Blu Cantrell (born Tiffany Cobb on March 16, 1976) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter. Tiffany Cobb was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1976. Her father was a Narragansett Indian and Cape Verdean and played in the National Basketball Association[citation needed]. Her mother, of Italian descent, was a former Mrs. Rhode Island, actress, and jazz vocalist[citation needed]. After several demos, recordings, and singing backup for artists such as Puff Daddy, Cantrell was discovered by Red Zone Entertainment heads Tricky, Tab and Laney Stewart in early 2001. She also did collaborations with Babyface, Usher, Dionne Warwick, will.i.am, Fat Joe, Lil Kim, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and jazz legend Herbie Hancock. The producers promptly placed her with Antonio "L.A." Reid who offered the singer a contract with his label Arista Records after hearing one song she wrote and sung in front of him and his staff. After a bidding war with five different labels, Arista bid the highest, Blu said "Since she was a little girl she always dreamed of being on Arista records." Afterwards Cantrell went straight into recording sessions with Dallas Austin and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. In 2001, her debut album, So Blu, was released. The record saw major success when it peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200 chart, eventually going gold in the United States. The album's hit single "Hit 'em Up Style (Oops!)", which peaked at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, became the number one most added record to radio in the country, breaking Elvis's record of most played on all genres of radio. The song earned Cantrell Grammy Award nominations for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and for Best R&B Song, as well as an American Music Award nomination for Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist, both in 2002. Source: Wikipedia