Floetry
Encyclopedia
Floetry was a British
R&B
duo comprising Marsha Ambrosius
("the Songstress") and Natalie Stewart
("the Floacist"). The group recorded two studio albums, one live album
, and sold over 800,000 records worldwide. Formed in 1999, Floetry started on the performance poetry stage.
In 2002, the duo released their first album entitled, Floetic
. The album sold over 864,000 copies in the United States
. The album spawned the singles "Floetic", the top ten song "Say Yes", and "Getting Late". Following their success, Floetry released their live album Floacism
, featuring the single Wanna B Where U R (Thisizzaluvsong).
In 2005, Floetry released their second album Flo'Ology
. Two singles were released from this album, "SupaStar" and "Lay Down". Later in 2007, Natalie Stewart
("the Floacist") left the duo and was later temporarily replaced by femcee and MTV2 personality Amanda Diva.
Diva is no longer associated with the Floetry brand.
Ambrosius planned to attend Georgia Tech on a basketball scholarship, but injury forced her to bow out. Stewart headed for Middlesex University, eventually transferring to North London University. Still, the two kept in touch and raved about music. It wouldn't be until Stewart's poetry group, 3 Plus 1, broke through on the spoken word scene in London that Stewart would invite Ambrosius onto the stage. In 1999, Ambrosius became an honorary member of 3+1 and joined them on the performance poetry circuit in and around London. It was on these stages that Floetry was born. A year later, they were invited to Atlanta. A trip that led to a traveling to Philadelphia where the Neo Soul scene was thriving.
, Jazz of Dru Hill
, Glenn Lewis
(Marsha only), Bilal
, and Michael Jackson
, for whom Marsha penned the hit 2002 single "Butterflies
".
and released their debut album Floetic
, which featured the singles "Floetic", "Say Yes", and "Getting Late". The album was also released in the UK with additional tracks, one of which features British singer/songwriter and producer Sebastian Rogers
. Their song "Where's The Love" was featured in the film "Bringing Down the House
".
Floetry released a live album titled Floacism
in 2003. The two-disc set consisted of a CD
and DVD
and included the single "Wanna B Where U R (Thisizzaluvsong)" featuring rapper Mos Def
.
was released in November 2005. The album debuted at #7 on Billboard's Hot 200
and #2 on the Top R&B charts
, and sold over 77,000 copies in its first week. The album included the single "Supastar" featuring rapper Common
.
, who was replaced with Amanda Diva
for tours in 2007. Soon after Floetry finished promoting its newest member, the group separated. Marsha Ambrosius
was later signed as a solo artist to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment
.
As of 2010, Marsha has been recording her first solo studio album Late Nights & Early Mornings
which was released March 1, 2011 on J Records.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
duo comprising Marsha Ambrosius
Marsha Ambrosius
Marsha Ambrosius or Marsha is an English singer/songwriter. A former member of the English Soul/R&B duo Floetry, she released her first solo album Late Nights & Early Mornings on March 1, 2011.-Early career with Floetry:...
("the Songstress") and Natalie Stewart
Natalie Stewart
Natalie Stewart is a former member of the English Neo-soul duo, Floetry.-Early career with Floetry:Original members Marsha Ambrosius and Natalie Stewart met through their love of basketball and formed a friendship. Both attended the Brit School for Performing Arts & Technology, where Ambrosius...
("the Floacist"). The group recorded two studio albums, one live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
, and sold over 800,000 records worldwide. Formed in 1999, Floetry started on the performance poetry stage.
In 2002, the duo released their first album entitled, Floetic
Floetic
Floetic is the debut album by the English neo soul duo Floetry, released by DreamWorks Records in the United States on 1 October 2002 and in the United Kingdom on 25 November 2002.-Background:Since moving to the U.S...
. The album sold over 864,000 copies in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The album spawned the singles "Floetic", the top ten song "Say Yes", and "Getting Late". Following their success, Floetry released their live album Floacism
Floacism
Floacism is a live album from the neo-soul duo Floetry released in 2003. It also includes 3 studio songs.-Track listing:# "Wanna B Where U R "# "Have Faith"# "Tell Me When"# "Big Ben"# "Booty Do"# "Opera"# "Sunshine "...
, featuring the single Wanna B Where U R (Thisizzaluvsong).
In 2005, Floetry released their second album Flo'Ology
Flo'Ology
Flo'Ology is the third and final album by the English neo soul duo Floetry, released in the United States on 8 November 2005 by Geffen Records and in the United Kingdom on 14 November 2005 by Polydor Records. It debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 and includes the single "SupaStar"...
