Without You

Marsha Ambrosius is a specialist in soul-rooted ballads and slow jams enhanced with her yearning riffs and runs. She secured her standing in post-millennial contemporary R&B as the co-writer of Michael Jackson's "Butterflies" (2001). This immediately preceded her recorded debut as one-half of Floetry. The Philadelphia-based English duo released a pair of studio albums, including the gold-selling, Grammy-nominated Floetic (2002). Following a floe-schism, Ambrosius resumed collaborative work and quickly established a solo career, debuting with the number two hit Late Nights & Early Mornings (2011), featuring "Far Away," a single nominated for two Grammy awards. Since then, the singer and songwriter has continued to juggle co-writing and/or featured appearances on tracks by the likes of Kanye West, Robert Glasper, and Dr. Dre, and has added to her solo discography with the sophisticated and impassioned albums Friends & Lovers (2014), Nyla (2018), and Casablanco (2024), the last of which she produced with Dre.

Originally from Liverpool and raised in London, Marsha Ambrosius met Natalie Stewart as a youth basketball opponent. The two made a deeper connection while later enrolled at the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology. An injury prevented Ambrosius from attending Georgia Tech on an athletic scholarship, which prompted her to redirect her energy toward music. A demo led to a publishing deal, and in 2000, Ambrosius and Stewart established themselves as a performing duo in the U.S., specifically Atlanta and Philadelphia. This led to their first song placements on a series of Philly-connected projects scattered across 2001. Ambrosius and Stewart co-wrote Bilal's "You Are" and Jazz's "Love Again" (featuring Jill Scott), two songs produced by Andre "Dre" Harris and Vidal Davis. Additionally, Harris and Ambrosius co-wrote Michael Jackson's "Butterflies," which appeared on Invincible that October and four months later was issued as a single that went Top 20 pop. During the song's ascent, Glenn Lewis' World Outside My View was released with a handful of songs involving Ambrosius' input.

As Floetry, Ambrosius ("The Songstress") and Stewart ("The Floacist") debuted in October 2002 with Floetic. A Top 20 entry certified gold within nine months of release, it was nominated for a 2003 Grammy in the category of Best Contemporary R&B Album, while its title track was nominated for Best R&B Song and Best Urban/Alternative Performance. The Top Ten R&B/hip-hop hit "Say Yes" added to the tally of nominations the following year when it was nominated for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. A live album and several outside collaborations were in the duo's rearview mirror by the time they issued Flo'Ology in November 2005. Although it debuted within the Top Ten and earned yet another urban/alternative Grammy nomination, this time for the Common collaboration "Supastar," it was Floetry's final studio album.

Ambrosius temporarily linked up with Dr. Dre's Aftermath label. She appeared on Aftermath projects from the Game and Busta Rhymes, but she released only a short and brash 2007 mixtape, Neo Soul Is Dead -- based on instrumentals from The Chronic -- during the affiliation. Into the early part of the following decade, Ambrosius added Nas, Alicia Keys, Jamie Foxx, and Wale to the list of artists who sought her for writing and featured appearances. Signed to J Records, she finally made her proper solo debut in March 2011 with the number two hit Late Nights & Early Mornings, on which she covered Portishead's "Sour Times," delivered the scathing dismissal "Hope She Cheats on You (With a Basketball Player)," and with Just Blaze cooked up the ballad "Far Away," a Top Five R&B/hip-hop hit nominated for Grammy awards in two categories: Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance. Between LP activity were appearances on recordings by the likes of 9th Wonder, Daley, Kanye West, and Robert Glasper Experiment. A full return was made on RCA in June 2014 with Friends & Lovers, a Top 20 entry as sensual as the debut. Among the tracks was the Sade-interpolating "Stronger," co-produced by Dr. Dre, whose Compton was released the following year with Ambrosius a recurring featured artist.

Floetry reunited to tour across 2015 and 2016 with plans to record, but Ambrosius and Stewart broke up again, leaving the two to resume separate solo activity. Ambrosius remained in demand, contributing most notably to Common's Black America Again, A Tribe Called Quest's We Got It from Here...Thank You 4 Your Service, Nipsey Hussle's Victory Lap, and Royce da 5'9"'s Book of Ryan. The latter two were released after Ambrosius gave birth to a daughter, whose name, Nyla, became the title of her reflective third solo album in September 2018. Issued through Human Re Sources, Nyla landed at number 18 on Billboard's independent chart. Apart from featured appearances on tracks by the likes of the Game and 2 Chainz, Ambrosius was quiet over the next several years, and returned on Dr. Dre's Aftermath label near the end of 2023 with "The Greatest." A slow jam she co-produced with Dre, "One Night Stand," was out the following March and appeared on the full-length Casablanco, released three months later. ~ Andy Kellman

One of the most acclaimed artists of the 2000s, sophisticated pop-R&B specialist Ne-Yo entered the mainstream as a songwriter for Mario's "Let Me Love You" (2004), a number one pop hit. By the time Billboard determined that the romantic ballad was the eighth most successful single of its decade, Ne-Yo had come into his own as a singer, composer, and all-around entertainer inspired by Michael Jackson and Babyface, having racked up a career's worth of accomplishments. He had platinum certifications for his first three albums, In My Own Words (2006), Because of You (2007), and Year of the Gentleman (2008), the second of which won a Grammy Award in the category of Best Contemporary R&B Album. Seven of his singles, as well as five on which he appeared as a featured artist, peaked within the Top Ten of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable" and Rihanna's "Take a Bow," two of the many songs he wrote for other artists, were smash hits as well. Not as prolific in the 2010s and 2020s, Ne-Yo worked extensively behind the scenes as a Motown executive, amid a slew of acting and televised talent competitions. Non-Fiction (2015) became his sixth straight Top Ten album. Still with Motown, he released Good Man (2018) and the openly confessional Self Explanatory (2022). Singles like "Link Up" and "2 Million Secrets" followed over the next two years.

