Stokley

A seasoned R&B singer and instrumentalist, Stokley enjoyed nearly a quarter-century of success with the group <a href="spotify:artist:4MT97VeycuegSicrrphisJ">Mint Condition</a> before he made his debut as a solo artist. Stokley Williams was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on July 15, 1967. Williams' father was a respected scholar in African studies, and the youngster began learning to play percussion instruments at the age of four. By the early '80s, Williams co-founded <a href="spotify:artist:4MT97VeycuegSicrrphisJ">Mint Condition</a> with a handful of high school friends, singing lead and playing drums. After years of playing locally, the band landed a break in 1989 when they were discovered by Minneapolis R&B titans <a href="spotify:artist:4ZaXj4ZrqscgpfqJolMfib">Jimmy Jam</a> and Terry Lewis, who saw them playing a local showcase. Impressed by their New Jack Swing style, <a href="spotify:artist:4ZaXj4ZrqscgpfqJolMfib">Jam</a> and Lewis helped <a href="spotify:artist:4MT97VeycuegSicrrphisJ">Mint Condition</a> score a record deal, and their debut album, 1991's Meant to Be Mint, scored a pair of hit singles, "(Breaking My Heart) Pretty Brown Eyes" and "Forever in Your Eyes," and the group released a steady stream of material from the early '90s well into the 21st century. It didn't take long for Williams to earn a reputation as a versatile talent outside of the group. By 1995, his résumé included vocal and percussion credits on albums by <a href="spotify:artist:4qwGe91Bz9K2T8jXTZ815W">Janet Jackson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0a0l3QVhfMwQNAO4wPAmP9">Sounds of Blackness</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7oHzn7edwmrYClrPRINkbn">Johnny Gill</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1QtIfAa6y7w2JhxYJhYeUG">Color Me Badd</a>, and later he'd work with the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:5a2EaR3hamoenG9rDuVn8j">Prince</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3PhoLpVuITZKcymswpck5b">Elton John</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3X458ddYA2YcVWuVIGGOYe">Toni Braxton</a>. Williams received a Grammy nomination in the category of Best R&B Performance for his 2011 duet with <a href="spotify:artist:49FeZO3eSrJs7oH7lYLU1r">Kelly Price</a> on the song "Not My Daddy," and he contributed production and vocals to <a href="spotify:artist:67nwj3Y5sZQLl72VNUHEYE">Wale</a>'s 2013 album The Gifted, as well as 2015's The Album About Nothing. In 2017, Williams made his long awaited solo debut, billing himself simply as Stokley; the album, Introducing Stokley, was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Concord%22">Concord</a> in June of that year. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi