Shareese Renée Ballard, better known by her stage name Res ( ), is an American singer from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Her musical style is a blend of

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

, and rock.

Solo career

Res released her debut album, ''

How I Do ''How I Do'' is the debut studio album by American singer Res. It was co-written by Santi White (as the lyricist), produced by Martin "Doc" McKinney, and released by MCA Records on June 26, 2001. The album charted for nine weeks on the ''Bill ...

'', in 2001 along with its first single "Golden Boys." Despite heavy rotation on VH1, the song did not catch on in radio play. "Ice King" (Remixed by

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ...

) emerged as the second single later that year but also failed to break through with radio audiences and no video was filmed. In early 2002, Res released the third single from ''How I Do'', " They-Say Vision." The song and accompanying video were breakthrough hits and reached #1 on the

Billboard Dance chart Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

and #37 on the

Hot 100 Singles Sales The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart. With the chart success of the single, the album entered the ''Billboard'' 200 for the first time. A fourth single, "Sittin' Back," was also released, but did not enjoy the same success as "They-Say Vision." Meanwhile, in 2002, Res appeared on a track with Tony Allen, Ray Lema,

Baaba Maal Baaba Maal ( ff, 𞤄𞤢𞥄𞤦𞤢 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤, italics=no, born 13 June 1953) is a Senegalese singer and guitarist born in Podor, on the Senegal River. In addition to acoustic guitar, he also plays percussion. He has released several al ...

Positive Black Soul Positive Black Soul (also known as PBS) is a hip hop group based in Dakar, Senegal, one of the first such collectives in the country. Founded in 1989, the group is composed of Didier Sourou Awadi (alias DJ Awadi) and Amadou Barry (alias Doug E. ...

and

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

for the

Red Hot Organization Red Hot Organization (RHO) is a not-for-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture. Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilati ...

's compilation album '' Red Hot and Riot'', a tribute to Nigerian musician

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997), also known as Abami Eda, was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the pi ...

. Res also performed a cover of

Jefferson Starship Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight gold or platinum-selling studio albu ...

song, "Miracles" for the

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series '' In Living Color'', where she re ...

movie '' Maid in Manhattan''. In 2003, her record label,

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

, was phased out by MCA Inc. and absorbed by

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

. Res was later released from her contract at her request after the label refused to release any further work despite paying her contracted label salary. After parting ways with Geffen, Res was called upon to model for Marc Ecko's "Ecko Red" clothing line and appeared in print advertising. In 2006, Res recorded "To Empower" for the soundtrack of the drama film '' Akeelah and the Bee''. She joined Gnarls Barkley's

St. Elsewhere ''St. Elsewhere'' was an American medical drama television series created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey, that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982, to May 25, 1988. The series stars Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd, and William Daniels ...

tour providing supporting vocals while writing and recording material for her second album. In 2009, Res released her second album ''Black.Girls.Rock!'' through digital media available on iTunes. The album features tracks originally recorded for her shelved Geffen album. ''Black.Girls.Rock!'' is described by Res as "more of a singer/songwriters album than my debut. Great, classic songs!" Res funded a limited production run of vinyl pressings. On February 14, 2011, Res released a compilation of unreleased demos and remixed songs titled ''A Box of Chocolates'' after the

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth. It is based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson ...

quote. The digital-only album is mixed by DJ NI** Sky (Nicole Albino of

Nina Sky Nina Sky is an American musical duo consisting of identical twins Nicole and Natalie Albino. Their debut single " Move Ya Body", released from their self-titled debut album in 2004, was a success, reaching number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot ...

) and features a blend of music from multiple genres of music. The album was intended as a

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...

gift to her fans as they awaited a proper release of ''Black.Girls.Rock!''. In 2013, Res signed with Javotti Media/EOne Records and her third studio album, 'Reset', was set to be released on September 15, 2016. As of June 2018, the album had not been released, but an Indigogo campaign to raise funds for the album had raised $39,000.

Idle Warship

In 2009, Res joined long-time collaborator and emcee

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...

to form a hip-hop/ electro duo known as

Idle Warship Idle Warship was a musical duo composed of Brooklyn emcee Talib Kweli and Philadelphia singer Res. Res has appeared on each Talib Kweli album since 2000's ''Train of Thought''. They have also toured together, including on the summer 2005 MGD F ...

. They have released a few teaser tracks online including a song named "Steady", that borrows from "

Sunglasses At Night "Sunglasses at Night" is a song by Canadian singer Corey Hart. It was released on January 21, 1984 as the first single from his debut album, 1983's ''First Offense'', and became a hit single in the United States, officially rising to number 7 on ...

" by Corey Hart. In June 2009, Idle Warship completed their first headlining tour through Europe. They performed to sold-out crowds in Switzerland, Norway, France and Germany. Idle Warship has produced a mixtape called ''Party Robots'' made available for download in October 2010 available from Res' official site. Idle Warship finished their debut album, '' Habits of the Heart'', released on November 1, 2011. The first single from this debut, "Laser Beams" is produced by DJ Khalil and The New Royales.

Discography

Studio albums *2001: ''

'' (MCA Records) *2009: ''Black.Girls.Rock!'' (currently unavailable — only 1000 copies printed) *2017: ''Reset'' (Javotti Media/EOne Records) Collaborations *2011: '' Habits of the Heart'' (with

) (Blacksmith Records/Fontana) Compilations *2010: ''Party Robots Mixtape'' (with

) *2011: ''A Box of Chocolates'' (digital only, available on Res
official site
EPs *2013: ''ReFried Mac'' EP (digital only, Javotti Media/EOne Records)

References

External links

Official websiteBlack.Girls.Rock! Audio Files
{{DEFAULTSORT:Res African-American women singer-songwriters African-American rock musicians African-American rock singers American contemporary R&B singers American hip hop singers American soul singers Experimental rock musicians Musicians from Philadelphia Living people Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American women singers

Solo career

Idle Warship

Discography

See also

References

External links