Biography Dawn Richard

1 biography

1.1 life
1.2 career
1.3 2005–09: making band 3 , danity kane
1.4 2009–11: diddy-dirty money , prelude tell tale heart
1.5 2012–13: armor on , goldenheart
1.6 2013–15: dk3 , blackheart
1.7 2015–present: redemption, infrared ep

biography
early life

richard of louisiana creole , haitian descent , born in new orleans, louisiana. has 1 brother. living in baltimore, maryland due being displaced after hurricane katrina. music has played influential part in life since childhood. father frank richard, former lead singer , percussionist of popular funk/soul band chocolate milk. mother owned dancing school richard spent of childhood developing choreography , singing skills.

early in teens, richard began performing local new orleans group called realiti . discovered solo artist kemic a. smothers @ 2004 live performance @ tipitina s uptown in new orleans, richard signed under name dawn angelique exclusive recording contract/development deal octarve anderson, jr. , atlanta independent record label, yeah! brother records. recording in los angeles, atlanta , new orleans, richard , yeah! brother records, along platinum awarded production team nexmen, rochad holiday , curtis sauce wilson, crafted studio solo album called been while, featuring single co-produced ne-yo. yeah! brother records , new orleans management company, scratch entertainment, headed kemic a. smothers, esq., agreed after negotiations sean diddy combs of bad boy records, postpone release of album while arranging immediate release exclusive recording contract yeah! brother records. although had no releases , did not chart, studio album been while still enough secure spot opening act anthony hamilton in tallahassee, florida. during recording of album, focused on touring , live performances, dance, , becoming nba cheerleader new orleans hornets while attending university of new orleans.

career
2005–09: making band 3 , danity kane

richard s big break came in 2005 when auditioned mtv show making band 3 in orlando, chosen compete spot in combs future girl group. after negotiated release contract yeah! brother records, elevated career signing bad boy worldwide entertainment. beat out numerous contestants secure herself spot, along aubrey o day, aundrea fimbres, wanita woodgett (now known d. woods ), , shannon bex.

the newly formed group became danity kane. idea name came 1 of richard s drawings. avid fan of manga, while danity kane in studio, richard drew female superhero caught attention of combs. when asked character s name was, replied, danity kane . combs, represented girls of making band 3. decided should name of group. name , story first introduced during danity kane s total request live appearance on june 14, 2006.

richard has remixed song london-based artist cherri v, titled fast car . song has since become 1 of listened songs on cherri v s myspace page.

early in 2008, song called phase leaked onto internet , featured lil wayne. although buzzed danity kane track, richard s voice featured on song, caued speculation solo demo. in july 2008, 2 new tracks released onto internet, 1 called rush love featured flo rida, , called strobe light , written mary brown , produced chad beatz (tastemaker music). still unknown if part of future solo endeavor.

during mtv news break, stated richard working on untitled comic book. richard said in interview releasing soundtrack danity kane comic book, released in march 2009. included leaked track falls away .

on january 27, 2009, richard confirmed mtv news in interview danity kane had split up. in same interview, said still considered herself member of danity kane (along aundrea fimbres), , had hopes each girl willing work group again.

on april 16, 2009, episode of making band, combs revealed had released o day , woods, along bex, contracts, , releasing fimbres well. told richard stay on label , if there future plans new danity kane, returning member. however, on april 23, 2009 finale of series, combs stated 5 original members returning if ever decides reunite group.

2009–11: diddy-dirty money , prelude tell tale heart

in 2009, richard began working bad boy records, writing artist cassie , combs himself. after danity kane s breakup, richard featured in commercial opposition of california s prop 8. richard became member of diddy-dirty money collective, includes combs , singer/songwriter kalenna harper. featured in keri hilson s video way love me money . first member of danity kane have released professional music under major label after split, dirty money album.

during 2010, richard started putting finishing touches on mixtape, prelude tell tale heart. before full mix-tape release richard released few songs, including me myself & y , released promotional single on globalgrind.com. others these tears , heavy ballad, , let love in , ballad heavy vocal harmonies. mixtape prelude tell tale heart (alternate title: #atelltaleheart) released on february 7, 2011 on official website. contains 15 tracks. called prelude to... because there official debut studio album dawn richard entitled a-tell tale heart, has been working on 3 years. worked trendsetter (the producer) on few tracks album.

on june 19, 2011 buzz track entitled stuck on mad released public. followed release of remix frank ocean s novacane . remix, co-written songwriter intyce, hit internet on june 21, 2011 , reached on 5,000 downloads within few hours.

