B Angie B

Angela Roxanna Boyd, known by the stage name B Angie B (born March 9, 1968) is an R&B vocalist and dancer from Morton, Mississippi, US. Boyd was a backing vocalist for MC Hammer in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and recorded for his Bust-It Records label, releasing a charting album and single of her own with the label in 1991. Subsequent releases were less commercially successful, but Boyd continued occasionally releasing music in the 2000s and 2010s. Allmusic credits Boyd with exploring neo soul musical aesthetics within urban contemporary music and described her as a forerunner to other African-American female soul singers, such as Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu, and Jill Scott.[2]

B Angie B
Birth nameAngela Roxanna Boyd[1]
Also known asAngela Roxanna Boyd Earley
Angie B
Born (1968-03-09) March 9, 1968
Morton, Mississippi, U.S.
Genres
Instruments
Years active1990–present
Labels
  • Capitol
  • EMI
  • Monarchy (a division of the Spectra Music Group)

Career and personal life

Boyd was born and raised in the small rural town of Morton, Mississippi.[2] She grew up singing and honing her vocals in a local church. She graduated from Morton High School in the Scott County School District in 1984. A few years later, she and her best friend made a decision to move out west to pursue a singing/music career together. The friend ended up getting pregnant and Boyd relocated to Oakland, California alone.

It was not long after this relocation, that Boyd was discovered by producer (and future husband) James Earley and brought to MC Hammer's attention that Angie was a vocalist. Hammer is also the one credited with giving Boyd her stage name B Angie B when one day Hammer spoke the words "just be Angie". She sang on "Pump It Up (Here's the News)" on Hammer's Let's Get It Started album (the version re-released on Capitol Records in 1988) and she became a backup singer during his concert tours. During this tour, she briefly dated Mike Tyson.[1]

Her next opportunity came in 1989 with Hammer's all female rap group Oaktown's 3.5.7. She added her vocals to the rap song "Juicy Gotcha Krazy" and appeared in the video along with Oaktown's 3.5.7. She continued to tour and produce background vocals for Hammer during his successful Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em album and tour cycle in 1990.

In 1991, Hammer signed B Angie B to his Capitol-distributed Bust It Records imprint.[2] Later that same year, Boyd released her debut album, entitled B Angie B, which was co-produced by Hammer and Felton Pilate, who was a former member of Con Funk Shun.[2] In April 1991, the album debuted at #11 on the Billboard Hip-hop/R&B charts. It peaked at #133 on the Billboard 200.[3] The release of the album was led by the single "So Much Love", followed by two covers: "Sweet Thing", originally by Rufus & Chaka Khan, and "I Don't Want To Lose Your Love", originally by The Emotions.[2] "I Don't Want to Lose Your Love" was the album's biggest hit, reaching #54 on the Billboard Hot 100.[4] She toured with Johnny Gill around the time of the album's release.[1] In July 1991, she began dating Tyson again while on tour with several Bust It musicians.[1] She would later become a prominent witness in Tyson's 1992 rape trial.[5]

She appeared in the Kid 'n Play farce Class Act and sang on the soundtrack title track "Class Act (Work That Body)". The title track was also released as a video.

Late in 1991, Boyd left Capitol. Boyd released a second album in 1995 under the Bust It label (with independent distribution). She dropped the first "B" and was known as Angie B. The album was preceded by the single "It's My Life"; neither the album nor the single charted. Nevertheless, critics have identified her as a forerunner of neo soul R&B, which became more prominent over the course of the 1990s and beyond; Alex Henderson of Allmusic noted, "B Angie B did her part to bring soul music to a hip-hop/urban contemporary generation...she was doing that type of thing before the rise of Mary J. Blige, D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, or Jill Scott."[2]

At the turn of 2000, B Angie B (now amicably divorced from James Earley) resided back in Mississippi and with Earley had one child, a daughter. Her 1991 solo debut B Angie B on Capitol records was reissued in mid-2005 with a bonus DVD along with previous releases from former label mates Oaktown's 3.5.7.

In the summer of 2009, new music was released on her Myspace page (www.myspace.com/bangiebmusic), including a remake of "Ring My Bell".

In 2013, B Angie B signed a recording contract with Monarchy Records: A division of the Spectra Music Group. Her new album "Stronger Than Ever" was released on April 22, 2013. This project is a collaboration with the Italian DJ's Max Mazzeo and Dirty Old Boyz.

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References
  1. Randy Roberts and J. Gregory Garrison, Heavy Justice: The Trial of Mike Tyson. University of Arkansas Press, 1994, pp. 8-12.
  2. Henderson, Alex. "Biography: B Angie B". Allmusic. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
  3. Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Albums. 6th edition, 2006, p. 72.
  4. Joel Whitburn, Top Pop Singles. 12th edition, 2009, p. 68.
  5. "Rapper's Visit to See Tyson Causes Stir at Prison". Jet, May 11, 1992. (Google Books link)
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