Tha' Rayne was an American R&B singing

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

that was formed in 2000 and disbanded in mid–2005. Tha' Rayne was a trio consisted of two singing members and a DJ. The original members of the group were

Yummy Bingham Elizabeth T. Wyce "Yummy" Bingham (born January 7, 1986) is an American singer and songwriter. Biography Bingham was born on January 7, 1986, to R&B producer Dinky Bingham and Patricia Wyce. She was put into her grandparents care in South Jama ...

and Shaquana Elam (now known as Quana BelleVoix), who shared lead vocals on all of the group's recordings.

Biography

The group was founded in 2000 by producer

KayGee Keir Lamont Gist (born September 15, 1969), professionally known by his stage name KayGee, is an American DJ and record producer from East Orange, New Jersey, best known as a member of hip hop trio Naughty by Nature. He has won a Grammy Award f ...

from Naughty by Nature, who recruited Elizabeth "Yummy" Bingham, Shaquana "Quana" Elam and Tina "Tina-J" Jenkins. Each was looking for a solo deal and then discovered it would be for a girl group. The first and only recording where the three original members appear together is

Jaheim Jaheim H. Hoagland (born May 26, 1978), known mononymously as Jaheim, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer. He was signed by Naughty by Nature's Kaygee to Divine Mill Records in 2000, and released his debut album ''Ghetto Love (album), Ghe ...

and Lil' Mo's "Finders Keepers" (2001), performing vocal backup. After Tina-J left the group, Tha' Rayne remained a duet and signed in April 2001, with

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

's CEO Antonio "L.A." Reid. They released ''Rock wit Me'' in April 2002, followed in July by "No L.O.V.E." (re-recorded by

Jhené Aiko Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo (; born March 16, 1988) is an American singer who embarked on her music career contributing vocals and appearing in several music videos for R&B group B2K. In an effort to promote Aiko and cultivate a following for he ...

in 2003). While preparing their debut album, originally expected for an October 2002 release, Tha' Rayne collaborated with artists such as

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan M ...

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album ''All Hail the Que ...

, and

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. In August 2002, Kay Gee had the vision to create an R&B version of

Salt-N-Pepa Salt-N-Pepa (also stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa or Salt 'N Pepa) is an American hip-hop group formed in New York City in 1985, that comprised Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (Sandra Denton), and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper). Their debut album, ''Hot, C ...

and added Michelle "DJ Myche Luv" Colon, a young female DJ. In Fall 2002, Tha' Rayne appeared on

's hit single " Fabulous". In January 2003, the group went through a change of the lineup with the departure of DJ Myche Luv, who was replaced on January 27, 2003 by Qiana "DJ Qi" Drew. Soon after, Tha' Rayne released "Didn't You Know" (featuring

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and

Lupe Fiasco Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, ''Lupe Fiasco's ...

), their first single to chart, reaching number 75 on the ''

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 ...

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 ...

chart. It was produced by

Rich Harrison Richard Christopher Harrison (born 1979) is an American record producer and songwriter from Washington, D.C., specializing in R&B and hip hop music. The winner of a Grammy Award, Harrison is well known for producing songs such as " Get Right ...

but did not get the buzz expected by the label, so their debut album ''Reign Supreme'' was delayed. When Arista merged into

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

in early 2004 and Antonio "L.A." Reid was fired, many of his artists were dropped, including Tha' Rayne. The group decided to split, with each member going solo, but KayGee convinced Quana to reform the group with DJ Myche Luv and a new member named Hadiya Nelson a.k.a. Deeyah. This new version of the group recorded a demo but disbanded a year later in August 2005.

Discography

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayne, Tha African-American girl groups American girl groups American pop music groups American rhythm and blues musical groups Arista Records artists