Inspired by his father, Donell Jones started singing at the age of eight and penned his first song when he was 12. Growing up in Chicago's Southside, he soon became part of the gangsta scene, but eventually decided to devote his life to music. Donell was discovered in 1993, during a talent showcase held in Washington D.C. by Edward "Eddie F" Ferrell, President of Untouchables Entertainment and former member of the hip-hop group Heavy D & the Boyz. He was signed to LaFace Records shortly after. Jones started penning hits for artists like Usher ('Think Of You'), Silk ('However You Want It'), 702 ('Get It Together') and Drea ('Not Gonna Letcha') and contributed to the vocal arrangements on Madonna's hit 1994 album "Bedtime Stories". 1996 saw the light of his debut album "My Heart". His first two singles, "In The Hood" and "Knocks Me Off My Feet", established him as an artist, and made him reach gold status. For his second album, entitled "Where I wanna be", Donell assembled a multi-talented group of musicians, including Eddie F. and Darren Lighty. That allowed him to win an American Music Award for Best New R&B Artist in 1999. The first single off his sophomore album, "You Know What's Up" (with a stunning remix featuring Left Eye) spent eight weeks at number one on Billboard R&B Chart, and it's possibly his biggest hit up to date. The second single, "Where I wanna be", confirmed once and for all his success, reaching number ten on 2000 Year-end Billboard R&B Chart.
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