Stokley Williams
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Stokley | |
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![]() Williams in 2014 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Stokley Williams |
Born | [1] | July 15, 1967
Origin | St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.[2][3] |
Genres | |
Occupations |
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Instruments |
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Years active | 1980–present |
Labels | Bluraffe Ent |
Stokley Williams (born July 15, 1967), also known simply as Stokley, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and studio drummer of the R&B band Mint Condition.[4]
Career
[edit]In 2011, Williams was featured on Kelly Price's song "Not My Daddy" from her album Kelly which earned him his first Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance.[5]
In 2017, Williams joined The Revolution on tour, to pay tribute to Prince.[6] Also in 2017, he released his Bluraffe/Concord Records solo debut Introducing Stokley, with production by himself as well as the Philadelphia production team Carvin & Ivan.
In 2019, Jam & Lewis' did a joint venture with Bluraffe ent /Perspective Records to release his second solo album, Sankofa.
In March 2020, Stokley earned his first number-one solo hit with "She..." reaching the top of the Adult R&B Chart (Billboard) for two consecutive weeks and high radio play on stations such as WAMO, WDAS, & WHUR.[7]
In 2024, he was cast as Rick James in Ja'Caryous Johnson's musical stage play, Super Freak: A Rick James Story, set to tour spring of 2024.[8][9]
Influences
[edit]Williams has declared his main influences as being Cliff Alexis Sr., Prince, and Maurice White.[10]
Discography as a session musician
[edit]The Boys - The Boys (1990)[11]
- "Got to Be There" (drums)
Sounds of Blackness – The Evolution of Gospel (1991)
- "Optimistic" (handclaps)
- "The Pressure Pt. 1" (background vocals)
- "The Pressure Pt. 2" (background vocals)
Karyn White – Ritual of Love (1991)
- "Ritual of Love" (percussion)
- "Love That's Mine" (background vocals)
- "Do Unto Me" (drummer)
- "Hard To Say Goodbye" (drum programming, percussion, background vocals)
Mo' Money – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1992)
- The Harlem Yacht Club- "Brother Will" (drummer)
Janet Jackson – janet. (1993)
- "What'll I Do" (drummer)
- "The Body That Loves You" (percussion)
Johnny Gill – Provocative (1993)
- "The Floor" (background vocals)
- "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (background vocals)
- "Mastersuite" (drummer, percussion)
- "Quiet Time To Play" (percussion)
- "I Know Where I Stand" (percussion)
Color Me Badd – Time and Chance (1993)
- "The Bells" (drummer)[12]
Jason's Lyric – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1994)
- Black Men United – "U Will Know" (lead vocals, background vocals)
Karyn White – Make Him Do Right (1994)
- "One Minute" (drummer, percussion)
Sounds of Blackness – Africa to America: The Journey of the Drum (1994)
- "The Lord Will Make A Way" (drummer, percussion)
- "The Drum (Africa To America)" (percussion)
J. Spencer – Blue Moon (1995)
- "U Should Be Mine" (lead vocals)
Solo – Solo (1995)
- "A Change Is Gonna Come" (drummer)
Soultry – Soultry (1995)[13]
- "Where Do Broken Hearts Belong" (writer, producer, drummer, percussion, bass synthesizer)
- "I Knew All Along" (writer, producer, drummer)
- "Can I Get To Know You" (producer)
Janet Jackson – Design of a Decade: 1986–1996 (1995)
- "Twenty Foreplay" (drummer)
New Edition – Home Again (1996)
- "One More Day" (percussion)
Ann Nesby – I'm Here For You (1996)
- "I'm Still Wearing Your Name" (drummer)
- "(What A) Lovely Evening" (drummer)
- "Thrill Me" (drummer)
- "This Weekend" (drummer)
- "Let Old Memories Be" (drummer)
- "All Alone" (writer, producer, background vocals, drummer)
4.0 – 4.0 (1997)
- "Oh Baby" (drummer)
Luther Vandross – One Night with You: The Best of Love, Volume 2 (1997)
- "I Won't Let You Do That To Me" (percussion)
Jon Secada – Secada (1997)[14]
- "Too Late, Too Soon" (percussion)
Sounds of Blackness – Time for Healing (1997)
- "The Blackness Blues" (drummer)
How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)
- K-Ci & JoJo – "Never Say Never Again" (drummer)
Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida (1999)
- Elton John & Janet Jackson – "I Know The Truth" (drummer)
Jordan Knight – Jordan Knight (1999)
- "Finally Finding Out" (percussion)
Yolanda Adams – Mountain High...Valley Low (1999)
- "Open My Heart" (drummer)
- "Twork It Out" (drummer)
- "How Do I Say" (drummer)
Blu Cantrell – So Blu (2001)
- "I'll Find A Way" (drummer)
Deborah Cox – The Morning After (2002)
- Hurt So Much" (drummer)
Toni Braxton – More Than a Woman (2002)
- "Lies, Lies, Lies" (acoustic guitar, guitar solo)
Ann Nesby – Put It on Paper (2002)
- "I'm Your Friend" (featuring Big Jim Wright) (drummer)
Ali Shaheed Muhammad – Shaheedullah and Stereotypes (2004)
