Floetry were an English R&B duo comprising

Marsha Ambrosius Marsha Ambrosius-Billups (born 8 August 1977) is an English singer and songwriter from Liverpool, England. She embarked on her musical career as a member of Floetry. Ambrosius released her debut solo album '' Late Nights & Early Mornings'' in M ...

("The Songstress") and

Natalie Stewart Natalie "the Floacist" Stewart (born 13 February 1979) is an English rapper, singer, songwriter, spoken word artist, poet, and actress. Born in Germany and raised in London, she performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child, a ...

("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 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 ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally ...

The Roots The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...

and

Bilal __NOTOC__ Bilal may refer to: People * Bilal (name) (a list of people with the name) * Bilal ibn Rabah, a companion of Muhammad * Bilal (American singer) * Bilal (Lebanese singer) Places * Bilal Colony, a neighbourhood of Korangi Town in Karac ...

and more founders of

Neo-Soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contem ...

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 Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

and

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...

. 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 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 ...

of Dru Hill,

Glenn Lewis Glennon Ricketts Jr. (born March 13, 1975), professionally known as Glenn Lewis, is a Canadian neo soul singer–songwriter. Lewis earned a Grammy Award nomination in 2004 and has also won a Juno Award out of a total of six nominations. Early l ...

(Marsha only),

, and

, for whom Marsha penned the hit 2002 single "

Butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

''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 20 ...

and released their debut album ''

Floetic ''Floetic'' is the debut studio album by the English R&B duo Floetry, released by DreamWorks Records in the United States on 1 October 2002 and on Polydor Records in the United Kingdom on 25 November 2002. Critical reception The album receiv ...

'', which featured the singles "

", " Say Yes" (released March 2003), and "

Getting Late "Getting Late" is a song by performed by Floetry, issued as the third and final single from their debut studio album '' Floetic''. It was written by Natalie Stewart and Marsha Ambrosius along with Vidal Davis; and it peaked at #31 on the ''Bi ...

". " Say Yes" 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 Yasiin Bey (; born Dante Terrell Smith, December 11, 1973), previously and more commonly known by his stage name Mos Def (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. His hip hop career began in 1994, alongside his siblings in the s ...

''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 ...

. There they opened for Jill Scott,

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by R&B, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

, and

. Their third and final album ''

Flo'Ology ''Flo'Ology'' is the second and final studio album by the English R&B duo Floetry, released in the United States on 8 November 2005 by Geffen Records and in the United Kingdom on 14 November 2005 by Polydor Records. It debuted at number seven o ...

'' 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 Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

s are awarded annually by the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...

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