Bobby Valentino
Valentino performing in Southeast Missouri State University during the Xi Gamma chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha's Miss Black And Gold Pageant in 2006.
Background information
Birth name	Bobby Wilson
Also known as	Bobby V, Bobby V-Tino
Born	February 27, 1980 (1980-02-27) (age 30) Jackson, Mississippi, United States
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Genres	R&B
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals, Piano
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Disturbing tha Peace, Def Jam, EMI, Blu Kolla Dreams
Associated acts	Mista
Website	www.justbobby.com

Bobby Wilson (born on February 27, 1980), better known by his stage name Bobby Valentino, or Bobby V is an American R&B singer (his nickname being "Valentino" because he was due to be born on Valentine's Day).¹ He is known as Bobby V or Bobby V-Tino in the United Kingdom due to a lawsuit involving a British musician who has been recording under the same name since 1975.²³

Early life and career beginnings

Valentino was born Bobby Wilson on February 27, 1980, in Jackson, Mississippi.⁴ He later moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he attended North Atlanta High School. He later returned to his old high school appearing on the debut episode of MTV's Once Upon A Prom, which aired on May 19, 2007.Bobby entered the music scene in 1996 as a member of the R&B youth quartet Mista, at this time using his real name, Bobby Wilson.⁵⁶ Under the production of Organized Noize (TLC’s "Waterfalls"), the group released their self-titled debut album, which produced the chart topping single, "Blackberry Molasses." Unfortunately, the album didn't follow in the same success and despite a second album being produced by Tim & Bob, it was never released. Due to management issues the group split in 1997. Bobby later enrolled at Clark Atlanta University majoring in Mass Communications. Many believe Valentino pledged Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc, though this is not true. While in school, Bobby continued to record in his free time in hopes of one day returning to the stage.⁷ In the spring of 2002 he auditioned for season one of American Idol, but didn't make the cut.⁸

Armed with three albums of demos, he set out to pursue his music career dream. The demos reached Puff Daddy who then forwarded them onto Ludacris and Disturbing Tha Peace president Chaka Zulu, and "the rest is history" as Bobby says.¹ Soon after being signed as the first R&B artist on Disturbing Tha Peace Records, Bobby was featured on the hit single "Pimpin' All Over the World," off of Ludacris' multi-platinum selling album The Red Light District in 2004.⁷

Career

2005–2007: Debut album and Special Occasion

Bobby Valentino was released in the spring of 2005 through Island Def Jam and Ludacris's Disturbing tha Peace label and was certified gold by the RIAA selling over 850,000 copies⁹. Primarily produced by the hitmakers Tim & Bob, His first single, "Slow Down", became a top 10 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 R&B single Billboard R&B Singles receiving a large amount of radio and TV airplay. Also in 2005, Bobby joined Bow Wow, Omarion, Marques Houston, B5 and Pretty Ricky on the Scream Tour IV. After the success of "Slow Down," Bobby released a second single titled "Tell Me (Remix)" featuring Lil Wayne. The album's third and final single, "My Angel," was released in the fall of 2005, however it gained little popularity.

Gearing up for the release of his 2007 sophomore effort Special Occasion, Valentino released the album's first single titled "Turn the Page" with mixed reviews. His second single, "Anonymous" featuring Timbaland, was released on April 9, 2007. Overall, the album received positive reviews from critics and audiences.

2008: New label and The Rebirth

In early 2008 Valentino confirmed that he was no longer signed to either Def Jam or Disturbing The Peace during an interview with DJBooth.net. He stated:

Despite Special Occasion's gold certification, Valentino was reportedly frustrated with the album's delays and less than expected sales, culminating in his decision to leave the labels.¹⁰ Although business ties have been severed, Valentino maintains positive relationships with CEO Chaka Zulu, Ludacris and the DTP/Def Jam staff.

In April 2008, Come with Me was released through digital outlets and featured the single "Another Life". In July 2008, three months after being dropped from Def Jam Recordings and leaving Disturbing tha Peace Records, Valentino signed a new deal with EMI, which will house his imprint Blu Kolla Dreams.¹¹ In regards to the new label Bobby's manager and co-CEO of Blu Kolla Dreams Courtney "Colt Luv" Stewart stated:

In addition, Bobby announced the release of a new album titled The Rebirth. When asked about his powerful new album Bobby stated:

The Rebirth was released on February 10, 2009. The album's first official single "Beep" featuring Yung Joc was released via iTunes on October 7, 2008. Valentino's third studio album features production by Tim & Bob, Raphael Saadiq, LOS Da Maestro and Big Fruit.

2010: Fourth Studio Album "Fly On The Wall"

Bobby Valentino will be releasing his fourth studio album "Fly On The Wall" including his first single Stilletos & A T-shirt Featuring Nicki Minaj. Valentino's Album is expected to be released in the spring of 2010. Bobby Valentino breaks his silence about his fourth upcoming album “Fly on the Wall.” The two time Urban Music award winner has become famous for tracks like “Anonymous”, Lil Wayne’s “ Ms. Officer” and been featured on Ludacris’s track ”Pimpin all over the world”. He's been blessed to be a fly on the wall with industry heavweights like Ludacris and Lil Wayne. Bobby says Lil Wayne is a force to be reckoned with in the studio. Bobby says,”Most people go into the studio and it takes them all day to do a song, Lil Wayne takes thirty minutes and the song comes out hot.” The album entitled,"fly on the wall" describes his life in the music industry. He’s been to so many places Africa, Australia and all over the world. Now his fans finally get the chance to be a fly on the wall in his life.Bobby Valentino talks about his start in the industry and his upcoming album “Fly on the Wall”. The artist that is famous for hits like “Angel” and Timberlands, ”Anonymous” says he was around when Atlanta was barely in it's beginning stages.

He says he got stated with the group” Mista during the same time that TLC and Goodie Mob was getting going in Atlanta. Bobby says,” I got a chance to be close to people like TLC and I was around there whole movement, so I got a chance to watch Atlanta grow.” It was a great opportunity for him to be a fly on wall in the industry but he was really young and didn’t know much. Bobby says,” I was really young so I didn’t know much about the business so it was good for me to learn how to do things right like record, and perform.”

The group Mista put out one album and never came back to do another record. So Bobby took the time off to go back to get his college degree. Bobby states ,” I graduated from Clark and I went to class during the day but at night I stayed focused on my dreams. At night I was in the studio recording a lot of records.”He says his parents influenced his decision and he’s glad they made him go back to school.

Bobby says,"My parents were saying the music industry is not guaranteed…I probably wouldn’t have gone back tbut ’m glad I did. It was a great experience and it also helped prepare me for my business and the music industry.”

Bobby says,” I’m going on my fourth album and I’ve been a solo artist for five years and now I have my own label “Blue Collar Dreams” and it’s just a blessing and a constant grind.”

Discography

• Bobby Valentino (2005)
• Special Occasion (2007)
• The Rebirth (2009)
• Fly on the Wall (2010)

Awards and nominations

• NAACP Image Awards
  • 2006, Outstanding New Artist (Nominated)

• Soul Train Awards
  • 2006, Best R&B/Soul Single, Male: "Slow Down" (Nominated)
  • 2006, Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist (Nominated)

• Vibe Awards
  • 2005, Reelest Video: "Pimpin' All Over the World" (Nominated)

• Urban Music Awards
  • 2009, Best Music Video: Ms Officer (Nominated)
  • 2009, Best R&B (Won)
  • 2009, Best Male (Won)

References

External links

• Official website