Floetry were an English R&B duo comprising Marsha Ambrosius ("The Songstress") and Natalie Stewart ("The Floacist"). The group recorded two studio albums and one live album and sold over 1,500,000 records worldwide. Formed in 1997 Floetry started on the performance poetry stage. They worked with many US musicians and artists including: Jill Scott, Queen Latifah, Michael Jackson,

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and Bilal and more founders of Neo-Soul.

Career

Beginnings: 1994–2002

Marsha Ambrosius and Natalie Stewart first met on the basketball courts in London, England. There they quickly transitioned from rivals to friends bonding over their love for music and poetry. The first collaboration came when Ambrosius contacted Stewart about adding poetry to the chorus of a song she was working on called 'Fantasize'. Stewart invited Ambrosius onstage to perform the song at her show a few months later. Their connection was felt all throughout the venue, with many people crying during the show. In 1997, the duo began writing music together and constantly performing in the music venues of London. After three years the duo moved to U.S., first living in Atlanta but later moving to Philadelphia where much success was found. Since moving to the U.S. in 2000, they have written for Jill Scott, Jazz of Dru Hill, Glenn Lewis (Marsha only), Bilal, and Michael Jackson, for whom Marsha penned the hit 2002 single "

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''Floetic'' and ''Floacism'': 2002–03

In the year of 2002, Floetry signed with

DreamWorks Records DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label operated until 200 ...

and released their debut album '' Floetic'', which featured the singles " Floetic", "

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" (released March 2003), and " Getting Late". "

" stayed on the Hot 100 billboard charts for 20 weeks, peaking at number 24 on 14 June 2003. The album was also released in the United Kingdom with additional tracks, one of which features British singer/songwriter and producer Sebastian Rogers. Their song "Where's The Love" was featured in the best-known 2003 film '' Bringing Down the House''. Reviewers of the album praised Floetry for their skillful writing, soulful sound infused with funk and R&B and representing the English R&B scene that was emerging. Floetry released a live album titled '' Floacism'' in 2003. The two-disc set consisted of a CD and DVD and included the single " Wanna B Where U R" featuring rapper Mos Def.

''Flo'Ology'': 2004–06

The duo began creating their second studio album shortly after the release of Floacism. During summer of 2005, they began touring with the

Sugar Water Festival The Sugar Water Festival was a music festival founded by American recording artists Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah and Jill Scott. The trek played to amphitheaters and arenas in the United States during the summer of 2005 and 2006. It began in 2005 a ...

. There they opened for Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, and Queen Latifah. Their third and final album '' Flo'Ology'' was released in November 2005. The album debuted at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 200 and number two on the Top R&B chart, and sold over 77,000 copies in its first week.'Road' Returns Chesney To No. 1
Billboard. Retrieved: 4 July 2009. The album included the single "Supastar" featuring

Epilogue: 2007–14

In 2006, Marsha Ambrosius signed a solo record deal with Aftermath Entertainment. In 2007, she released a mixtape entitled, ''Neo Soul is Dead''. After the release of the mixtape, Ambrosius parted ways with Stewart. Stewart later went on to release an extended play entitled, ''Spoken Soul Volume 1''. In November 2010, Stewart released her first solo album, ''Floetic Soul'', on the Shanachie Records. In 2011, Ambrosius released her debut solo album, '' Late Nights & Early Mornings'', on J Records. In November 2012, Stewart released her second album, ''Floetry Re:Birth''. In March 2014, Stewart released her third album ''Rise of the Phoenix Mermaid''. In July 2014, Ambrosius released her second album '' Friends & Lovers''.

Reunion: 2014–16

In December 2014, Stewart reunited with Ambrosius during Ambrosius' concert and performed "Floetic" at The Clapham Grand in London. In February 2015, Stewart confirmed that duo would be touring in 2015. On 16 May 2015, Floetry reunited and performed their first show in nine years at Pepsi Funk Festival in College Park, Georgia. Despite announcing they would be recording a new album, Floetry subsequently split after the second leg of their reunion tour in August 2016.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Singles

Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States. Floetry have received five Grammy nominations. *Grammy Awards

References

External links

Floetry at Geffen Records websiteFloetry Myspace
* {{Authority control English hip hop groups People educated at the BRIT School English musical duos Contemporary R&B duos British contemporary R&B musical groups Musical groups from London British soul musical groups Black British musical groups DreamWorks Records artists Geffen Records artists Women hip hop groups Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups disestablished in 2007 English girl groups British hip hop girl groups Hip hop duos British R&B girl groups Female musical duos Third British Invasion artists