- "Put Me On" (vocals)
- "Banga" (background vocals)
Prince – Musicology (2004)
- "Call My Name" (background vocals)
Jill Scott- The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3 (2007)
- "How It Make You Feel" (producer, bass, guitar, drum programming, keyboards)
Brother Ali – Us (2009)
- "Brothers And Sisters" (background vocals)
- "Us" (background vocals)
Tech N9ne – All 6's and 7's (2011)
- "The Boogieman" (background vocals)
Kelly Price – Kelly (2011)
Mint Condition – 7... (2011)
- "Not My Daddy" (co-vocals, co-producer, drummer, keyboards, bass)
- "Life's A Bitch" (additional vocals)
Brother Ali – The Bite Marked Heart (2012)
- "I'll Be Around" (background vocals)
The World Famous Tony Williams- King or the Fool (2012)
- "Mr. Safety" (additional vocals)
The Robert Glasper Experiment – Black Radio (2012)
- "Why Do We Try" (lead vocals, percussion)
U-Nam & Friends – Weekend in L.A (A Tribute To George Benson) (2012)
- "Nature Boy" (lead vocals)
Brian Culbertson – Dreams (2012)
- "No Limits" (lead vocals)
Wale – The Gifted (2013)
- "The Curse of the Gifted" (uncredited background vocals)[15]
- "LoveHate Thing" (featuring Sam Dew) (co-producer, guitar, bass, keyboards, drum programming)
- "Sunshine" (co-producer, keyboards, drums, percussion, background vocals)
- "Heaven's Afternoon" (featuring Meek Mill) (co-producer, keyboards, guitar, background vocals)
- "Gullible" (featuring Cee-Lo Green) (producer, drum programming, guitar)
- "Black Heroes" (co-producer, guitar, background vocals)
Lil' John Roberts – The Heartbeat (2014)
- "Space" (additional vocals)
Wale – The Album About Nothing (2015)
- "The Intro About Nothing" (additional vocals)
- "The Bloom (AG3)" (background vocals, additional production)
Boney James – futuresoul (2015)
- "Either Way" (vocals)
Maysa - Back 2 Love (2015)
- "Keep It Movin'" (producer, additional vocals)
PJ Morton - Christmas with PJ Morton (2018)
- "All I Want for Christmas is You" (additional vocals)
Zo! - FourFront (2019)
- "Sweat" (vocals)
After 7 - Unfinished Business (2021)
- "The Day" (additional vocals, writer, producer, drum programming, keyboards, acoustic guitar)
- "Sum Of A Woman" (writer, producer, drum programming, guitar, keyboards)
Discography as a group member
[edit]with Mint Condition
Meant to Be Mint (1991)
From the Mint Factory (1993)
Definition of a Band (1996)
The Collection (1991–1998) (1998)
Life's Aquarium (1999)
Livin' the Luxury Brown (2005)
Live from the 9:30 Club (2006)
E-Life (2008)
7... (2011)
Music @ the Speed of Life (2012)
Healing Season (2015)
with Ursus Minor
Nucular (2007)
Zugzwang (2010)
I Will Not Take "But" for an Answer (2010)
What Matters Now (2016)
Solo album
Introducing Stokley (2017)
Sankofa (2021)
References
[edit]- ^ "BBC Music – Stokley Williams". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
- ^ Bediako, Titilayo. "Stokely and Sylvia Williams: African American giants". Insightnews.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
- ^ Denman, Jamal (July 17, 2013). "Mint Condition front man focusing more on production". Spokesman-recorder.com. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
- ^ "Stokely Williams". AllMusic. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
- ^ "Mint Condition's Lead Singer Stokley Williams Receives 2 Grammy Nominations!". Theurbanmusicscene.com. Archived from the original on December 29, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
- ^ Aswad, Jem (April 29, 2017). "The Revolution Pay Tribute to Prince With an Emotional New York Concert". Variety.com.
- ^ "Stokley Strips Down & Celebrates Women In 'She…' And Announces New Album 'Sankofa'". soulbounce.com. SoulBounce. October 14, 2019. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
- ^ Allah, Sha Be (February 29, 2024). "Stokley Of R&B Group Mint Condition Cast As Rick James In 'Superfreak: The Rick James Story' - The Source". Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- ^ "Stokley Cast As Rick James In 'Super Freak: The Rick James Story' Stage Musical". www.wbls.com. March 2, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- ^ "Mint Condition's Stokley Williams takes solo leap". Rollingout.com. February 25, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
- ^ The Boys - The Boys (CD liner notes). Motown Record Company, L.P. MOTD-6302
- ^ "Time and Chance - Color Me Badd | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
- ^ Soultry - Soultry (CD liner notes). Motown Record Company L.P. 314530553-2
- ^ "Secada* - Too Late, Too Soon (The Mixes)". Discogs.com. 1997. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
- ^ Phillips, Noel (July 16, 2013). "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: STOKLEY WILLIAMS SPEAKS ON PRODUCING WALE'S "THE GIFTED" LP". Respect-mag.com. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
- African-American male singer-songwriters
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