Lloyd Polite Jr. (born January 3, 1986) is an American R&B singer. Born in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, and raised in

Decatur, Georgia Decatur () is a city and the county seat of DeKalb County, Georgia, DeKalb County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, th ...

, he began his musical career as a member of the

preteen Preadolescence is a stage of human development following middle childhood and preceding adolescence.New Oxford American Dictionary. 2nd Edition. 2005. Oxford University Press. It commonly ends with the beginning of puberty. Preadolescence is ...

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

N-Toon, which was formed by

Joyce Irby Joyce "Fenderella" Irby (born July 27, 1956, Orlando, FL - according to her 2022 memoir, "Id Still Say Yes") is an American singer, songwriter, bass guitarist and producer. She was the co-lead vocalist of the all-female band Klymaxx. Irby has als ...

in 1996. The group disbanded in 2001, and Polite signed with record executive

Irv Gotti Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. (June 26, 1970 – February 5, 2025), professionally known as Irv Gotti or DJ Irv, was an American record producer and music executive. Gotti started off as a New York hip-hop DJ in the 1980s, then becoming an A&R t ...

Murder Inc. Records Murder Inc. Records, LLC, also abbreviated as The Inc. Records, is an American record label founded by brothers and record executives Chris and Irv Gotti in 1999. The label's flagship artist was Ja Rule. According to Chris Gotti, Murder Inc. h ...

, an imprint of

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

in 2003 to pursue a solo career. His 2004 debut single, " Southside" (featuring Ashanti) peaked within the

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and led his first album ''Southside'' (2004), which entered the ''Billboard'' 200 at number 11. His second album, '' Street Love'' (2007) debuted at number two on the chart and was supported by the ''Billboard'' Hot 100-top 20 singles "

You In Modern English, the word "''you''" is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from ...

" (featuring

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

) and "

Get It Shawty "Get It Shawty" is a song by American R&B artist Lloyd. It was released in March 2007 as the second single from his second album, '' Street Love'' (2007). Lloyd stated that he wanted to try something different with the track, and be able to have ...

". His third album, '' Lessons in Love'' (2008) peaked at number seven on ''Billboard'' 200, although its singles were less commercially successful. His guest appearance on

Young Money Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one's age is low, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an America ...

's 2009 single, "

BedRock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bed ...

" conversely yielded his furthest commercial success, peaking at number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. After his departure from Murder Inc., he signed with Atlanta-based producer

Polow da Don Jamal Fincher Jones (born October 15, 1977 or 1978), known professionally as Polow da Don, is an American record producer from Atlanta, Georgia. He began his career as a recording artist in the late 1990s, leaving college to pursue a career with ...

's record label Zone 4, an imprint of

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

in March 2010. His fourth album, ''

King of Hearts The king of hearts is a playing card in the standard 52-card deck. King of Hearts may also refer to: Games * The king of hearts has five sons, card game that may have been a precursor to Cluedo Books * King of Hearts (Alice's Adventures in ...

'' (2011) peaked at number ten on the ''Billboard'' 200 and was supported by the moderately-performing singles " Lay It Down" and " Dedication to My Ex (Miss That)" (featuring

André 3000 André Lauren Benjamin (born May 27, 1975), known professionally as André 3000, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he was one half of the hip-hop duo Outkast along with rapper Big Boi, which the two formed in 1992. Benj ...

and Lil Wayne)—the latter saw further success internationally. Following a five-year hiatus, he independently released his 2016 single " Tru", which received

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

certification by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). It preceded the release of his fifth album ''Tru'' (2016)—his first independent album. In March 2019, Polite joined a lineup of prominent early-2000s

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music Music genre, genre, originating from African Americans, African-American musicians in the 1980s that combines rhythm and blues with elements of Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, funk, Hip-hop, ...

artists for The Millennium Tour, which quickly became one of that year's most popular shows. Outside of music, Polite first acted in the 2005

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...

television series '' One on One'', in which he starred as the love interest of main cast member Spirit—played by

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. He made his film debut as Gregory Williams—founding member of

Switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type o ...

—in TV One's original biopic, ''The Bobby Debarge Story''.

Early life

Lloyd Polite Jr. was born on January 3, 1986, in

, to Lloyd Polite Sr. and Robin Lewis Polite. He grew up in the

Calliope Projects The B. W. Cooper Public Housing Development, also known as The Calliope Projects, was a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans and one of the housing projects of New Orleans. This project of New Orleans gained notoriety for its extremely high ...

