Monica (singer)

Monica (full name Monica Denise Arnold, born October 24, 1980) is an African-American R&B singer who first attained commercial success in the 1990s and, after a relatively unsuccessful period during the early 2000s, has seen her career experience a second wind in the year 2003.

Biography

Hailing from Atlanta, Monica achieved prominence in the R&B scene at the young age of fourteen in 1995, thanks to BET, MTV, and urban radio's support for her debut single, the sassy "Don't Take It Personal". Almost immediately, the media drew comparisons between Monica and Brandy who had also emerged as a teen female R&B vocalist just a year earlier. Monica's debut album, Miss Thang, became a urban success in America, thanks to the singles "Before You Walk Out Of My Life" and "Like This And Like That," which maintained Monica's popularity in hip-hop and on MTV through 1996.

Related Topics:
Atlanta - R&B - 1995 - BET - MTV - Urban - Brandy

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Monica did not really break big with mainstream America until early 1997, when "For You I Will," off of the Space Jam movie soundtrack became a top 40 pop hit. The following year, "The Boy is Mine," Monica's duet with Brandy and the first single off of both of their sophomore albums, became 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, according to Billboard chart success, in history.

Related Topics:
Space Jam - The Boy is Mine - Billboard - Hot 100 - Multi-platinum

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Monica maintained her mainstream commercial success with the followup singles "The First Night" and "Angel Of Mine," both of which became number one pop hits in America and TRL video favorites on MTV. The album's fourth single, "Street Symphony," was a more creative and less urban approach for Monica; however it failed to chart or sell notably in America. Its video received only minor airplay.

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Monica's career saw troubles between the years 2000 and 2003, during which time Monica was dealing with more personal tribulations, including the suicide of her boyfriend. She released some soundtrack singles during this time, which failed to take off. She planned to release her third album All Eyez on Me in 2002. The album was never released in the US. It was only released in Japan. J records stated that it was not released due to heavy bootlegging of the album. Contrary, many people people felt the album was pushed back because "All Eyez on Me" failed to produce a hit single. In 2003, she returned with her third album, and renamed it After The Storm. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, but quickly fell off the charts due to a lack of promotion. It spawned the single "So Gone", a Missy Elliott-produced hit that was a staple at urban radio and music video stations during the summer of 2003, 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 R&B chart, but the third single "U Should've Known Better" (originally written for the scrapped "All Eyez On Me" album) went on to become a hit more than a year after the album's release.

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Monica and her fiancé, producer Rodney R. Hill Jr., welcomed a son, Rodney Ramon Hill III, into the world on May 21, 2005. Monica's fans will be patiently waiting for her 4th album which is set to drop early 2006.

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