M-Doc is a

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

artist and producer who was signed to

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

and

Smash Records Smash Records was an American record label founded in 1961 as a subsidiary of Mercury Records by Mercury executive Shelby Singleton and run by Singleton with Charlie Fach. Fach took over after Singleton left Mercury in 1966. Its recording artist ...

in the 1990s. He scored minor chart success with the singles "Free" and " It's a Summer Thang" featuring

Chantay Savage Chantay Savage (born July 16, 1971) is an American R&B/dance singer. She experienced some success in the 1990s on various ''Billboard'' singles charts, one of which was "I Will Survive", a reworking of the Gloria Gaynor hit song. Savage has s ...

. He is currently the president of Indasoul Entertainment.

Career

Williams grew up on the South Side of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and graduated from Whitney Young High School in 1987, where he played basketball and was nicknamed "Doc", because he liked NBA basketball star

Julius Erving Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American former professional basketball player. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA), and he was the best-known player ...

. Williams stated that he started off with a group of friends on the South Side, and used to go to his basement, where his father had enough equipment to get some beats together. They made eight different songs, put them on tape, and sold them at their high schools by hand. The group was called "BP3", because all three members were basketball players. Local producer

Steve "Silk" Hurley Steve W. "Silk" Hurley (born November 9, 1962), also known as J. M. Silk (for "Jack Master Silk"), is an American club DJ, house music producer, and songwriter. From 1985 to 1988, he had four top-10 singles on the US Dance chart, including the ...

heard one of the tapes, and the two collaborated to record "It's Percussion", with Hurley handling the music and Williams billed as "M-Doc" for the first time, rapping. The single came out on London's Jack Trax Records. He then signed with

and released his first album, ''Universal Poet'', in 1991, which featured two singles "Are U Wid It?" (which sampled Prince's "

I Wanna Be Your Lover "I Wanna Be Your Lover" is a song by American recording artist Prince. It was released on August 24, 1979, as the lead single from his second album, ''Prince''. The song was Prince's first major hit single in the United States, reaching number 11 ...

") and "Whatever U Need". He then signed with

and released his second album, ''M. Doc Wit Stevio: C'mon Getcha Groove On'' in 1995, which featured " It's a Summer Thang" featuring

, and another single "Like 'Em Like That (Guess I'm Just a Freak)". In 1996, he produced music in the Midway video game

NBA Hangtime ''NBA Hangtime'' is a 1996 basketball arcade game developed and released by Midway Games, Midway. Home versions were released for the Nintendo 64, PlayStation (console), PlayStation, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES, Sega Genesis, a ...

. In 1998, he released his third and final album ''

Young, Black, Rich and Famous ''Young, Black, Rich and Famous'' is the third album by the rap artist, producer and songwriter M-Doc. The set felt somewhere between rap and R&B, and its ambitions were probably best realized on the lead single, which was a cover of the Deniece ...

'', which included "Free"(a

Deniece Williams Deniece Williams (born June Deniece Chandler; June 3, 1951) is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great soul voices" by the BBC. She is best known for the songs " Free", " Silly", "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" and two ''Bill ...

song) featuring Cristina Sanchez. In the late 1990s, he produced remixes for

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

and

Keith Sweat Keith Sweat (born July 22, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and an early figure in the new jack swing musical movement. He is known for his collection of hits including "I Want Her", " Make It Last Forever", "I'll Give A ...

. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' called him "one of the R&B worlds top remixers." Also,

CeCe Peniston Cecilia Veronica "CeCe" Peniston (; born September 6, 1969) is an American singer and former beauty queen. In the early 1990s, she scored five number one hits on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Club Play. Her signature song "Finally" rea ...

who sung background vocals on one of his tracks on his third album ("Keep It Real").

Discography

Albums

*''Universal Poet'' (1991) *''M. Doc Wit Stevio: C'mon Getcha Groove On'' (1995) *''

'' (1998)

Singles

*It's Percussion (1988) *Are U Wid It? (1991) *Whatever U Need (1992) * It's a Summer Thang (1994) * Like 'Em Like That (Guess I'm Just A Freak) (1995) *Free (1998)

References

American male rappers Rappers from Chicago Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians {{US-hiphop-bio-stub