Roy Davis Jr. is an American electronic musician from Chicago, Illinois, specialising in

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

Biography

Davis was born in California and grew up in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and became interested in house music at an early age by the likes of

Lil' Louis Marvin Burns (born May 13, 1962), known by his stage name Li'l Louis (sometimes expanded to Li'l Louis & the World and Li'l Louis & the Party), is a Chicago-born house-music producer and DJ .Larkin, Colin (1999) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Da ...

, DJ Pierre, Farley Keith (Farley Jackmaster Funk) and Marshall Jefferson. Davis began his own production company named Phuture in the late 1980s and went on to become an A&R scout for record label

Strictly Rhythm Strictly Rhythm is an American house music record label. History Strictly Rhythm relaunched in 2007 after a five-year break, following a venture with Warner Music. The label made a number of its recordings available for digital download and sig ...

in NYC whilst also running his Chicago founded record label Undaground Therapy Muzik. A few years later, Davis and singer-songwriter Peven Everett wrote and produced the single " Gabriel" which was released on Large Records in 1996 and later licensed and released on XL Recordings in 1997. The track garnered international airplay, and was played in nightclubs around the world. It peaked at No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1997. The single sold over 200,000 copies and has appeared on numerous of compilation albums including ''Desert Island Mix'' from Gilles Peterson. In 2004, Davis' track "About Love" reached No. 70 in the UK, adding to the list of previous chart success with records such as "Who Dares to Believe in Me" under alias The Believers which was released on New York label

and "All I Do" released on Omar-S' artist-run label FXHE. Roy Davis Jr. has also been known for his work for Thomas Bangalter's label

Roulé Roulé () was a French record label founded in 1995 by former Daft Punk member Thomas Bangalter. Roulé had a side label entitled ''Scratché'' () which released only one record, produced by the Buffalo Bunch (Paul de Homem-Christo and Romain S ...

which operated out of Paris in the early '90s and his production work for artists such as

Eric Benet The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

, Faith Evans,

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 ...

, Seal,

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

Christina Milian Christine Marie Flores (born September 26, 1981), better known as Christina Milian (), is an American actress and singer. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, but raised in Maryland, she signed a contract with Murder Inc. Records at the age of 19. ...

and Morcheeba. In 2011, he produced a record with J. Noize and Kaye Fox called "Enjoy the Ride". In April 2016, Davis announced that he had been diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

, and was to cancel some planned shows but planned to return to performing live and producing music as his health would allow him.

Discography

Albums

*''The Secret Mission'' *''Traxx from the Nile'' *''Chicago Forever'' *''Water for Thirsty Children'' *''God Life Music'' *''Destroy & Rebuild''

Compilations

*''Midnight Passion / Looking for Excitement'' *''Soul Electra''

Singles

*"Rock Shock" *"I Got the Music" *"Galactic Disco" *" Gabriel" (feat. Peven Everett) - UK #22 *"About Love" - UK #70 *All I D

References

External links

Roy Davis Jr. at Ubiquity Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Roy Jr. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American dance musicians African-American DJs American club DJs House DJs American remixers Musicians from Chicago DJs from Chicago Ubiquity Records artists XL Recordings artists People with multiple sclerosis 21st-century African-American musicians American electronic dance music DJs Peacefrog Records artists