b. Angela Laverne Brown, 18th December 1961, Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.A.
Angie Stone began singing gospel music at a young age at First Nazareth Baptist Church.
Her father, a member of a local gospel quartet, would take his only child to see performances by gospel artists such as the Singing Angels and the Gospel Keynotes.
During her youth, Angie wrote poetry, played sports, and after high school graduation was offered college basketball scholarships.
She also performed solitary 'mirror concerts' in her bedroom while her recordings of her musical heroes, Aretha Franklin, Donny Hathaway, Smokey Robinson, and Marvin Gaye, played in the background.
Later on 'Black Diamond', Angie would perform a cover of Marvin's 'Trouble Man,' the title track from the soundtrack of the 1972 Robert Hooks / Paul Winfield 20th Century Fox movie, Marvin's sole soundtrack release.
While working dead-end jobs, Angie began saving money to record her own demo's at a local studio called PAW.
She joined Gwendolyn Chisolm and Cheryl Cook in the rap trio the Sequence who recorded hits for Joe and Sylvia Robinson's (she of 'Pillow Talk' fame) Sugarhill Records: 'Funk You Up,' a remake of Parliament's hit 'Tear the Roof Off the Sucker' called 'Funky Sound (Tear the Roof Off),' and 'I Don't Need Your Love (Part One).'
angie in the sequence circa 1980 (r.h.s.)
Soon after, Angie was working with futuristic rappers Mantronix and rocker Lenny Kravitz and formed neo-soul trio Vertical Hold, who first charted with the Criminal single 'Summertime' (number 82 R & B in summer 1988).
Besides 'Seems You're Much Too Busy,' the group's self-titled A & M album spawned the charting single 'ASAP.'
'Seems You're Just Too Busy' hit number 17 R & B during summer 1993.
In 1996, Gerry Deveaux (cousin of Lenny Kravitz), took Angie under his musical wing as part of his 'Devox' project.
Angie sung on several excellent cuts including 'Let It Go', 'Tell Me' and 'Tonight.
In 1999, many of the tracks that Angie sang on with Devox, were released on a CD entitled 'Soul Degrees-The Music Of Gerry Devaux'.
The CD came out on Expansion Records and his highly recommended. Check their site on the links page.
Going solo, her debut album 'Black Diamond' was issued September 1999 by Arista Records.
There's definitely an old school and autobiographical vibe throughout the enchanting 'keeping it real' release that 's exemplified by her hit ballad 'No More Rain (In This Cloud),' which has samples from Gladys Knight and the Pips' 'Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye).'
Stone has collaborated with Mary J. Blige, Jill Jones, D'Angelo, and hit producer Malik Pendleton, among others.
Contributing to 'Black Diamond' are Lenny Kravitz ('Green Grass Vapors'), former Tribe Called Quest member Ali Shaheed Muhammad ('Bone 2 Pic [Wit U]'), Stone's co-producer Aaron 'Freedom' Lyles, Rex Rideout, Phil Temple, Gerry Deveaux, DJ U-Neek, and Russell Elevado.
The title of the first single, 'No More Rain (In This Cloud),' was taken from a rebuffing phrase that her father would use when Stone would sometimes ask him for money: 'There's no more rain in this cloud.'
Angie's ex-boyfriend D'Angelo (who also has a lot of ol' school influences in his hits) guests on 'Everyday.'
Standout tracks on 'Black Diamond' are 'Heaven Help,' 'Man Loves His Money,' ' Life Story,' and 'Visions,' which includes a sample from Ramsey Lewis and Earth, Wind & Fire's 'Sun Goddess'.
Angie can also be heard on several movie soundtracks including 'Disappearing Acts' and 'Bamboozled' with the tunes 'Get To Know You Better' and 'Slippery Shoes'.
She also covered Simply Red's 'Holding Back The Years' on the soundtrack to the movie 'Love & Basketball'.
Angie's album, 'Mahogany Soul', her first for J-Records, was released in the autumn of 2001.
Many producers contributed this time around, including Prince, Raphael Saadiq, Warryn Campbell, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Gerald Isaacs, Chucky Thompson, Mike City and Rufus Blaq. Prince also sings a duet with Angie.
The album contained the popular 'I Wish I Didn't Miss You Anymore', that cleverly sampled the O'Jays classic, 'Backstabbers'.
Angie returned to the Marvin Gaye Studio for a new project entitled 'The Art Of Love And War' in 2007, followed by 'Unexpected' in 2009.
'Rich Girl' was released in 2012 on the Saguaro Records imprint.
Albums:
Black Diamond (Arista 1999)
Black Diamond [Japan Bonus Tracks] (2000)
Mahogany Soul (J-Records 2001)
The Art Of Love And War (Stax Records 2007)
Unexpected (Decca Records 2009)
Rich Girl (Saguaro Records 2012)
Dreams (Saguaro Records 2015)
Covered In Soul (Cleopatra Records 2016)
Full Circle (Cleopatra Records 2019)
Love Language (Virgin Records 2023)
