Lloyd Polite, Jr. (born January 3, 1986),^[1] who performs under mononym Lloyd, is an American recording artist from New Orleans, Louisiana.

[edit] Early life

Lloyd was born in New Orleans but raised in Atlanta. He is of the Creole descent (African American, Native American, and French). He was discovered by Joyce Irby and at the age of 12 was in the pre-teen group N-Toon, alongside younger brother "Chuckie." The group won Nickelodeon's cancelled show Double Dare 2000 against No Authority, and the group was signed to DreamWorks Records. Although two singles were released ("Ready" and "Shoulda Been My Girl"), their debut album Toon Time went unnoticed due to a lack of promotion from the label.

The group eventually disbanded, and Lloyd began shopping around for a solo deal. He was soon signed to MCA Records with his first single to be "Hey Young Girl". Unfortunately, as MCA Records dissolved into its parent company, Geffen Records, many of the artists on its roster were let go, including Lloyd. However, using "Hey Young Girl" as a demo, he landed a new recording contract with Irv Gotti at The Inc./Def Jam Records.

[edit] Career

[edit] 2004–05: Southside

"Southside", a duet with label mate Ashanti, became Lloyd's debut single and an R&B hit. The follow-up single was "Hey Young Girl", which wasn't as successful as "Southside". His childhood friend Ciara was in the video, and he is in the video of her hit "1, 2 Step". The two grew up together, and she thanks him in her Goodies cd, saying "Lloyd aka young ladi love you so much!". Both singles appeared on his 2004 debut album, titled Southside, which performed relatively poorly.

After that, Lloyd appeared singing hooks on singles for label mate Ja Rule on "Caught Up" as well as on rapper Tango Redd's "Let's Cheat". He also made an appearances in R&B singer Sammie's video "You Should Be My Girl" with Teairra Mari, Crime Mob's "Rock Yo Hips", and Bobby Valentino "Beep".

[edit] 2006–07: Street Love

In 2006, a newly recorded track titled "You" surfaced, appearing on Lloyd's MySpace page. It featured Lil Wayne (an alternate version featured Tango Redd). Lloyd's second studio album, titled Street Love, was released on March 13, 2007. It was certified Gold by the RIAA in April 2007^[2]. The second single "Get It Shawty" was also very successful, reaching the top twenty on the pop charts. The single proved to be more pop friendly and gained more airplay on Top 40 stations during the summer of 2007, and was featured in Grand Theft Auto IV's R&B tracklist. By the time the third single "Player's Prayer" was released, interest in the album had diminished, and with lack of promotion the song proved to be unsuccessful.

[edit] 2008–present: Lessons in Love and departure from The Inc.

Lloyd's third album Lessons in Love was released in August 2008. The song "How We Do It (Around My Way)" was promoted as a single in early 2008, but only appeared on select versions of the album. "Girls Around the World" was the next single. In June 2009, it was announced that Lloyd would depart from The Inc. Records. Lloyd stated that he was "focusing on just growing in general".^[3][4]

A song titled "Pusha", produced by The Runners written by Lloyd, Raymond "Ray-Ray" Gordon, Sean "Slim" Mcmillion, and The Monarch and featuring Juelz Santana was leaked online. Juelz Santana was later replaced on the song by Lil Wayne and Lloyd revealed it would be his first buzz single for his upcoming album,^[5] There is also a version of the song with Clipse's Pusha T on the internet. Lloyd also collaborated with Lil Wayne on the song "Bedrock" which is the second comfirmed single for Lil Wayne and Young Money Entertainment's We Are Young Money Album.

[edit] Personal life

In an interview Lloyd indicated that he has about thirty tattoos, which include a picture of his father, the logo of his company Young Goldie Music logo.^[6]

[edit] Discography

• Southside (2004)
• Street Love (2007)
• Lessons in Love (2008)
• Like Me: The Young Goldie EP (2009)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Official Myspace