RL

Robert Lavelle Huggar was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1977 and was known in music by his first and middle initials, RL. He got his start in the R&B industry with the group Next. Next had strong success with their first two albums, Rated Next and Welcome II Nextasy. The group's hits include "Too Close," "Butta Love," and "Butta Love."

As the lead singer in Next, RL was able to garner some attention. He first developed himself as a solo artist when he appeared with Deborah Cox on her single "We Can't Be Friends." The track topped the R&B charts in 1999 and reached #8 on the Hot 100. RL continued to have success with the single "Best Man" on The Best Man soundtrack in 1999. The track was a collaboration with other big-name artists Ginuwine, Tyrese and Case.

While Next was on hiatus, R.L. pushed his solo career further in 2002. He signed with J Records and worked with Clive Davis on a solo album. According to groupmate Tweet, the members of Next were not aware of RL's solo album. In April 2002, RL released his debut album, RL:Ements but it failed to do well commercially. The album's only single to chart was "Good Man" which reached #48 on the R&B charts.

Throughout his career, RL has had almost constant tension with fellow member of Next, Tweety. The two have had disagreements over women and recording issues. When RL released his solo album, the other members of Next felt like RL had intentionally released the album only months prior to Next's next release. The conflict between the two can be seen in tracks recorded by Tweet. He released a single titled "Keepin' It Real," which questioned RL's business integrity and mocks RL's poor solo record sales. He recently released a new single titled "Watch Your Mouth" which makes physical threats against RL.

Despite these difficulties, RL is working on a solo project titled Important at Music World and will also be releasing a new album with Next.