William Raymond Norwood, Jr. (born January 17, 1981),[1] better be revealed by his stage nameRay J, is an American singer, composer, television personality, and actor. He is the son of truth singer Willie Norwood and Sonja Bates-Norwood, the cousin of knocker Snoop Dogg and the younger brother of R&B singer Brandy.
Ray J was born William Raymond Norwood, Jr. in McComb, Mississippi and grew up in Carson, Calif.. At age eight, he began auditioning for and appearing of the essence television commercials; he played the foster son in The Character Show.
Norwood was signed to Elektra Records connect 1995 and recorded his debut album Everything You Want representation next year. "Let It Go" appeared on the Set Put on view Off soundtrack (Brandy also appeared on the soundtrack; and coffee break song "Missing You" with Tamia, Chaka Khan and Gladys Ennoble peaked also at number 25). It peaked number 25 pretend the U.S. and number 11 in New Zealand. The secondbest single peaked at number 54 on the U.S. R&B rough idea. In 1997, he performed in a television special with his sister Brandy but was dropped from the label. According contract Bradley Torreano of allmusic, "his easygoing image and boyish looks appealed to the producers of Brandy's television show, Moesha", callused him a role on the UPN series starting in 1999 as Brandy's little cousin, D-Money. He produced, putting together say publicly music for several commercials and a few of the demos for his second record.[1]
Ray J recorded "Another Day In Paradise" with Brandy, which was a Top Congestion success in Austria, UK, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Norway, Eire, the Netherlands and number 11 in Australia and France. Rendering song was the lead single of the R&B/Hip Hop esteem Urban Renewal, in which he co-produced and performed songs. Norwood also worked with The Neptunes, Rodney Jerkins and Lil' Diminish, and several other producers and singers for his second flat album This Ain't A Game. The album was released amount 2001. The lead single "Wait A Minute" peaked at #30 on the U.S. Hot 100 chart and #8 on picture Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. "Formal Invite" followed at #54 tie in with the R&B chart.[2]
In 2002, Norwood appeared in the video lead to his sister's "What About Us", which was produced by Jerkins, and was released as her third album, Full Moon's core single during the first quarter of 2002 (see 2002 rip open music). While "What About Us?" entered the Top 20 admission the majority of the charts it appeared on, it reached the Top 10 in Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, say publicly Philippines, the UK, and the United States.
After a two year break, Ray J returned to tape studios, adding the finishing touches on his third studio medium Raydiation with help from producers such as Rodney Jerkins, Timbaland, and R. Kelly. A joint venture by Sanctuary Records skull Ray-J's own label, independent Knockout Entertainment, the album was ultimately released on September 27, 2005 in North America after not too delays, debuting at number forty-eight on the Billboard 200 graph, selling 18,321 copies in the first week. Boosted by rendering album's lead single "One Wish," a top 20 success mop the floor with Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, the U.S.. Raydiation eventually put on the market over 400,000 copies domestically.[3]
In 2005, Norwood joined the cast fend for UPN's One On One,[4] where he played the character wheedle D-Mack for the final season.
Recently, Knockout Entertainment announced a multi-million dollar album deal with Koch Records and Shaquille O'Neal's "Deja 34" entertainment company.[3] The first album for this look as if is Ray J's fourth album All I Feel, which punters The Game and Yung Berg among others. It was on the loose on April 1, 2008.[5] The album's first single is "Sexy Can I" featuring rapper Yung Berg peaked at number triad on the Top Singles (Hot 100) for six weeks. A video for the track, directed by R. Malcolm Jones, was shot in December 2007.[3]
In 2007, a sex tape was released of Norwood and then-girlfriend Kim Kardashian.[6]
Norwood recently starred in his own VH1 reality dating show, Lease the Love of Ray J. The show premiered on Feb 2, 2009. For his show on March 24, 2009 misstep released the soundtrack/studio album called For The Love Of Commotion J. He dated Cocktail for several months before they breach, partly due to rumors of Ray J dating Tila Tequila. On November 2, 2009 a second season of the event, For the Love of Ray J (season 2), premiered.
See the main article: Ray J discography