Central City, New Orleans Central City is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. It is located in the 11th Ward of New Orleans in Uptown, just above the Garden District, on the "lakeside" of St. Charles Avenue. A subdistrict of the Central City/Garden District Are ...

and then moved to

. In Decatur, Polite found his desire to sing and later relocated to New York City where he met

Musical career

2003–2007: ''Southside'' and ''Street Love''

In 2003, Polite was discovered and signed to

's The Inc. as a solo artist and released his debut album, '' Southside'', on July 20, 2004. It debuted at number 11 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. The album's lead single, " Southside", featuring R&B singer Ashanti, managed to peak at number 24 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 13 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. The second and final single, " Hey Young Girl" was released in August 2004 and peaked at number 61 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Later that year he featured on

8Ball & MJG 8Ball & MJG is an American hip hop music, hip hop duo from Orange Mound, Memphis, Orange Mound, Memphis, Tennessee. They met at Ridgeway Middle School (Memphis, Tennessee), Ridgeway Middle School in 1984. In 1993, the duo released their debut al ...

's "Forever" and Tango Redd's "Let's Cheat". In 2004, Polite was featured on label-mate

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. Born and raised in New York City, Ja Rule became known for blending gangsta rap with pop rap, pop and contempo ...

's " Caught Up"; the song saw minor success in the United States, reaching number 65 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. However, on the UK Singles Chart the song peaked at number 20. The singer reentered the recording studios to begin work with producers

Bryan-Michael Cox Bryan-Michael Paul Cox (born December 1, 1977) is an American record producer and songwriter, known for his work with artists such as Usher, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, and Toni Braxton. His most notable productions are " Be Without You" fo ...

, James Lackey,

Jazze Pha Phalon Anton Alexander, known professionally as Jazze Pha ( ), is an American record producer, rapper, singer and songwriter. He founded the record label Sho'nuff Records in 1995, through which he signed R&B singer Ciara in 2003. He produced h ...

Big Reese Maurice Sinclair, better known as his stage name Big Reese (or simply Reese) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer, who was a member of the trio P.A. Biography Big Reese emerged from the Organized Noize production cam ...

and Jasper Cameron and The Inc.'s

7 Aurelius Marcus Vest, known by his stage names Channel 7 and 7 Aurelius, is an American musician, record producer, rapper and songwriter. Life and career Vest learned how to play drums at a Pentecostal church growing up. His career started with Rap-A-L ...

. Released on March 13, 2007, '' Street Love'' debuted at number two on the US ''

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 advertis ...

'' 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums charts, with sales of 145,000 copies emerging as Lloyd's highest debut and biggest first week. It eventually received a

gold certification Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

, and has sold over half a million copies domestically. The album's lead single, Jasper Cameron-penned "

", featured rapper

, was a big commercial success, becoming his first top ten single on the Hot 100. In addition, it reached the top position on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The single reached number 45 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and number 25 in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The second single "

" reached number 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number four on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. It also reached number 37 in the United Kingdom. The third and final single, " Player's Prayer", was released and peaked at number 74 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song was not promoted and didn't receive a music video. Later in 2007, he was featured on Huey's " When I Hustle" and

Dem Franchize Boyz Dem Franchize Boyz was an American hip hop music, hip hop group from Atlanta, Georgia, Atlanta, signed to E1 Music. The group had four members: Parlae (born Maurice Gleaton), Pimpin' (Jamal Willingham), Jizzal Man (Bernard Leverette), and Buddie ...

's "Turn Heads", both songs saw minor success in the United States, reaching number 80 and 75 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

2008–2009: ''Lessons in Love''

'' Lessons in Love'' was released on August 4, 2008. "The title concept derives from a schoolboy fantasy of mine, where I become a professor of a classroom full of gorgeous girls, and I feel the best thing I can give them that's really worth having is lessons in love!" he said about the issues worked into the tracks. The album debuted at number seven on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number one on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

charts, with moderately successful first-week sales 51,000 — about half as many as his previous effort, number two album '' Street Love''.Katie Hasty (August 13, 2008)
'Mamma Mia!' Leaps To No. 1 On The Billboard 200
''Billboard''. Accessed August 13, 2008. " How We Do It (Around My Way)", featured rapper

Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, spoken as "ludicrous" in American English), is an American rapper and songwriter. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at age ...

, was released as the first single, peaking at number 77 on the US ''Billboard'' Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number 75 on the UK charts. Due to the low success of the song, it only appeared on select versions of the album as a bonus track. The second single, " Girls Around the World", featured

and was a moderate hit. It peaked at number 64 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 13 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. The third and final single was " Year of the Lover". The single version featured rapper Plies. It only peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles. In June 2009, it was announced that Polite would depart from The Inc. Records. Lloyd stated that he was "focusing on just growing in general". A song titled "Pusha", produced by The Runners written by Polite, Raymond "Ray-Ray" Gordon,

Sean Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Hiberno-English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name '' Yohanan'' (), Seán ( anglicized as '' Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; a ...

