Kendra Marie Foster (born January 29, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter,

session singer Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a t ...

and

backup vocalist 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 ...

. A two-time Grammy Award-winner, she has performed with artists including George Clinton,

Parliament-Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive ...

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

and

D'Angelo Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" ...

and The Vanguard.

Early life

A woman of

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 ...

descent and a natural

redhead Red hair (also known as orange hair and ginger hair) is a hair color found in one to two percent of the human population, appearing with greater frequency (two to six percent) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and ...

, as a young girl in Tallahassee, Florida Foster began singing at her local Baptist church. She developed an interest in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

in high school, and learned

jazz standards Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list ...

performed by singers including Sarah Vaughan,

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s songs". Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performe ...

, Nancy Wilson, and

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

. She attended

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the Un ...

, where she became a member of Orchesis Contemporary Dance Theatre and took part in the Urban Bush Women Institute.

Career

While in college Foster met George Clinton through a mutual friend who was working as an engineer at Clinton's recording studio. Foster recorded at the studio; after a year, Clinton noticed her and signed her to a production deal. She later toured as a member of Parliament-Funkadelic. Foster released her debut album, ''Myriadmorphonicbiocorpomelodicrealityshapeshifter'', in 2003 via a production deal with Clinton. Her self-titled second album, ''Kendra Foster'', was released in 2016. Her songs "Step into the Light" and "Promise To Stay Here" (from her self-titled album) were featured on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

’s ''

Being Mary Jane ''Being Mary Jane'' is an American drama television series created by Mara Brock Akil and starring Gabrielle Union, that debuted January 7, 2014 on BET. The 90-minute-pilot for the series aired on July 2, 2013. The series follows the professiona ...

'' and STARZ’s ''Hightown'' series respectively. In 2016, in addition to singing, she co-wrote eight out of 12 songs on

's critically-acclaimed album, ''Black Messiah''.

Collaborations

A credited songwriter on "A Warning for the Heart" on Sunshine Anderson's '' The Sun Shines Again'' and on

's album ''

Coolaid ''Coolaid'' is the fourteenth studio album by American rapper Snoop Dogg. It was released on July 1, 2016, by Doggystyle Records and eOne Music. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2015 to 2016 at the Doggystyle Studios Records, in ...

'' ("Side Piece"), Foster sang on Clinton's '' How Late Do U Have 2BB4UR Absent?'' album. ("U Can Depend On Me", "Bounce 2 This" and "Trust In Yourself"). She is featured on the song "Questions" by

Domo Genesis Dominique Marquis Cole (born March 9, 1991), known professionally as Domo Genesis, is an American rapper and songwriter. He is best known for being a member of Los Angeles hip hop collective Odd Future. He has since continued his solo career, re ...

on his self-titled debut studio album.

Discography and contributions

With Bootsy Collins * '' Play with Bootsy'' (2002) Kendra Foster * ''Myriadmorphonicbiocorpomelodicrealityshapeshifter'' (2003) * ''Kendra Foster'' (2016) * ''Here'' (2023) With George Clinton * '' How Late Do U Have 2BB4UR Absent?'' (2005) * '' George Clinton and His Gangsters of Love'' (2008) With Various Artist * ''Funk N' R&B Box Set'' (2006) With Da BackWudz * ''Wood Work'' (2006) With Electrofunkadelica * ''e3+Funknth= Music for the Body, Mind & Soul'' (2006) With Armin van Buuren * ''State of Trance: Year Mix 2007'' (2007) * ''Armada Presents: Miami Tunes 2008'' (2008) * ''Armada Trance, Vol. 3'' (2008) With

* ''Yoda: The Monarch of Neo-Soul'' (2007) * ''Yoda II'' (2008) * ''James River (Album Prelude)'' (2010) With

and the Vanguard * '' Black Messiah'' (2014) With Crucial Conflict * ''

Planet Crucon ''Planet Crucon'' is the third full-length album by American hip hop group Crucial Conflict from Chicago, Illinois. It was released on January 15, 2008 through Buckwild Records. It is the group's first studio album in ten years, their last being 19 ...

'' (2008) With Blake Jarrell * ''Concentrate'' (2009) With Lynwood Rose * ''Lynwood Rose'' (2010) With Sunshine Anderson * '' The Sun Shines Again'' (2010) With Various Artists * ''Crusin' Music, Vol. 2'' (2012) With

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkade ...

* '' First Ya Gotta Shake the Gate'' (2014) * ''Shake the Gate: Version Excursion'' (2015) With

* ''

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

'' (2016) With

* ''

'' (2016) With

Chris Dave Chris "Daddy" Dave is a drummer, composer, and bandleader from Houston, Texas. He attended Howard University. He is a drummer in jazz, gospel, hip hop, noted for his extremely virtuosic sticking technique and ability to play with a high deg ...

and the Drumhedz * Chris Dave and the Drumhedz (2018) With Parliament * '' Medicaid Fraud Dogg'' (2018) With Michael Blume * ''Cynicism & Sincerity'' (2018) With Ben Williams * ''I Am a Man'' (2020) With YOUNG JIMMY * ''Rockett 88 (Deluxe)'' (2023)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Kendra 1978 births Living people African-American women singer-songwriters Musicians from Tallahassee, Florida Florida A&M University alumni