2012–13: armor on , goldenheart

dawn released visual first promotional single smfu (save me u) on 106 & park in january 2012. other promotional singles such fly, change, , black lipstick came after. followed leading single titled bombs . video has been compared beyonce s run world (girls) , nicki minaj s massive attack . video shows heavy choreography in desert. after success of bombs , richard s next official single armor on released: automatic , urban track ep. video released on june 18 , premiered on 106 & park. following music video filmed in july 2012. richard released 3 video trailers on youtube singles faith , wild n young , meshed 1 music video released on august 29, 2012 final release armor on.

richard announced major solo debut project trilogy of albums entitled goldenheart, blackheart, , redemptionheart. goldenheart expected released on october 16, 2012. smfu (save me u) released on internet on october 31, 2011, , on first album. video premiered on 106 & park on january 5, 2012. druski main producer on entire project.

richard going progressive r&b sound.

in celebration of 1 million twitter followers, richard introduced set-up album goldenheart on july 17, 2012 track entitled pretty wicked things . s story of beautiful things in life ruined wicked, explained richard. produced , co-written armor on collaborator druski, , available on itunes.

goldenheart released on january 15, 2013 in stores , through online retailers. intended release in october 2012, richard delayed release after signing distribution deal independent company altavoz distribution, release physical copies retailers, , provide wider marketing reach. album s lead single, 86 , released digital download on september 26.

goldenheart released in united states on january 15, 2013. richard released album independently, felt record labels taking bit longer want . debuted @ number 137 on billboard 200, number 2 on top heatseekers albums, , number 10 on top r&b/hip-hop albums. album reached top of itunes store s r&b chart, prompted music retailer f.y.e. preemptively release physical cd.

goldenheart received universal acclaim music critics, hailed richard 1 of best new acts in pop , r&b.

2013–15: dk3 , blackheart

richard scheduled release second installment in album trilogy, blackheart, in october 2013, announced album released after danity kane project. on new year s day of 2014, unreleased music video riot/northern lights leaked online. video shelved in may 2013 after richard , producer drew scott parted ways. video received positive reviews continued 86 music video left off.

during 2013 mtv vmas pre-show, 4 remaining members of danity kane announced reuniting , returning on own terms, without diddy. original group member d. woods did not take part in reunion. group s first official reunion single, lemonade , released on internet via soundcloud. single produced stereotypes, , features rapper tyga on production sampled grindin , 2002 hit song clipse.

on may 16, 2014, first night of #dknofilter tour after performing several songs danity kane, fimbres announced leaving group @ end of tour, , o day, bex, , richard continuing on trio.

on august 4, 2014 while in los angeles recording studio, fight ensued in richard allegedly punched o day. after days of speculation, o day , bex released public statement announcing group s second disbandment. despite group s break-up, third album, dk3, released on october 27, 2014.

on october 29, 2014, 2 days after dk3 s release, richard debuted music video lead single blow vevo. along video, announced new release date sophomore album blackheart, january 15, 2015.

2015–present: redemption, infrared ep

on september 28, 2015, richard debuted dance , first single red era. single said: wanted create vibrant atmosphere, red era moving on, redeeming yourself, , finding redemption. official music video premiered on october 5, 2015, mashed billie jean blackheart. on january 29, 2016 not above released digital retailers official second single album. on march 12, 2016 d∆wn started redemption live show tour , chose perform first ever youtube live 360 performance.

on august 10, 2016 richard made cameo appearance on season 2 of tv series rosewood morris chestnut , gabrielle dennis.

on september 15, 2016, richard began filming lead role, joyce, in 2017 movie kinky, written jean-claude lamarre , starring robert ri chard, gary dourdan , vivica a. fox.

on november 10, 2016, redemption made available stream exclusively on npr 1 week ahead of release. album officially released on november 18, 2016.

she provided guest vocals on song cool heart dirty projectors self-titled album, released february 21, 2017.