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Simone Wilson or Simone Gooden^{[1 ]} (born 2 July 1970) known by her stage name Monie Love, is a female, English emcee and former radio personality in the United States. Love was a well-respected figure in British hip hop, and made an impact with American hip hop audiences as a protégé of female American emcee Queen Latifah, as well as through her membership in the late 1980s/early 1990s Native Tongues. ^[2] Love was one of the first BritHop artists to be signed and distributed worldwide by a major record label. ^[2]

Early years

Love was born in the Battersea area of London on July 2, 1970. She is the younger sister of techno musician Dave Angel, and was a daughter of a London-based, jazz musician father.^{[1 ]}

Musical career

Love began her hip hop/BritHop career as an emcee in the British Jus Bad crew, which featured DJ Pogo, Sparki, and MC Mell'O'. The group released the single "Free Style/Proud" on the independent Tuff Groove record label in 1988.

Love first gained critical and commercial notice in the United States 1989 for her cameos in Queen Latifah's Grammy-winning and pro-woman single "Ladies First," in the Jungle Brothers' well-received single "Doin' Our Own Dang," and in De La Soul's hit single "Buddy." The acclaim led her to a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records, making Love one of the few British hip-hop efforts released by a major label. ^[2]

Love also has a place in hip-hop history as a member of the Native Tongues, a positive-minded hip-hop collective that included Queen Latifah, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, the Jungle Brothers, and a number of other acts.

Love's debut album, Down To Earth, spawned two, Grammy-nominated hits, "Monie in the Middle" (a high school-set track dealing with a woman's right to determine what she wants out of a relationship) and "It's a Shame (My Sister)" (which sampled The Spinners' "It's a Shame" written for the band by Stevie Wonder) and featured house-music vocalist and then-labelmate Ultra Naté. The album reached #26 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. ^[2]

Love was featured on her brother Dave Angel's remix of Whitney Houston's R&B hit "My Name Is Not Susan" in 1991, and appeared in the music video alongside Houston. Love's 1992 single, "Full-Term Love," from the Class Act movie soundtrack, reached #7 on the Hot Hip-Hop Singles chart. ^[3]

Love collaborated with Marley Marl on her second album, In A Word or 2 (1993), which featured the Prince-produced single "Born To B.R.E.E.D." (which reached #1 on the Hot Dance Music chart and #7 on the Hot Rap Singles chart), as well as a re-release of "Full-Term Love." ^[3] The same year, Prince asked her to write lyrics for a few songs on a side-project, Carmen Electra's eponymous album.

Love's last musical release was the EP "Slice of Da Pie" in 2000.

Radio career

From 2004 until the week of 11 December 2006, Love was the morning drive host on Philadelphia's WPHI-FM 100.3. The 22 December 2006 edition of the Philadelphia Daily News confirmed that Love left WPHI-FM on amicable terms after contract negotiations stalled.^[4] Love's departure from WPHI followed soon after her December 7, 2006 interview with Young Jeezy, where the two argued over whether hip hop is dead. ^[5]

Love is also an Official MySpace.com DJ, according to her MySpace page.

Love currently resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is the single mother to four children. She is rumoured to be making a comeback in late 2007 alongside South London rapper A.Dot.

Currently, she has a radio show on XM Satellite Radio called Ladies First Radio with Monie Love. It airs Thursdays 6PM ET and Sundays 8PM ET.

Discography

Albums

Solo EPs/Singles

References

External links

• AllMusic.com Biography - Monie Love
• Monie Love's myspace.com page
• A site focusing on the early days of Hip Hop development in the UK