Years active 2002present
Labels Jive (2002-2011)
Mass Appeal/Fontana Distribution (2012-present)
Associated acts Kenny Dope, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Dwele, Jill Scott, Logic, King Los

Raheem DeVaughn (born May 5, 1975) is an American singer and songwriter.[1] His debut album, The Love Experience (2005), reached No. 46 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It featured the singles "Guess Who Loves You More" and "You". His second album Love Behind the Melody was released in January 2008. It features the singles "Woman", and "Customer".

DeVaughn was nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 2008 Grammy Awards for the single "Woman".

Early life

DeVaughn was born in Newark, New Jersey on May 5, 1975, the son of jazz cellist Abdul Wadud. He was raised in Maryland (Montgomery and Prince George's counties) by his mother, Imani Smith, a now retired federal worker. He is a cousin of singer Chrisette Michele.[2][3][4] His mother states that her son first expressed an affinity towards music in preschool, recalling how whenever the class had musical events, he would conduct them. DeVaughn's love for music solidified during his early teens, when he began to envision his career path. One of his favorite artists was Babyface, and Smith recalls that her son once begged her to visit the Waxie Maxie's record store in the District to buy a promotional picture of the singer. DeVaughn visited his father during the summer, mainly in New Jersey. With his father, DeVaughn attended gigs and experienced his first taste of the life of a working musician.

He graduated from High Point High School in Beltsville, Maryland, an unincorporated section of Prince George's County. DeVaughn had an epiphany early in his college career at Coppin State University in Baltimore City, when he saw a group of street corner singers and began harmonizing with them. DeVaughn said his focus became music: "Before I knew what was going on, I was... cutting class to write lyrics and record". His focus turned to becoming a professional singer.

Career

DeVaughn in October 2005

DeVaughn took a job at Tower Records, where while putting price tags on CDs, he began working the D.C. music circuit—performing with various groups, the most prominent of which being Urbanave31, and at venues such as the State of the Union and Bar Nun on U Street NW, all while having CDs of his songs ready at hand. Locally in the DC Metro area he attained relatively quick success, winning local awards and successfully releasing some independent work over the next few years. He won $2,000 from the Washington DC nightclub Bar Nun talent show.[5] CEO Cliff Jones (Soul World Entertainment]) and partner Jerry Vines, now the singer's longtime manager, met DeVaughn while managing the Baltimore-based quartet Dru Hill, and asked him to write a song for the group. DeVaughn ultimately gained the attention of record producers DJ Jazzy Jeff (as Rahiem) and Kenny Burns (known as former A&R for Roc-A-Fella Records) and with the help of Jones and Vines they signed a recording contract with Jive Records in 2002.[citation needed]

DeVaughn's first solo single released on a major label was the song entitled "Guess Who Loves You More", his second single was "You". DeVaughn's first Jive Records release "The Love Experience", was acclaimed, selling around 250,000 units.[citation needed] While promoting the album, DeVaughn took to wearing a crown and cape at shows, a ploy to make himself stand out, calling himself the "Underground King." Around this time, DeVaughn also began making appearances at different shows in D.C. with artists such as W. Ellington Felton and Asheru of Unspoken Heard, hiding his face behind a hooded sweatshirt performing under the alias Chronkite. Felton comments that that alter ego was engendered for complicated reasons: "Chronkite represents that part of every artist who started what they're doing singing in front of a mirror as a child with a brush in their hand. At that time, it was based love, the initial attraction that draws you to music. In his business, unfortunately, your passion, your love, your individuality as an artist, can be stripped away the further you get into it."[citation needed]

DeVaughn has been compared to Dwele, Van Hunt, D'Angelo, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder. DeVaughn has described himself as a "R&B hippie neo-soul rock star," a take on the difficulty media types have classifying him. Although Jive has been thrown considerable weight behind his recent album, DeVaughn doesn't leave promotion duties entirely to his label: "I'm my best marketing tool. I'm building the brand Raheem DeVaughn. I have to do it." He worked on the street to spread the word around, sold mixtapes of unreleased material to build hype, and provided impromptu shows at local venues. In another act of self-promotion, DeVaughn made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in late January, wearing a shirt that read "Grammy Nominated on the front" and "Love Behind the Melody-- In Stores Now" on the back. He also appeared on the late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, performing "Woman" on January 18, 2008. 1123

His song "Woman" was featured as iTune's single of the week the week of January 27, 2008 and received a nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for the 2008 Grammy Awards.

In 2008, he was featured on T-Pain's song; Reality Show from the album Thr33 Ringz. The song also featured Jay Lyriq and Musiq Soulchild.

His song "You" was featured in the Grand Theft Auto IV video game.

DeVaughn was nominated for "Best R&B Album" in the 2011 Grammy Awards.[6]

In September 2013, DeVaughn released his fourth studio album A Place Called Love Land on new label Mass Appeal Entertainment. The first single released from the album was "Love Connection".