. Two singles were released from this album, "SupaStar" and "Lay Down". Later in 2007, Natalie Stewart
Natalie Stewart
Natalie Stewart is a former member of the English Neo-soul duo, Floetry.-Early career with Floetry:Original members Marsha Ambrosius and Natalie Stewart met through their love of basketball and formed a friendship. Both attended the Brit School for Performing Arts & Technology, where Ambrosius...
("the Floacist") left the duo and was later temporarily replaced by femcee and MTV2 personality Amanda Diva.
Diva is no longer associated with the Floetry brand.
Early life
The two met due to their love of basketball. Stewart, who hails from London, was a superstar on her court, while Ambrosius from Liverpool wowed fans in her local English neighborhood. They were competitive, but not rivals, so a friendship was formed. Music was also a passion. Stewart relished in her reggae roots while Ambrosius had been raised in the funk and soul tradition. While attending The Brits Performing Arts School, Ambrosius studied business and finance, but made room for courses in voice, performance technique, and recording. Stewart, who was voted 'Student of the Year' majored in Performance Arts and English. Later, Ambrosius and Stewart headed to college.Ambrosius planned to attend Georgia Tech on a basketball scholarship, but injury forced her to bow out. Stewart headed for Middlesex University, eventually transferring to North London University. Still, the two kept in touch and raved about music. It wouldn't be until Stewart's poetry group, 3 Plus 1, broke through on the spoken word scene in London that Stewart would invite Ambrosius onto the stage. In 1999, Ambrosius became an honorary member of 3+1 and joined them on the performance poetry circuit in and around London. It was on these stages that Floetry was born. A year later, they were invited to Atlanta. A trip that led to a traveling to Philadelphia where the Neo Soul scene was thriving.
Beginnings (1997-2002)
Since moving to the US in 2000, they have written for Jill ScottJill Scott
Jill Scott is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, poet, and actress. In 2007, Scott made her cinematic debut in the films Hounddog and in Tyler Perry's feature film, Why Did I Get Married? That year, her third studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, was released on...
, Jazz of Dru Hill
Dru Hill
Dru Hill is an American singing group, most popular during the late 1990s, whose repertoire included R&B, soul, and gospel music. Founded in Baltimore, Maryland, and active since 1992, Dru Hill recorded seven Top 40 hits, and is best known for the R&B #1 hits "In My Bed", "Never Make a Promise", ...
, Glenn Lewis
Glenn Lewis
Glenn Lewis is a Canadian R&B and neo soul singer-songwriter. Originally planning to pursue a career in animation as a teenager, Lewis instead decided to focus on music. His father was a member of the musical group Crack of Dawn...
(Marsha only), Bilal
Bilal (musician)
Bilal Sayeed Oliver , better known by his stage name Bilal, is an American neo soul/jazz singer-songwriter, musician and producer. He is also a core member of the loose collective, the Soulquarians. Bilal started out by singing in small clubs until he began classical training in jazz and big-band...
, and Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, for whom Marsha penned the hit 2002 single "Butterflies
Butterflies (Michael Jackson song)
"Butterflies" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was written and composed by Andre Harris and Marsha Ambrosius, and produced by Jackson and Harris. The track appears on Jackson's tenth studio album, Invincible . "Butterflies" is a midtempo ballad song with R&B musical styles...
".
Floetic and Floacism (2002-2003)
In 2002, they signed with DreamWorks RecordsDreamWorks Records
DreamWorks Records was an American record label. Founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as a subsidiary of DreamWorks SKG, the label operated until 2005 when it was shut down...
and released their debut album Floetic
Floetic
Floetic is the debut album by the English neo soul duo Floetry, released by DreamWorks Records in the United States on 1 October 2002 and in the United Kingdom on 25 November 2002.-Background:Since moving to the U.S...
, which featured the singles "Floetic", "Say Yes", and "Getting Late". The album was also released in the UK with additional tracks, one of which features British singer/songwriter and producer Sebastian Rogers
Sebastian Rogers
Sebastian Rogers is a vocalist, guitarist and producer who gained fame as a solo artist in 2000 with the release of his self-written album When It Comes And It Will.sebastians brother samuel died from a heart attack and weak heart...
. Their song "Where's The Love" was featured in the film "Bringing Down the House
Bringing Down the House (film)
Bringing Down the House is a 2003 American romantic comedy film, written by Jason Filardi and directed by Adam Shankman. The film stars Steve Martin and Queen Latifah.-Plot:...
".
