Angela Roxanna Boyd (born March 9, 1968), known by the stage name B Angie B, is a

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

vocalist and dancer. Boyd was notable as a backing vocalist and protégé for

MC Hammer Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper, dancer, record producer and entrepreneur. He is known for hit songs such as " U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit" ...

, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1991, she recorded for Hammer's Bust It Records label. She also released a charting album and three singles of her own with the label. Subsequent albums were less successful commercially, but Boyd continued occasionally releasing music in the 2000s and 2010s.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

credits Boyd with exploring

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

musical aesthetics within

urban contemporary music Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban conte ...

, and described her as a forerunner to other

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

female soul singers such as

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by R&B, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

and Jill Scott.

Early life and education

Boyd was born and raised in the small rural town of

Morton, Mississippi Morton is a city in Scott County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 3,462 at the 2010 census. Geography Morton is surrounded by the Bienville National Forest. Roosevelt State Park is southwest of the community. According to the Unit ...

. She grew up singing and honing her vocals in a local church. She graduated from Morton High School in the Scott County School District in 1984. A few years later, she and her best friend made a decision to move out west to pursue a singing/music career together. The friend ended up getting pregnant and Boyd relocated to

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. It wasn't long after this relocation that Boyd was discovered by producer (and future husband) James Earley, and brought to

's attention that Angie was a vocalist. Hammer is also the one credited with giving Boyd her stage name B Angie B, when Hammer said "just be Angie" one day.

Music career and personal life

B Angie B sang on "Pump It Up (Here's the News)" from

's '' Let's Get It Started'' album (the version re-released on Capitol Records in 1988), and she became a

backup singer A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

during his concert tours. During one tour, she briefly dated Mike Tyson. Her next opportunity came in 1989 with Hammer's female rap trio Oaktown's 3.5.7. She added her vocals to their rap song "Juicy Gotcha Krazy" from the album '' Wild & Loose'', and appeared in the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

with the group. In 1990, she continued to perform background vocals for Hammer during his successful ''

Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em ''Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em'' is the third studio album by American rapper MC Hammer, released on February 12, 1990 by Capitol Records and EMI Records. The album was produced, recorded and mixed by Felton Pilate and James Earley. The album ...

'' album and tour period. In early 1991, Hammer signed B Angie B to his

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

-distributed Bust It Records imprint and soon her debut album was released, titled ''B Angie B''. It was co-produced by Hammer and

Felton Pilate Felton C. Pilate II (born November 5, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is best known as a member of the 1970s and 1980s funk- R&B band, Con Funk Shun. Pilate is also notable for the songs and ...

, a former member of

Con Funk Shun Con Funk Shun (formerly known as Project Soul) is an American R&B and funk band whose popularity began in the mid-1970s and ran through the 1980s. They were influenced by funk legend James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone. Signed to Mercury ...

. In April 1991, the album debuted at number 11 on the '' Billboard''

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

charts. It peaked at number 133 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The release of the album was led by the single "So Much Love", followed by two covers: "Sweet Thing" (originally by Rufus & Chaka Khan) and "I Don't Want to Lose Your Love" (originally by

The Emotions ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

). The latter was the album's biggest hit, reaching number 54 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. B Angie B toured with

Johnny Gill Johnny Gill Jr. (born May 22, 1966) is an American singer and actor. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B/pop group New Edition and was also a member of the supergroup called LSG, with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. Gill has released e ...

around the time of the album's release. In July 1991, she began dating Tyson again, while on tour with several Bust It musicians. She would later become a prominent witness in Tyson's 1992 rape trial."Rapper's Visit to See Tyson Causes Stir at Prison". '' Jet'', May 11, 1992.
Google Books
link) She also appeared in the

Kid 'n Play Kid 'n Play is an American hip-hop duo from New York City that was most popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The duo was composed of Christopher Reid ("Kid") and Christopher Martin ("Play") working alongside their DJ, Mark "DJ Wiz" Eas ...

farce ''

Class Act ''Class Act'' is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Randall Miller and starring hip-hop duo Kid 'n Play. An urban retelling of Mark Twain's ''The Prince and the Pauper'', the film was written by Cynthia Friedlob and John Semper from a s ...

'' and sang on the soundtrack's title track "Class Act (Work That Body)", which was also released as a music video. Late in 1991, Boyd left Capitol Records. Boyd released a second album in 1995 on the Bust It label (with an independent distributor). She dropped the first "B" from her name, performing as simply Angie B. The album release was preceded by the single "It's My Life". Neither the album nor the single charted. Nevertheless, critics identified her as a forerunner of

R&B, which became more prominent over the course of the 1990s and beyond. Alex Henderson of

noted: "B Angie B did her part to bring soul music to a hip-hop/urban contemporary generation... She was doing that type of thing before the rise of

, D'Angelo,

or Jill Scott." After 2000, B Angie B (then amicably divorced from James Earley) returned to

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. Boyd had one child, a daughter, with Earley. Her 1991 solo debut ''B Angie B'' was reissued in mid-2005 via Capitol Records. It included a bonus DVD, along with previous releases with Oaktown's 3.5.7. In the summer of 2009, she released new music via her Myspace account (myspace.com/bangiebmusic), including a remake of "

Ring My Bell "Ring My Bell" is a 1979 disco song written by Frederick Knight. The song was originally written for then eleven-year-old Stacy Lattisaw, as a teenybopper song about kids talking on the telephone. When Lattisaw signed with a different label, Ame ...

". In 2013, B Angie B signed a recording contract with Monarchy Records, a division of the Spectra Music Group. Her most recent album "Stronger Than Ever" was released on April 22, 2013. This project is a collaboration with Italian

DJs A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

Max Mazzeo and Dirty Old Boyz.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:B Angie B 1968 births Living people American contemporary R&B singers People from Morton, Mississippi 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers