Lathun

Lathun Grady was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. As a child, he was obsessed with music, getting up early before school to practice music in the basement. With his brothers, a cousin, and a neighbor, Lathun formed the group Dynamic Explosion when he was 8. Working with the group, Lathun learned to play a variety of instruments and developed an understanding of the hip-hop culture.

At 15, Lathun was writing songs and doing recordings at his home. He performed around Detroit and hooked up with Jermain Dupri on So So Def. While there, he worked as a songwriter and producer, working with artists like Immature, Xscape, and Raphael Saddiq. He also released his own song, "Freak It" in 1997.

Even with the success of his dance hit "Freak It," Lathun continued to work as a songwriter. However, he finally took the advice of others and pursued his own musical career at Motown. In 2002, he released his debut album on the label, titled Fortunate. He was signed by Kedar Massenburg, the same person who backed Erykah Badu and brought her to fame. With all of his experience in the industry, Lathun did most of the production and writing for his album.