Floetry released a live album titled Floacism
Floacism
Floacism is a live album from the neo-soul duo Floetry released in 2003. It also includes 3 studio songs.-Track listing:# "Wanna B Where U R "# "Have Faith"# "Tell Me When"# "Big Ben"# "Booty Do"# "Opera"# "Sunshine "...
in 2003. The two-disc set consisted of a CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and included the single "Wanna B Where U R (Thisizzaluvsong)" featuring rapper Mos Def
Mos Def
Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...
.
Flo'Ology (2005-2006)
Their third and final album Flo'OlogyFlo'Ology
Flo'Ology is the third and final album by the English neo soul duo Floetry, released in the United States on 8 November 2005 by Geffen Records and in the United Kingdom on 14 November 2005 by Polydor Records. It debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 and includes the single "SupaStar"...
was released in November 2005. The album debuted at #7 on Billboard's Hot 200
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
and #2 on the Top R&B charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
, and sold over 77,000 copies in its first week. The album included the single "Supastar" featuring rapper Common
Common (rapper)
Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. , better known by his stage name Common , is an American hip-hop artist and actor....
.
New Beginnings
Flo'Ology was the third and final album with original member Natalie StewartNatalie Stewart
Natalie Stewart is a former member of the English Neo-soul duo, Floetry.-Early career with Floetry:Original members Marsha Ambrosius and Natalie Stewart met through their love of basketball and formed a friendship. Both attended the Brit School for Performing Arts & Technology, where Ambrosius...
, who was replaced with Amanda Diva
Amanda Diva
Amanda Diva is a female rapper, actress, and former replacement of the musical group Floetry.- Personal life :...
for tours in 2007. Soon after Floetry finished promoting its newest member, the group separated. Marsha Ambrosius
Marsha Ambrosius
Marsha Ambrosius or Marsha is an English singer/songwriter. A former member of the English Soul/R&B duo Floetry, she released her first solo album Late Nights & Early Mornings on March 1, 2011.-Early career with Floetry:...
was later signed as a solo artist to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment
Aftermath Entertainment
Aftermath Entertainment is an American record label founded by Dr. Dre. It operates as a subsidiary of, and is distributed through, Universal Music Group's Interscope Records. Current acts include Dr. Dre, Eminem, 50 Cent and Slim da Mobster, with former acts including Busta Rhymes, Game, Raekwon,...
.
Epilogue
In November 2010, Stewart released her first solo CD, "Floetic Soul", on the Shanachie Record Label.As of 2010, Marsha has been recording her first solo studio album Late Nights & Early Mornings
Late Nights & Early Mornings
Late Nights & Early Mornings is the debut studio album by English recording artist and previous Floetry member Marsha Ambrosius. It was released by J Records on March 1, 2011. This was Ambrosius' only album with J Records...
which was released March 1, 2011 on J Records.
Studio albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales threshold) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
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| Floetic Floetic Floetic is the debut album by the English neo soul duo Floetry, released by DreamWorks Records in the United States on 1 October 2002 and in the United Kingdom on 25 November 2002.-Background:Since moving to the U.S... |
|
— | 19 | 4 |
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... : Gold |
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| Flo'Ology Flo'Ology Flo'Ology is the third and final album by the English neo soul duo Floetry, released in the United States on 8 November 2005 by Geffen Records and in the United Kingdom on 14 November 2005 by Polydor Records. It debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 and includes the single "SupaStar"... |
Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:... Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
167 | 7 | 2 | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Live albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
||
| Floacism Floacism Floacism is a live album from the neo-soul duo Floetry released in 2003. It also includes 3 studio songs.-Track listing:# "Wanna B Where U R "# "Have Faith"# "Tell Me When"# "Big Ben"# "Booty Do"# "Opera"# "Sunshine "... |
|
74 | 11 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
US Dance |
||||||
| 2002 | "Floetic" | 73 | — | 29 | — | Floetic | |||
| 2003 | "Say Yes" | — | 24 | 8 | — | ||||
| "Getting Late" | — | — | 31 | — | |||||
| 2005 | "Supastar" (with Common Common (rapper) Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. , better known by his stage name Common , is an American hip-hop artist and actor.... ) |
— | — | 55 | 15 | Flo'Ology | |||
| "Lay Down" | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Awards
- Grammy Awards
Year Category Genre Title Result 2003 Best Contemporary R&B Album R&B "Floetic" Nominated 2003 Best R&B Song R&B "Floetic" Nominated 2003 Best Urban/Alternative Performance R&B "Floetic" Nominated 2004 Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocal R&B "Say Yes" Nominated 2006 Best Urban/Alternative Performance R&B "Supastar" Nominated