Born in Camden, Arkansas, and raised in Las Vegas, Ne-Yo (Shaffer Chimere Smith) broke into the music industry as a songwriter, though he had a false start with a short-lived group called Envy. Before he exited his teenage years, he penned material for Youngstown. Shortly thereafter, he co-wrote "That Girl" for Marques Houston and "I'm Sorry" for Christina Milian; the former composition had been intended for Smith's own debut album, which was recorded for Columbia but never released. In late 2004, he became known throughout the industry as the co-writer of Mario's "Let Me Love You," one of the most-played songs on urban radio stations across the U.S.

Ne-Yo subsequently signed a solo deal with Def Jam. In My Own Words came out in February 2006 and reached the top of the Billboard 200 and R&B/Hip-Hop album charts, supported by the number one hit "So Sick" -- one of his many collaborations with Norwegian production duo Stargate. The same year, he appeared on Remy Ma's There's Something About Remy and Ghostface Killah's Fishscale, and he had a hand in writing a pair of Top Ten hits: Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable" and Rihanna's "Unfaithful." Because of You, his second album, followed in May 2007. It topped the Billboard 200 and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, with its upbeat title track topping out at number two on the Hot 100. A Grammy in the category of Best Contemporary R&B Album followed early the next year.

After another series of songwriting triumphs, including Rihanna's "Take a Bow" and Jennifer Hudson's "Spotlight," Ne-Yo released his third album, Year of the Gentleman, in September 2008. Propelled by the hits "Closer," the Grammy-winning "Miss Independent," and "Mad," the set eventually went platinum, which made Ne-Yo three for three in that regard. Ne-Yo then went relatively quiet for a brief period but returned in 2010 with Libra Scale, an album inspired by science fiction and comic books, as well as Stevie Wonder's and Michael Jackson's most ambitious recordings. It debuted in the Top Ten. He maintained his mainstream presence as a featured artist on Pitbull's "Give Me Everything," Young Jeezy's "Leave You Alone," and Calvin Harris' Grammy-nominated "Let's Go," among a handful of minor hits.

In November 2012, after he signed to Motown and was named the label's Senior Vice President of A&R, Ne-Yo released R.E.D. ("Realizing Every Dream"). The album found him continuing to embrace dance-pop while maintaining his connection to R&B. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. The singer spent much of 2013 collaborating with other artists, including Akon, David Guetta, Cher Lloyd, and Celine Dion. The build-up to Non-Fiction, Ne-Yo's sixth studio album, started during the first half of 2014 with the release of "Money Can't Buy," a single featuring Jeezy that charted outside the Top 40 of the R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Additional collaborative singles with Juicy J (the platinum hit "She Knows") and Pitbull ("Time of Our Lives") followed shortly thereafter. The parent album arrived in January 2015 with a Top Ten chart showing. Later in the year, he added to a previously short list of minor acting credits with appearances in Sharknado 3 and on Empire, and for a live televised stage production of The Wiz, he played Tin-Man.

Featured collaborations with the likes of Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike ("Higher Place"), Yunel and J Alvarez ("Sin Miedo"), and T-Pain ("Marry You") arrived as Ne-Yo semi-regularly made television appearances as a judge on programs such as America's Got Talent and World of Dance. In mid-2017, he began releasing singles in anticipation of his seventh album, including the tropical-flavored "Push Back." Parent release Good Man arrived the following June and entered the Billboard 200 at number 33. In 2019, while he was still involved with World of Dance and active as an actor -- including a role on Step Up: High Water and a guest appearance on Sherman's Showcase -- Ne-Yo released his first holiday album, Another Kind of Christmas.

The 2020 single "U 2 Love," a collaboration with Jeremih, returned Ne-Yo to the Hot 100, reaching number 66, but the COVID-19 pandemic stalled the artist's progress on his eighth proper studio album. In 2021, he did issue the singles "What If" and "Stay Down" (featuring Yung Bleu) and competed on the British version of The Masked Singer, placing second as Badger. The following July, Ne-Yo released Self Explanatory, which contained the singles from the two previous years, along with material examining issues such as uncertainty, regret, conflict, and devotion in the context of a complicated marriage. Compared to his earlier releases, it was something of a commercial downturn, peaking at 183 on the Billboard 200. Ne-Yo returned in 2023 with a feature on Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike's track "Mexico" then offered up his own single "Link Up." That same year he competed on the tenth season of The Masked Singer and was crowned the winner. Another standalone single, "2 Million Secrets," appeared in 2024. ~ Andy Kellman