"Slim" McMillion, and The Monarch and featuring

Juelz Santana LaRon Louis James Sr. (born February 18, 1982), better known by his stage name Juelz Santana, is an American rapper and member of now-defunct hip-hop group, the Diplomats (also known as Dipset). He is best known for his appearances on group coho ...

was leaked online.Joszor, Njai
Lesson Learned (Interview)
''Singersroom.com''. September 26, 2010. Juelz Santana was later replaced on the song by

but later both verses were put together and was released as the lead single from his EP, ''Like Me: The Young Goldie EP''. Polite also collaborated with Lil Wayne on the song "

" which is the second single from Lil Wayne's record label

compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products, such as video game co ...

album. On March 13 it was confirmed that Lloyd signed to

2010–2013: ''King of Hearts''

In May 2010, Polite teamed up with fellow New Orleans native

Mystikal Michael Lawrence Tyler (born September 22, 1970), better known by his stage name Mystikal, is an American rapper and actor from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is noted for brash, obstreperous vocal delivery, characterized by a Southern rasp. He si ...

and recorded "Set Me Free". The video was shot primarily in the

of New Orleans. The song featured heavy brass sounds and a sample of "Unchain My Heart" by

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

. On July 25, 2010, Lloyd announced via

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that his new album will be entitled ''

''. It was released on July 5, 2011, and on August 16, 2010, Polite released the first single entitled " Lay It Down". The second single was "

Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid ( , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. He is also known as Amor (Latin: ...

" and the third single released was " Dedication to My Ex (Miss That)"; to date the single is Lloyd's biggest international hit peaking at number three on the Australian and UK charts. The song features

OutKast Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin, formerly known as Dré). Widely regarded as one of the greatest an ...

and is narrated by

. On October 29, 2012, Polite released his first mixtape ''The Playboy Diaries Vol. 1''. It features

August Alsina August Anthony Alsina Jr.(April 8, 2013)R&B Singer August Alsina Talks Working With The Dream, Preps Def Jam Debut, ''Life + Times'' (confirms middle name; other sources confirm he is a "junior") (born September 3, 1992) is an American hip hop ...

Trae Tha Truth Trae tha Truth (or simply Trae) is an American rapper. He embarked on a recording career in 1998, and established local prominence in the Southern hip hop, Texas hip hop scene with his solo debut, ''Losing Composure'' (2003). His second and thi ...

among others. In January 2013 Polite released a song called "Twerk Off" featuring rapper

Juicy J Jordan Michael Houston III (born April 5, 1975), known professionally as Juicy J, is an American rapper and record producer. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, he is a founding member of the Southern hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia, established ...

and was produced by

Drumma Boy Christopher James Gholson (born August 11, 1983), better known by his stage name Drumma Boy (or Drummer Boy), is an American record producer and rapper. Early life Born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in Cordova, Tennessee, he was exposed to ...

2016–present: ''Tru''

On May 6, 2016, he released his first single in five years titled "Tru", with the audio for the song released on YouTube 12 days later. On June 23, 2016, during an interview, Polite revealed that he had signed a new distribution deal with

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

. Lloyd announced the release of his fifth studio album titled ''Out My Window'' on October 25, 2016. On November 7 Polite announced via his Instagram that he would be releasing a new EP before his album on December 9, 2016, titled ''Tru''. On July 9, 2018, Polite released "Caramel" as the first single from his album '' Tru''. The album was released on August 31, 2018.

Personal life

On September 3, 2010, Polite cut off his signature long hair and donated it to charity. On July 6, 2011, Lloyd revealed a new tattoo of "Guns & Roses" that was tattooed on the back of his head. On March 14, 2016, it was announced and revealed that Lloyd had earned his GED certificate, encouraging his fans to do the same if they had not finished high school. In an August 2016 interview with

Sway Calloway Jonathan Ahmad Calloway (born July 3, 1971), known as Sway, is an American radio personality, journalist and former rapper known for hosting music, news, and culture programming. He was an on-air reporter and host for MTV News and occasional non- ...

, Polite explains his hiatus through the lyrics of his song "Tru", expressing how he lost an unborn child to an abortion and that it "left a big hole", while also detailing other family issues. In September 2017, Polite's girlfriend gave birth to their son River. The two welcomed their daughter in late 2018.

Discography

Studio albums * '' Southside'' (2004) * '' Street Love'' (2007) * '' Lessons in Love'' (2008) * ''

'' (2011) * '' Tru'' (2018)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd 1986 births Living people 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers American contemporary R&B singers American countertenors Def Jam Recordings artists Murder Inc. Records artists Interscope Records artists Singers from Georgia (U.S. state) Singers from Louisiana Pop rappers Universal Motown Records artists 21st-century African-American male singers People from Decatur, Georgia