Musiq Soulchild

Taalib Johnson, known by his stage name of Musiq Soulchild, was born in 1977 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The eldest of nine children, Musiq's always been the black sheep of his family as he paves his own path. He never finished high school, a move he regrets due to the paths it blocked off, and left home at 17.

When Musiq moved out, he faced the struggle of surviving on his own and often had to depend on others for support. He slept on couches, buses and trains, all while working hard to show his musical talents. He would perform in clubs and on street corners, earning the name Musiq from those around him.

In 2000, he released his debut album, Aijuswanaseing. The album featured three singles, "Just Friends," "Love" and "Girl Next Door." The most successful of Musiq's early singles was "Love" which reached #2 on the R&B charts and #24 on the Hot 100. "Just Friends" reached #6 on the R&B charts and "Girl Next Door" topped off at #28. With the success of its singles, the album was able to go platinum.

His sophomore effort, Juslisen came out in 2002. The album was a big success for Musiq, with its singles "Half Crazy" and "Dontchange" doing very well. "Halfcrazy" reached #2 on the R&B charts and "Dontchange" reached #3. The album was Musiq's second consecutive platinum album.

Musiq released his third album, Soulstar in 2003. The release featured the singles "Forthenight" and "Whoknows" which were Musiq's weakest collection of singles on an album. Still, both managed to reach the top 25 on the R&B charts, with the former reaching #18 and the later topping off at #23. Potentially because of the weaker singles, the album only went gold.

In 2007, Musiq moved to Atlantic Records where he released his fourth album, Luvanmusiq. The album brought Musiq back into the top of his game, with both singles "B.U.D.D.Y." and "teachme" reaching #2 on the R&B charts. The album continued Musiq's streak and was his fourth consecutive album to go gold.

He hopes to release a new album in 2008.