Blaque

Blaque
Image:Blaquehgg.jpg Blaque (from left to right), Shamari Fears, Brandi Williams and Natina Reed.
Background information
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Genre(s)	R&B, Pop, Hip Hop
Years active	1999–Present
Label(s)	Columbia (1996-2001) Elektra (2002-2005) Geffen/Family Over Everything Ent. (2006-present)
Website	BlaqueFan.com (U.S.) BlaqueIvory.net (UK)
Members
Natina Reed (1999–present) Shamari Fears (1999–present) Brandi Williams (1999–present)
Former members
Erica Pullins (2004)

Blaque is an American R&B vocal trio. Blaque stands for Believing in Life and Achieving a Quest for Unity and Everything. The group was originally known as Blaque Ivory and is still known by that name outside the United States. The group consists of members Natina Reed, Shamari Fears and Brandi Williams. They are currently signed to Family Over Everything Ent./Geffen Records. Natina Reed departed the group to go into ministry in 2003. They replaced her with Erica Pullins. Blaque never debuted with their new member. Shamari was signed with Darkchild and set to debut in 2006, but plans were changed when her and the other original Blaque members reunited.

Music career

Black Ivory/Intrigue

Reed and Fears both moved to Atlanta, Georgia and met while in high school. Reed formed Blaque Ivory while Fears formed another group called Intrigue. Intrigue won a recording contract with Elektra Records, and Fears met up with Williams at a talent show while a member of that group. Fears left Intrigue to join up with Reed in Blaque Ivory and Williams joined the group shortly thereafter. Reed met Ronald Lopes while singing jingles to earn extra cash and he introduced her to his sister Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of TLC. Lisa Lopes signed the group to her "Left Eye Productions" and then to Columbia Records.

Blaque

Their self-titled debut Blaque debuted at number 23 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, and at number 58 on the official Billboard 200 and was certification platinum by RIAA. The album lead singe "808" was a success in the U.S. reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and certification gold. The follow up single "Bring It All to Me" which featured JC Chasez , reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The last singe "I Do" wasn't a success like the previous single with only reaching #73 on the R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart. The album also featured a cover version of "Time after Time" originally recorded by Cyndi Lauper. Their only single to be nominated for a MTV Video Music Award was "I Do" for Best Editing.

Blaque Out

While the Blaque album went platinum, their second album Blaque Out was set for release in 2001, but they were dropped from Columbia Records. Their video for the first "Blaque Out" single; "Can't Get It Back" was never released. The album was soon leaked on the Internet. When their mentor Lisa Lopes died in a car crash on April 25, 2002 in Honduras they signed with Elektra Records and began work on their 3rd album. An alternate version of the shelved album was released to iTunes on May 22, 2007.

Torch

Their third album Torch featured a number of A-list music industry figures including Missy Elliott, songwriter Linda Perry, and producer Rodney Jerkins. The buzz single was "No Ganksta" which was an answerback song to 50 Cent's song "Wanksta". Missy Elliott produced the intended first single "Ugly". However, because radio did not pick up the song, it was decided to release "I'm Good" instead. "I'm Good" also appeared on the soundtrack for the film Honey. Due to the poor success "I'm Good" achieved, the release date for Torch was pushed back. Finally, news came up their next single would be "Hopeless" - a man bashing, Darkchild produced song. But it failed to be released. In 2004, Natina left the group to go into ministry. She was soon replaced by singer/rapper Erica Pullins who performed with them overseas although no one really knows where she came from. They recorded some new songs and re-recorded old ones with new member, but the album failed to be released and Blaque disbanded. several bootleg copies were sold on the ebay site by dodgy german sellers, some copies fetching as much as £300. It has been confirmed by Natina that Torch will be released via itunes on January 8,2008, as a 10 track edition.

Temporary Split

Natina went into ministry in early 2004. She has a son named Tren with rapper Kurupt. Shamari was signed to Darkchild Records in 2005. Brandi managed to get a record deal and started working on a solo album. She also appeared on Nelly's first single, from his 2005 album "Sweatsuit," "Grillz". Grillz features Nelly, Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp and, of course, Brandi Williams although she is not credited, promo wise. There is no information regarding Erica.

Reunited

In 2004 Shamari Fears, Brandi Williams & Erica Pullins reformed Blaque. They performed on several occasions in Germany and other countries. During this time, Erica kept fans up to date via the internet. She stated she is currently working on a solo record.

Other media

In addition to their recording work, Reed, Fears, and Williams appeared in the 2000 film Bring It On as members of the East Compton Clovers, the African-American cheerleading squad fronted by Gabrielle Union. Williams also had a small role (playing herself) in the 2001 movie On the Line. Blaque also appears on Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes's 2001 solo debut album, "Supernova", on the track titled "Head to the Sky", which was only released internationally. In 2005, two clips of Shamari's solo songs titled "The One" and "NJ2" were leaked onto the internet. Recently in November 2007, it has been reported that the group is in the pre-production stages of filming a TV reality show called “Blaque By Pop Demand”, which will include the members living under the roof of TLC's Tionne (T-Boz) Watkins. It is said that the show will highlight the group's past separation and the predicted success of their highly anticipated 2008 CD release.

Trivia

• In 1997, the group made a cameo appearance in the video for Lil' Kim's "Not Tonight (Remix)."
• 50 Cent once wrote for Blaque when he was signed to Trackmasters.
• The first official 50 Cent single from a major label was "Bring it All to Me (Trackmaster Remix)." He was originally signed to Columbia, but never saw a commercial release until he signed with Interscope.

Discography

Albums

Singles

To view artist chart history from: http://www.billboard.com[1]

Soundtrack appearances

Awards & Nominations

MTV Video Music Awards

BET Awards

Soul Train Lady Of Soul Awards

Billboard Video Awards

Album appearances

External links

• [2]
• Columbia Site (No Longer Active)
• Elektra Site (No Longer Active)
• All Music Guide page
• MTV page
• Blaque Unlimited