Andwele Gardner (born February 14, 1978), better known by his stage name Dwele, is an American R&B
singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
, rapper,
songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...
and
record producer
A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
from
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
.
Biography
Gardner was raised on the west side of Detroit in a musical family. He played
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
from the age of six, later taking up
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
,
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
and
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...
. He was deeply affected by the fatal shooting of his father outside his home when he was age ten, later stating "I learned to put my emotions into music; it was my therapy." He cites
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...
,
Donny Hathaway
Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger whom ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto", "This Christmas ...
,
Roy Ayers
Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940) is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer, vibraphone player, and music producer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at ...
,
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...
, and
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives ...
as favorite artists, and took inspiration from hip hop group
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip , becoming an MC, and working with Slum Village.
Gardner recorded a demo in his bedroom, called, ''The Rize'', and sold it out of the trunk of his car. He had about 100 copies, which sold out within a week. He caught the ears of local hip hop group Slum Village and their producer
J Dilla
J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon vari ...
. Slum Village invited Dwele to sing the hook of the song "Tainted" for their album ''
Trinity (Past, Present and Future)
''Trinity (Past, Present and Future)'' is the third studio album by Slum Village, released on August 13, 2002. The album was mainly produced by Jay Dee. Additional production was from Hi-Tek, Waajeed, Scott Storch, Karriem Riggins, T3, Black M ...
''. It was successful and led to more high-profile work with rapper Bahamadia, the group Lucy Pearl and London's New Sector Movement. Dwele signed to
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a world ...
in 2001, and the label released his debut album, '' Subject'' in spring 2003, which mixed
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 con ...
and hip hop.
In a 2005 review in ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', his style was summed up: "Dwele's rooted in vintage soul but isn't stuck in the past, overly reverential or an exercise in pastiche - there's a major hip-hop edge which betrays his original incarnation as a rapper." A second album, '' Some Kinda...'', followed in 2005. He then later signed with RT Music Group and KOCH records in March, 2008 He released his fourth album titled, '' W.ants W.orld W.omen'' on June 29, 2010.
Dwele was featured on the first single from
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
's fifth studio album, '' My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy''. The song is entitled " Power". He is also featured on "Flashing Lights" from West's 2007 album ''Graduation''.
Dwele released the first single, "What Profit", from his fifth studio album ''Greater Than One''. The song was written and produced by Mike City - the same producer behind his other singles "I Think I Love U" and "What's Not to Love". The song was sent to radio on May 22, 2012.