Aloe Blacc (born Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III
in 1979) is an American soul singer, rapper, and musician. He is
a first-generation man of African ancestry with parents born in Panama.
Blacc first began his music career in 1995 as a rapper with producer
Exile in the hip hop duo Emanon. By the end of the 1990s, Blacc was
a "Stowaway" on a Lootpack tour in Europe. The duo released
six albums in total. This also led to Blacc working with the French
Jazz group Jazz Liberatorz.
In 2003, he signed with Stones Throw Records and started a solo
career. He released his debut EP in the same year. He then released
a debut album, entitled Shine Through on July 11, 2006. It was released
on CD, Vinyl record and online (on the Stones Throw website).
He later went on to tour across Europe and the U.S. with Emanon.
During this time, he also worked on his second solo album, "Good
Things".
In 2009, collaborating with Japanese Hip Hop Producer Cradle, calling
themselves Bee, he released the album "Open Your Mind" on
GoonTrax records.
Mainstream success and Good Things (2010-present)
'Good Things' was originally released on Stones Throw records in
the fall of 2010. It was produced by Jeff Dynamite and Leon Michels
for TRUTH & SOUL Productions.
In 2010, Blacc signed a recording contract with Epic Records for
the UK and Ireland. His album "Good Things" was released
there later in the year, as was his single, "I Need a Dollar".[3]
He also recorded a cover version of the John Legend song "Ordinary
People" in Spanish titled "Gente Ordinaria".[citation
needed] Blacc then went on to write the song "At All" for
Lena Meyer-Landrut's album Good News after meeting the German singer
backstage at a TV show.[citation needed]
Aloe Blacc in a live show in Munich
His song "I Need a Dollar" is used for the intro song
for the HBO show How to Make It in America, and was featured as the
iTunes Single of the Week. Blacc has performed the song live on many
television shows such as Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Later... with
Jools Holland, Conan and The Graham Norton Show.[4] "I Need
a Dollar" is also one of the featured songs in EA Sports' 2011
boxing game, Fight Night Champion. In April 2011, the song was also
featured in a commercial for Boost Mobile cellular phone services.
His single "I Need a Dollar" was widely successful across
Europe reaching top ten in many countries including the UK. Following
the success of "I Need a Dollar" his album, Good Things
started to receive attention and charted in many European countries.
The album also managed to chart in the US, at number ten on the Top
Heatseekers chart and forty-one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
chart. The second single from the album,"Loving You Is Killing
Me" was released on the 7 March 2011 and peaked at eight in
Austria and top forty in 3 other counties.
He is also set to release his ninth album with his American hip-hop
duo Emanon titled "Bird's Eye View" in 2011.
On 25 April 2011, he performed on the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge and
played 3 songs. He played the hits "I Need a Dollar" and "Loving
You Is Killing Me" and also covered the Jay-Z song "99
Problems".
Also in 2011, he collaborated with Alice Smith on the track "Baby",
and Clare Moreno on the track "Nascimento (Rebirth)-Scene II",
for the Red Hot Organization's most recent charitable album "Red
Hot + Rio 2". The album is a follow-up to the 1996 "Red
Hot + Rio". Proceeds from the sales will be donated to raise
awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social
issues.
In 2011, Kenneth Bager featured Aloe Blacc on "The Sound of
Swing, Pt. 2 (Oh Na Na)" co-written by Thomas Troelsen.