Song:U Know What's Up
Album:Where I Wanna Be
Donell Jones had most of his success on the R & B charts. But he cracked the pop top ten with the 1999 hit U Know What's Up. He was born May 22, 1973 in Chicago. His father is Minister Roy Jones. Jones grew up singing in church but he became a member of the gang Gangster Disciples. After a brush with death, he left the gang and formed the group Porscha. His big break came when Edward "DJ Eddie F" Farrell of Heavy D & The Boyz and his company Untouchables Entertainment joined LaFace Records and Jones was hired as a writer producer. After Jones wrote and produced hits for Usher and the girl group 702, LaFace co-owner Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds agreed to let him record his own album. Jones had a top 20 R & B hit in 1996 with his cover of Stevie Wonder's Knocks Me Off My Feet. But he really hit it big with the first single from the 1999 CD Where I Wanna Be. U Know What's Up topped the R & B Singles chart and reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. Though Jones writes a lot of his own songs, U Know What's Up was written by Farrell, producer Darren Lighty and R & B singer songwriter Anthony Hamilton. There are so many remixes of this song it would make your head spin. This remix featuring TLC rapper Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes is the one you want. Lisa had left TLC and was starting a solo career and wanted to project a more mature image. Unfortunately, Arista Records hated Lopes' solo album Supernova and cancelled it. She was preparing to record a new album for Death Row Records when she died in a 2002 car accident. Sony released a Donell Jones comp in 2007. But it doesn't have the remix of U Know What's Up. Where I Wanna Be does have the remix and is available as a budget CD. Donell Jones left LaFace in 2006 and started his own Candyman label with distribution by E1 (formerly Koch). His 2010 CD Lyrics reached #9 on the R & B Album chart. I expect we'll see more music from Jones in the future but pop success is unlikely. Here's the video for U Know What's Up by Donell Jones featuring Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes.
No comments:
Post a Comment