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Blu Cantrell
Blu Cantrell at the 79th Annual Academy Awards Children Uniting Nations/Billboard afterparty at The Music Box @ Fonda on February 25, 2007 in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles, California|Hollywood]], Los Angeles, California
Background information
Birth name	Tiffany Cobb
Born	March 16, 1976 (1976-03-16) (age 34) Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Genres	R&B, soul
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, musician (drums and guitar) and producer
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Arista

Blu Cantrell (born Tiffany Cobb on March 16, 1976) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 2 Music career 2.1 Debut album: So Blu (2001–2003) 2.2 Bittersweet (2003–2005) 2.3 Additional Writing and Performance 2.4 Work on third album (2007–present) 3 Discography 3.1 Albums 3.1.1 Studio albums 3.1.2 Compliation Album 3.2 Singles 4 Awards and nominations 4.1 Song appearances 5 References

Biography

Early life

Tiffany Cobb was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1976. Her father was a Narragansett Indian and Cape Verdean and played in the National Basketball Association^{citation needed}. Her mother, of Italian descent, was a former Mrs. Rhode Island, actress, and jazz vocalist^{citation needed}.

Music career

Debut album: So Blu (2001–2003)

After several demos, recordings, and singing backup for artists such as Puff Daddy, Cantrell was discovered by Red Zone Entertainment heads Tricky, Tab and Laney Stewart in early 2001. She also did collaborations with Babyface, Usher, Dionne Warwick, will.i.am, Fat Joe, Lil Kim, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and jazz legend Herbie Hancock. The producers promptly placed her to Antonio "L.A." Reid who offered the singer a contract with his label Arista Records after hearing one song she wrote and sung in front of him and his staff. After a bidding war with five different labels, Arista bid the highest, Blu said "Since she was a little girl she always dreamed of being on Arista records." Afterwards Cantrell went straight into recording sessions with Dallas Austin and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. In 2001, her debut album, So Blu, was released. The record saw major success when it peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200 chart, eventually going gold in the United States. The album's hit single "Hit 'em Up Style (Oops!)", which peaked at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, became the number one most added record to radio in the country, breaking Elvis's record of most played on all genres of radio. The song earned Cantrell Grammy Award nominations for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and for Best R&B Song, as well as an American Music Award nomination for Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist, both in 2002.

Bittersweet (2003–2005)

In 2003, Cantrell released her second album, Bittersweet, which peaked at #37 on the Billboard 200. The success of 'Bittersweet' was much greater worldwide than in the U.S. due to the number one single 'Breathe' climb to the top of the charts. The song became number one without the support of any major radio syndication and eventually was added to major rotation after it had already become independently worldwide. The record earned Cantrell a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Album and entered the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at number eight. The album produced two hit singles, these being "Breathe" and "Make Me Wanna Scream", the former being a collaboration with Sean Paul. "Breathe" peaked at number one for four weeks in the United Kingdom and broke Madonna's song "Lucky Star" single for most played on radio^{citation needed}. It eventually became one of the most successful singles of the year in both Europe, Australia, South Africa, and several other countries worldwide. That same year, Cantrell was to appear in Playboy magazine (and would have been only the fourth African American woman to appear on the cover), but decided against it at the last minute because "I felt it was going to make me more of a sex symbol and I didn't want anything to take away from the fact that I can sing". ¹

Additional Writing and Performance

Blu Cantrell also wrote and sang the song 'It's Killing Me' for the interracial love scene in the movie 'Bad Company' 2002 that featured Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins. She also appeared in the movie 'Drumline', which featured Nick Canon and Orlando Jones, singing the national anthem live on camera instead of canned from a studio recording. In 2004 she wrote and sang the theme song for the UK show 'Sisters'.

Work on third album (2007–present)

In 2008 Cantrell appeared in NBC's Celebrity Circus. The first episode aired with a ninety-minute kick-off special on June 11. In 2009, Cantrell began recording material for a new album, to be released on her independent Baby Blu Music Label, while shopping the album to labels for distribution, Cantrell was offered several deals for a recording contract but reportedly declined all due to differences within the contract agreements^{citation needed}.

Discography

Main Article: Blu Cantrell Discography

Albums

Studio albums 2001: So Blu 2003: Bittersweet 2010: Mission:Blu Vol. 1 Compliation Album 2004: From L.A. to L.O. 2005: Hit 'em Up Style: Chart and Club Hits of Blu Cantrell

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions									Album
		U.S.	U.S. R&B	UK2	IRE	AUS	SWI	AUT	FRA	NOR
2001	"Hit 'em Up Style (Oops!)"	2	6	13	—	3	77	—	47	12	So Blu
	"I'll Find a Way"	—	104	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2002	"Till I'm Gone"	—	115	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Round Up" (with Lady May)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Bittersweet (UK)
2003	"Breathe" (featuring Sean Paul)	70	83	1	1	8	5	11	13	6	Bittersweet
2004	"Make Me Wanna Scream" (featuring Ian Lewis)	—	—	24	33	62	60	68	—	—

Awards and nominations

• American Music Awards
  • Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist (Nominated)

• Grammy Awards
  • Best R&B Song: "Hit Em Up Style (Oops)" (Nominated)
  • Best Female R&B Vocal Performance: "Hit Em Up Style (Oops)" (Nominated)
  • Best R&B Album: Bittersweet (Nominated)

Song appearances

Year	Song	Album
2001	"U Remind Me" (Remix) (with Usher and Method Man)	The Dome, Vol. 19
2002	"Round Up" (Lady May)	Bittersweet
2004	"Take My Heart" (Kool & the Gang)	The Hits: Reloaded
2009	"My World"	My World

References