Joe

An accomplished vocalist of smooth and sultry R&B productions with occcasional hip-hop beats,
Joe's extensive background in gospel music has allowed him to produce his albums as well as sing
on them. A native of Georgia, Joe later moved to Opelika, Alabama; since he was the son of two
preachers, he spent much time in church singing, playing guitar and even directing the choir.
Influenced early on by gospel stars like the Winans, Commissioned and Vanessa Bell Armstrong,
Joe grew to love soul legends Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye plus contemporary stars Bobby
Brown and Keith Sweat.
Joe graduated from high school and continued to sing and write music while working at occasional
temporary jobs. Finally, he traveled to New Jersey hoping to make connections in the music
industry. While working at a gospel record store and continuing his music education through a local
church, he met producer Vincent Herbert and recorded a three-song demo tape. He signed to
Polygram and in 1993 released his album debut, Everything. Joe also appeared on the soundtrack
to Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, and moved to
Jive/RCA for his second album, 1997's All That I Am. The single "Don't Wanna Be a Player" hit
the Top 40, thanks to its exposure on the soundtrack of Booty Call. While All That I Am went
platinum, Joe remixed a duet by Tina Turner and Barry White, "Never in Your Dreams"; he also
produced and wrote for debut albums by Ideal and Deja Groove. In 1999, Joe appeared on
Mariah Carey's "Thank God I Found You" single (from Rainbow), and caught yet another break
from a soundtrack appearance, this time with "I Wanna Know" from The Wood. Released as a
single in the fall, "I Wanna Know" languished in the lower reaches of the charts until suddenly
catching fire in early 2000; the single reached the R&B Top Five in March, setting the stage for
Joe's next album, My Name Is Joe. Towards the end of 2001 Joe released his fourth album.