Stokley

American singer, producer, and percussionist Stokley Williams was born on July 15, 1967, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He began his career as a session musician in the '90s and went on to appear on albums by Janet Jackson, Luther Vandross, Usher, and Prince. It was one of these collaborations, Kelly Price's "Not My Daddy" (2011), that earned him his first Grammy nomination in the category of Best R&B Performance. Before that, he had formed the R&B group Mint Condition, with whom he released 9 commercially successful studio albums between 1991 and 2015. Following Prince's death in 2016, Stokley Williams joined his backing band The Revolution on tour to pay tribute to the late singer. Later that year, he made his official solo debut with the album Introducing Stokley, produced by himself and Philadelphia duo Carvin & Ivan. Sankofa, his sophomore effort, appeared in 2021 via Bluraffe Entertainment and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis' Perspective Records label. "Cafe," one of the singles from the album featuring rapper Wale, reached Number 30 on the US & R&B charts in 2022.