Awards and nominations

  • BET Awards
    • 2008, Best Male R&B Artist (Nominated)
    • 2008, BETJ Award (Won)
    • 2010, Best Male R&B Artist (Nominated)
  • BET J Virtual Awards
    • 2008, Album of the Year: Love Behind the Melody (Won)
    • 2008, Song of the Year: "Woman" (Nominated)
    • 2008, Live Performer of the Year (Nominated)
    • 2008, Male Artist of the Year (Won)
  • Grammy Awards
    • 2008, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance "Woman" (Nominated)
    • 2009, Best R&B Song: "Customer" (Nominated)
    • 2011, Best R&B Album "The Love & War Masterpeace" (Nominated)

Discography

Albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
US
US
R&B

AUS
FRE
CAN
NL
SWE
UK
The Love Experience 46 9
Love Behind the Melody 5 1
The Love & War MasterPeace 9 3
A Place Called Love Land[7] 22 9

Singles

Year Single Chart positions Album
Hot 100 U.S. R&B Hot Adult R&B
2005 "Guess Who Loves You More" 38 The Love Experience
"Believe" 118
2006 "You" 53 18
2007 "My Soul's Not 4 Sale" (DJ Jazzy Jeff featuring Raheem DeVaughn) 107 35 The Return of the Magnificent
"Woman" 96 17 1 Love Behind the Melody
2008 "Customer" 76 12 24
"Text Messages"
2009 "Bulletproof" (featuring Ludacris) 46 The Love & War MasterPeace
2010 "I Dont Care" 36
2013 "Love Connection" A Place Called Love Land
"Ridiculous"

Guest appearances

List of non-single guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name
Title Year Other artist(s) Album
"My Peoples" 2002 DJ Jazzy Jeff The Magnificent
"Love Saviour" DJ Jazzy Jeff, Flo Brown
"In Time" DJ Jazzy Jeff, V, Masters at Work
"Spectacular" 2005 Wale Paint a Picture
"Another Day" (credited as Chronkite) 2006 Kenn Starr, Sean Born Starr Status
"My Soul Ain't for Sale" 2007 DJ Jazzy Jeff The Return of the Magnificent
"Country Cousins" Talib Kweli, UGK Eardrum
"Wait On Me" Guru Guru's Jazzmatazz, Vol. 4: The Hip Hop Jazz Messenger: Back to the Future
"Rain (Bridge)" Beanie Sigel, Scarface The Solution
"Prayer" Beanie Sigel
"Touchdown" 2008 Game LAX
"Reality Show" T-Pain, Musiq Soulchild, Jay Lyriq Three Ringz
"Still on the Grind" 2009 UGK UGK 4 Life
"Da Slumz" Malik Yusef, Kumasi, Bun B G.O.O.D. Morning, G.O.O.D. Night
"Mornin' Rise" De La Soul Are You In?: Nike+ Original Run
"Do Over", "Baby" Ghostface Killah Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City
"Lie to You" 2010 Stat Quo, Devin the Dude Statlanta
"Mr. Incredible - Ms. Unforgettable" Leela James My Soul
"Call Me Crazy" Skillz The World Needs More Skillz
"Backroads" Pastor Troy King of All Kings
"Dim The Lights" Dwele W.ants W.orld W.omen
"Players Ballad" 2011 Big K.R.I.T. Return of 4Eva
"We All Will Know" Kindred the Family Soul Love Has No Recession
"Sooner Than Later" Los Shooter
"Give It to Me" Saigon The Greatest Story Never Told
"From the Hills" Raekwon, Method Man Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang
"Thoughts Weigh" 2012 Casey Veggies Customized Greatly Vol. 3
"Rollin'" E-40, Mugzi, Laroo T.H.H., Work Dirty, Droop-E, Decadez The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil 1
"Salute You" E-40 The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil 3
"Thru The Strugle" Styles P, Curren$y The Diamond Life Project
"Smoked Out" David Banner, Bun B Sex, Drugs and Video Games
"Non Fiction" Rapsody, Ab-Soul The Idea of Beautiful
"Smoke Good" Phil Da Phuture Louder Than You
"Drew & Derwin" Skyzoo A Dream Deferred
"Hollands (I Made It)" Da Kid Daytona N/A
"All The Way" Actual Proof Black Boy Radio
"Mr. Safety" The World Famous Tony Williams, Stokley Williams King or the Fool
"Nightmares of Being Broke" 2013 Los Becoming King
"If Love Is" Tony Yayo Godfather of the Ghetto

References

  1. Sisario, Ben (24 January 2008). "Keys Is No. 1 as CD Sales Plunge TWITTER PRINT REPRINTS SHARE By BEN". New York Times. Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
  2. Remekie, Tanya. "10 Questions For Raheem DeVaughn". interview. rapup.com. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
  3. Foster, LaToya. "What is the magic about Raheem DeVaughn". interview. s2smagazine.com. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
  4. Nichole, Arlice. "Raheem DeVaughn: Master At Work". interview. clutchmagazine.com. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
  5. "Soul World Entertainment". Soul World Entertainment. Retrieved 2013-08-08. 
  6. "Raheem DeVaughn". TVGuide.com. Retrieved February 9, 2011. 
  7. "iTunes - Music - A Place Called Love Land by Raheem DeVaughn". iTunes.apple.com. 1975-05-05. Retrieved 2013-08-08. 

External links

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