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| Birth Name(s) : Ray J |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Full Ray J Biography
Brandy, Willie Norwood, Rodney Jerkins, Whitney Houston, Kim Kardashian, The Neptunes, Snoop Dogg, Shorty Mack, B2KWebsite
Willie Ray Norwood Jr. (born January 17, 1981), better known as Ray J, is an American singer who has also rapped on several of his songs, and is the younger brother of R&B singer Brandy.
He started auditioning for commercials at age eight, scoring several gigs until he caught the eye of comedian Sinbad, who was casting children for his upcoming TV show. Ray J got the role playing Sinbad's foster son until the show was canceled in 1993. From there, he began acting in movies, appearing in the films Steel and Mars Attacks! in minor roles. At the same time, he was also itching to try his hand at the music industry, inspired by Brandy's early successes.
He signed with Elektra in 1995, recording Everything You Want the following year with a set of superstar songwriters and producers behind him. In 1997, he performed in a television special with his sister, but despite the mainstream attention, he was dropped by Elektra soon after. His easygoing image and boyish looks appealed to the producers of Brandy's television show, Moesha, scoring him a role on the popular UPN series starting in 1999. He also started producing, putting together the music for several commercials and a few of the demos for his second record. In 1997 he also released his debut album "Everything You Want", which spawned two singles. "Let It Go" was the lead single of the smash soundtrack for Set It Off (Brandy also appeared on the soundtrack; and her song Missing You with Tamia, Chaka Khan & Gladys Knight peaked also at number 25). It peaked number 25 in the U.S. and number 11 in New Zealand. But the second single was no big succes. The song managed only to peak at number 54 on the U.S. R&B chart. The album was a moderate success and wasn't even certified.
In 1998 he also released the Dr. Dolittle soundtrack single That's Why I Lie in UK, only. It didn't do well on the charts, peaking #71.
In 1999 he began playing the role Dorian Long in the UPN sensational successful TV-series Moesha. He played the half brother of Moesha Mitchell, who is portrayed by his sister Brandy, the star of the show. The character Dorian likes to be called 'D-Money'. It was revealed later in the series that Moesha's father, Frank Mitchell, got Dorian's mother pregnant, but they could not take care of Dorian at the time. He was adopted by his aunt. This information was to remain secret, but during a visit from one of their family member the truth was accidentally leaked. Dorian, Moesha, and their little brother Miles were mad at Frank for some time. In a later episode, Dorian and Moesha found his birth-mother. They learned she had two other children, but they weren't adopted.
After the show Moesha had his last episode in 2001 he stepped back into the studio and recorded the smash hit Another Day In Paradise with Brandy which was a Top Ten succes in Austria, UK, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Norway, Ireland, the Netherlands and number 11 in Australia and France. The song was the lead single of the R&B/Hip Hop tribute Urban Renewal, in which he co-produced and performed songs.
Norwood also worked with The Neptunes, Rodney Jerkins and Lil' Kim, and several other hitmaking producers and singers for his second studio album This Ain't A Game, a pop-oriented record that featured more of his singing than his debut, in which he rapped. The album was dropped in 2001, but despite a strong promotional push from new label Atlantic Records, it wasn't the breakthrough success it seemed designed to be. The lead single Wait A Minute wasn't a big success peaking number 30 in U.S. only. It managed to peak in the lower half of the charts in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Great Britain. The second single did even worse peaking on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart only.
After a 2 years break and several album pushbacks (from fall 2004 to March, April, June and July to September 2005 finally), he returned to studio and released his album Raydiation and despite the lengthy absence, his high profile still commanded an all-star guest list. With help from Timbaland, R. Kelly, Mýa, Shorty Mack and Fat Joe, Ray J resurfaced with Raydiation (released on Sanctuary). The album was partly released under his record label Knockout Entertainment. The first single choice varied many times. At certain points Ray J himself had announced "Keep Sweatin" as his new single. "Quit Actin" was in talks, too, before "One Wish" was picked. The single became the most successful single since smashhit Another Day In Paradise was released, being a Top Twenty succes in New Zealand, UK, the U.S. and Ireland. The other singles couldn't reach that succes and failed.
In 2005, Ray J joined the cast of UPN's One On One, where he played the character of D-Mack for one season.
In 2006 he focused on his record label Knockout Entertainment and released the second Knockout-album by Gospel-singer Willie Norwood. Willie, Ray J's father, signed in 2005 and the album is called I Believe and was available in the internet only. Artists like sister Brandy and Shorty Mack are set to be the next artists to release their albums under Knockout.
He, Shorty Mack, Ashton and Brandy were expected to team up as Tha Knock Out and release album, but due that the fact that Shorty Mack, Brandy and Ray J are working on solo album. This rumor seems very incredibly. |
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