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ROBERT NAPOLEON Adversity is the diamond dust that heaven polishes its jewels with. Robert Napoleon is that rare artist who is fortunate to possess all the attributes that make a star, enormous talent, strikingly good looks, a gregarious personality and unlimited drive; the type of drive that overcomes adversity. A brief look back at his history in the business explains the drive. As a young boy he and his siblings, his twin Ronnie and little brother Jay, would perform every weekend at Fisherman's Wharf in their hometown of San Francisco. Their father, a former hustler, recognized the talent his boys possessed and sought to develop their gift. He named them The Newtrons, styled them, trained them and put them out there on something like a hometown "chitlin circuit" tour. Robert remembers "we were performing everywhere, birthday parties, barbeques, malls even clubs; we'd be up in the club at 3am and back in school at eight." Eventually their hard work and their father's hustle paid off. They landed a major deal with MCA and found themselves on "Soul Train" and "Video Soul" and touring the country with the likes of Guy and Jodeci in support of their self titled debut album, The Newtrons. The album was mildly successful, but the label, excited about their potential, was looking forward to doing a big push for their sophomore effort. Unfortunately, that sophomore album would never be released as tragedy struck the family. Robert's twin, Ronnie, was shot and killed and that was the end of the group. The family returned to their hometown and for a while Robert put music on the backburner as he struggled to deal with the passing of his other half. "That was an extremely difficult time for me and my family, my brother was gone, my dad was locked up, it was just a real bad situation." A couple of years would pass before Robert turned his attention back to music, but once he did, he did so with a vengeance. The next few years would be a whirlwind of almosts, could haves, should have beens and if it wasn't fors, which all resulted in the same thing...nothing; but Robert would not let any of these setbacks deter him from attaining his goal. He kept right on pursuing the dream. He eventually moved back to LA and did the struggling artist/songwriter thing. He sung demos and backgrounds, his most famous background work, with Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, If You Believe, from The Prince of Egypt soundtrack won an Academy Award for best song in 1999. He was fortunate to be on a team that was under the tutelage of R&B phenom Babyface and had the opportunity to write for Kevon Edmonds and Coko of SWV. This began a slow and steady build that would be the foundation of what he has now created, his own label, S4R Records, Songs For Ronnie, named for his twin. After being turned down by a few majors for not being like R. Kelly or Usher, Robert, knowing he had a catalog of hit songs, decided to do it on his own. "What I found really frustrating is that being a true artist is all about being an individual, not a clone of this guy or "the next" that guy so when people would tell me that, it just inspired to continue doing me. Now I'll take it straight to the people and let them decide." And that is what he's done; Robert has assembled a solid debut album with songs that appeal to a wide audience without coming off scattered and disjointed. The album floats on a steady groove from the first song to the last. The first single, Move It Like This, is a sexy up-tempo produced by Something For The People and remixed for the club by XL, other standouts include the title track, "Good Thang", co-written with Tank, "Slow It Down", a duet with Shawn Stockman of Boyz 2 Men, "Imagine You and Me", a steamy ballad that the ladies are sure to love and the heart-wrenching "No Matter What", a duet co-written and sung with his brother, J. Valentine. Along with these sure fire hits Robert Napoleon has 12 other songs that round out what will no doubt be considered by many, a classic R&B album. Robert Napoleon is currently on tour promoting his album, "Good Thang." Check out the artist's website: http://www.robertnapoleon.com Track List: 1. Good Thang 2. One Night 3. Slow It Down (feat. Shawn Stockman) 4. Love Birds 5. Wasn't That Type 6. Move It Like This 7. No Matter What (feat. J. Valentine) 8. Oh Love 9. Ghetto Love 10. Just One 11. What The Hell 12. Ready Girl 13. Imagine You and Me 14. Sticky Situation 15. Lovin' You 16. When Somebody Really Loves You 17. Little Things Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
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