Dwele

Dwele
Photo by Jalylah Burrell
Background information
Birth name	Andwele Gardner
Also known as	Dwele
Born	February 14, 1978 (1978-02-14) (age 33), Detroit, Michigan, United States
Genres	Soul, neo soul, contemporary R&B, jazz
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Virgin Records (2003-2005) E1 Music, formerly Koch Records (2008-present)
Associated acts	Slum Village, Kanye West, Common, J Dilla
Website	dwele.com

Andwele Gardner (born February 14, 1978),^[1] better known by his stage name Dwele is a soul singer, songwriter and record producer from Detroit, Michigan.

Biography

Gardner was raised on the west side of Detroit in a musical family. He played piano from the age of six, later taking up trumpet, bass and guitar.^[2][3][4] He was deeply affected by the fatal shooting of his father outside his home when he was age ten, later stating "I learned to put my emotions into music; it was my therapy."^[2][5] He cites Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Roy Ayers, Miles Davis, and Freddie Hubbard as favorite artists, and took inspiration from hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, becoming an MC, and working with Slum Village.^[2] Gardner recorded a demo in his bedroom, called, The Rize, and sold it out of the trunk of his car.^[2] He had about 100 copies, which sold out within a week. He caught the ears of local heroes Slum Village and more specifically their world-renowned producer J Dilla.^[4]Slum Village invited Dwele to sing the hook of the song "Tainted" for their album Trinity (Past, Present and Future). It became an instant classic and led to more high profile work with female rapper Bahamadia, the all-star group Lucy Pearl and London's New Sector Movement.^[4] Dwele signed to Virgin Records in 2003, who released his debut album, Subject, which mixed neo soul and hip hop.^[2] In a 2005 review in The Independent, his style was summed up: "Dwele's rooted in vintage soul but isn't stuck in the past, overly reverential or an exercise in pastiche - there's a major hip-hop edge which betrays his original incarnation as a rapper."^[6] A second album, Some Kinda..., followed in 2005.^[2] He then later signed with RT Music Group and KOCH records in March, 2008^[7] He released his fourth album titled, W.ants W.orld W.omen on June 29, 2010. Dwele was featured on the first single off of Kanye West's fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The song was entitled "Power" and was leaked on May 28, 2010.^[8]

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Chart positions
		U.S.[9]	U.S. Ind[9]	U.S R&B[9]
2000	Rize (Self-released)	-	-	-
2003	Subject	108	-	20
2005	Some Kinda...	54	-	10
2008	Sketches of a Man	35	4	7
2010	W.ants W.orld W.omen	28	3	9

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions		Album
		U.S.	U.S. R&B[10]
2003	"Find a Way"	93	42	Subject
2004	"Hold On" (featuring Eric Roberson)	–	53
2005	"I Think I Love U"	–	53	Some Kinda...
2006	"Weekend Love"	–	116
2007	"The People" (with Common)	111	56	Finding Forever
	"Flashing Lights" (with Kanye West)	29	12	Graduation
2008	"I'm Cheatin"	–	29	Sketches of a Man
	"A Few Reasons (Truth Pt.2)"	-	75
2010	"What's Not to Love"	–	43	'W.W.W (W.omen,W.ant,W.orld)

Featured On

Year	Information
2002	Trinity (Past, Present and Future) (Slum Village)
2003	New Awakening (DJ MITSU The Beats)
2004	Pure (Boney James)
	Detroit Deli (Slum Village)
	The Undeniable (Phat Kat)
2006	Shine (Boney James)
	SOULidified (Hil St. Soul)
	The Shining (J Dilla) "Dime Piece (Remix)"
	Dirty District Vol.3 (Brucie B.)
	Witness My Growth (Elzhi)
2007	Desire (Pharoahe Monch album)
	Nu-Mixx Klazzics Vol. 2 (2Pac) "Straight Through My Rear View"
	Interpretations: Celebrating The Music Of Earth, Wind & Fire
2008	Brooklyn's Don Diva (Foxy Brown) "Never Heard This Before"
	Of All The Things (Jazzanova album) (Jazzanova)
	The Dresden Soul Symphony
	Man vs. Many (Nefew)
	"Time Stands Still" (with DJ Quik) from The Book of David
2009	Death of a Man Rebirth of a King (Pryslezz)
2010	"Power" (with Kanye West) from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
2011	"Flower Girl" (with Maysa) from Motions Of Love

References

1. ^ "Drawing on His Roots", The Detroit News, 25 June 2008
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Larkin, Colin (2006) The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780195313734
3. ^ "Title:Mellow & mature: Dwele unveils 'sketches' of life, love.(Andwele Gardner)". http://find.galegroup.com/itx/retrieve.do?contentSet=IAC-Documents&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&qrySerId=Locale(en%2CUS%2C)%3AFQE%3D(rn%2CNone%2C10)A185330762%24&sgHitCountType=None&inPS=true&sort=DateDescend&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&tabID=T003&prodId=ITOF&searchId=R1&currentPosition=1&userGroupName=24015&docId=A185330762&docType=IAC. Retrieved 2009-06-25. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} Koch Records: Dwele
5. ^ Rennie, Andrew (2008) "Dwele", Format, 29 June 2008
6. ^ Verma, Rahul (2005) "Dwele, Jazz Café, London", The Independent, 22 February 2005
7. ^ "KOCH Records Announces New Deal With RT Music Group and Soul Sensation Dwele". http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=A86F4BB9B3DEDBBA. Retrieved 2009-05-13. 
8. ^ Kanye West - "Power" (feat. Dwele). thatsthatish.com
9. ^ ^{a b c} "Billboard.com -Dwele". http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Albums&model.vnuArtistId=514368&model.vnuAlbumId=1251436. Retrieved 2009-05-13. 
10. ^ "Billboard.com Top 100 Dwele Singles". http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.vnuArtistId=514368&model.vnuAlbumId=1251436. Retrieved 2009-05-13. 

External links

• Official website
• Dwele on Twitter
• Dwele - W.ants W.orld W.omen review at Cream

Persondata
Name
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 14, 1978
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death