Marques Barrett Houston (born August 4 1981, in Inglewood,CA) is
an American R&B singer, songwriter, rapper, and actor. A member
of the R&B singing group Immature/IMx until 2002, he went solo
in 2003. He is also the cousin of J-Boog, former member of the
R&B/Hip-Hop group B2K.
Born in Los Angeles, California to Michael and Carolyn,[1] Houston
lost his mother to lymphoma in 1997.[2] This affected him deeply:
he wrote songs about his mother's battle with the disease and her
eventual death, including the song "All Alone" on Immature's
album The Journey.[citation needed]
[edit] Music career
[edit] Early career and IMx
Houston became a founding member of the R&B group Immature,
known from 1999 as IMx. The group included Jerome "Romeo" Jones
and Don "Half Pint" Santos (later replaced by Kelton "LDB" Kessee),
with Chris Stokes acting as their manager. At this period Houston
went by the nickname "Batman". The group released four
albums under the name Immature.
In 1999, the group underwent a name change but continued on to release
two albums under the name IMx: Introducing IMx (1999) and IMx (2001).
The group also branched out into film (such as House Party 4: Down
to the Last Minute) and television (such as A Different World) before
disbanding in 2002.
[edit] Solo career
In 2003, Houston began pursuing a solo career. Houston has since
released five solo albums.
[edit] MH (2003-2004)
Using his birth name, Marques Houston, he released his debut album,
MH, on October 21, 2003. The album featured the singles "That
Girl", "Clubbin'" (featuring Joe Budden), "Pop
That Booty" (featuring Jermaine Dupri) and "Because of
You".
In the United States charts, MH peaked at number 20 on the Billboard
200[3] and peaked at number 5 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop
Albums.[4]
[edit] Naked (2005)
Houston released his second solo album, Naked, on May 24, 2005.
The album featured the singles "All Because of You" (featuring
Young Rome), "Naked" and "Sex Wit You".
In the United States, Naked peaked at number 13 on the Billboard[5]
and peaked at number 5 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[6]
[edit] Veteran (2006-2007)
Houston released his third solo album, Veteran, on March 20, 2007.
The album featured the singles "Like This" (featuring Yung
Joc), "Favorite Girl", "Circle" and "Wonderful".
In the United States, Veteran debuted (and peaked) at number 5 on
the Billboard 200[2][7] and debuted at number 1 on Billboard's Top
R&B/Hip-Hop Albums,[2][8] marking this release as Houston's first
number-one solo album.
[edit] Mr. Houston (2009)
Houston released his fourth solo album, Mr. Houston on September
29, 2009. In 2008 videos from the album including "Sunset", "Body",
and "Date" were released. Videos were also released[by
whom?] in 2009 for "How I Do" and "Case of You".
Although many videos have already been released the first official
single is still set to be "I Love Her", to be followed
by "Sunset" (due to the album being pushed back[by whom?]
in 2009).
[edit] Mattress Music and IMx reunion (2010–present)
On September 14, 2010, Houston released his fifth studio album,
Mattress Music, which contained his two singles "Kickin' & Screamin'
and "Pullin' on Her Hair". Houston announced on 106 & Park
that IMx planned to record another group album together for 2011.[citation
needed]
[edit] Other music work
Houston continues to work with former bandmate Jerome "Romeo" Jones
(as of 2010[update] known as Young Rome). Houston made guest appearances
on Jones' album Food for Thought (2004) on songs entitled "Sexapade" and "What
Cha Doin' Tonight" while Jones made a guest appearance on Houston's
album Naked on the song entitled "All Because of You".
The two also collaborated on "For Your Love", a song from
an unreleased album by Young Rome.
Houston made guest appearances on fellow TUG Entertainment artist
Mila J's single "Good Lookin' Out" and Yung Joc's single "1st
Time"; he made appearances in both music videos.
Houston featured on 50 Cent's remix to the hit single "Candy
Shop", which also featured Dame Four.
[edit] Acting career
Houston made his acting debut in the animated comedy film Bébé's
Kids (1992) in which he was the voice of Khalil, the leader and oldest
child of the titular "Bébé's Kids".
Houston later appeared in House Party 3 (1994), where he played
a fictional version of himself along with fellow Immature bandmates
Jerome "Romeo" Jones and Don "Half Pint" Santos.
In the film, they portrayed Kid's trouble-making younger cousins
who aspire to become musicians.
Houston's breakthrough role came when he won the part of Roger Evans
in the television comedy show Sister, Sister, playing the next-door
neighbor of identical twin sisters Tia Landry and Tamera Campbell
(Tia and Tamera Mowry). Marques played the role for five of the show's
six seasons. The show wrote his character out of the script during
the fifth season, but he made a guest appearance in the series finale.
In 1999, shortly after Houston's lengthy yet valiant run on the
Sister, Sister program, Marques dipped his toes into the choppy waters
of the hip-hop film industry with a brief cameo in Destiny Child's
video rendition of the The Writing's on the Wall single Jumpin',
Jumpin' directed by Joseph Kahn. [9]
He also played the character Elgin Barrett Eugene Smith III in the
2004 film You Got Served. Following You Got Served, in both live-action
and voiceover, he portrayed Dumb Donald in the film adaptation of
Fat Albert, based on Bill Cosby's popular cartoon series Fat Albert
and the Cosby Kids.
In 2005 Houston starred in his own television series, Cuts, which
was a spin-off of One on One. Despite good ratings, the show only
lasted one season due to UPN merging with The WB to become The CW
which caused Cuts along with many other UPN shows to get cancelled.
In 2007 Houston starred in the horror film Somebody Help Me. He
then starred in the sequel, Somebody Help Me 2, in 2010. He announced
in an interview[citation needed] that there will be a Somebody Help
Me 3 and Somebody Help Me 4. Somebody Help Me 3 is supposed to premiere
2011 Halloween on BET with Somebody Help Me 4 in theaters probably
in 2012.[citation needed]
[edit] Discography
Main articles: Marques Houston discography and IMx discography
Studio albums
* MH (2003)
* Naked (2005)
* Veteran (2007)
* Mr. Houston (2009)
* bet (2010)
* TBA (TBA)
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Television
Year Title Role
1993 A Different World Eli Black
1996 Family Matters Himself
The Parent 'Hood Himself
1994–1999 Sister, Sister Roger Evans
2003 Rock Me, Baby Himself
2004 & 2006 One on One Kevin Barnes
2005–2006 Cuts Kevin Barnes
[edit] Film
Year Film Role
1992 Bébé's Kids Khalil (voice)
1994 House Party 3 Marcus James
1997 Good Burger Jake
2001 House Party 4: Down to the Last Minute Jon Jon
2004 You Got Served Elgin
Fat Albert Dumb Donald (both, live-action and voice)
2007 Somebody Help Me Brendan Young
2010 Boogie Town Micah
Somebody Help Me 2 Brendan Young
[edit] Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Film/TV show Result
1995 Young Artist Awards Best Youth Comedian in a TV Show Sister,
Sister Nominated
2004 MTV Movie Awards Best Dance Sequence (shared with Omarion Grandberry)
You Got Served Nominated
2005 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV Actor - Comedy Cuts Nominated