Raheem DeVaughn

Raheem DeVaughn was born in Newark, New Jersey on 5 May 1975. His father was a jazz cello player, who divorced the musician’s mother when he was still a child. Raheem fell in love with music when he still attended kindergarten. As a child, he participated in many music-related events. When DeVaughn was a teenager, he dove deeper into the music realm. During that period, he started planning a music career. Raheem was a fan of Babyface. His mom told a story about Raheem asking her to drive him to the music store Waxie Maxie to get Babyface’s poster. DeVaughn lived with his mom in Maryland. In the summer, he visited his father in New Jersey. Together with his dad, Raheem attended numerous live concerts. DeVaughn graduated High Point High School in Maryland and then enrolled in the university in Baltimore. During his studies, DeVaughn noticed a group of street musicians and decided to join them. The young man started skipping school to work on his music career. He wrote lyrics and music. Raheem was determined to become a professional singer.

DeVaughn found a job as a vendor in a music store Tower Records. His responsibilities included hanging price tags on records. At the same time, he worked for a local music company DC and performed with different groups, which were mostly unpopular. The singer became successful on the local level quickly. He started winning music contests and participating in different events. During one of the talent shows in a Washington nightclub, the singer won $2,000, which helped him fund his career. At the same time, the representatives of Soul World Entertainment noticed him. They asked Raheem to write a song for their group. A little later, producers DJ Jazzy Jeff and Kenny Burns offer the singer a contract with Jive Records, which he happily signed in 2002. DeVaughn’s first official single was "Guess Who Loves You More". The second one was “Believe”. Both of them made their ways into the charts. The debut LP, The Love Experience, sold over 220 thousand copies and reached the 46th spot on Billboard 200. It also came in 9th on the Billboard’s R&B Albums Chart. At that time, many organizers tried to book Raheem DeVaughn for private events.

The singer continued performing at different shows and contests in Washington. He worked with such artists as W. Ellington Felton and Asheru from Unspoken Heard. During that period, DeVaughn hid his face under a hood and called himself Chronkite. For some time, it was the singer’s pseudonym.Critics compared Raheem with such artists as Dwele, Donny Hathaway, Van Hunt, Marvin Gaye, D'Angelo, and even Stevie Wonder. The singer called himself a rock star, who plays R&B hippie neo-soul music.

In some of his interviews, the artist talked about creating his own brand. To improve his branding efforts, DeVaughn set up a marketing campaign. He offered mixtapes for advertising and arranged impromptu shows. He was also invited to popular TV shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live and Jay Leno’s show.In January 2008, Raheem’s single “Woman” became the hit of the week on iTunes. The same year, he was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Male R&B Artist. He also won a BETJ award. A little later, the singer released his next album, Love Behind the Melody. He was also invited to work with T-Pain on his single “Reality Show” for the album, Thr33 Ringz.In 2010, Raheem presented his third LP, The Love & War MasterPeace, which featured such successful singles as "Bulletproof", "I Don't Care", "Black & Blue", and "Dr. Cornel West Interlude".

The singer offered his single “You” for the famous video game Grand Theft Auto IV. In 2011, he was nominated for a Grammy one more time for the best R&B album. However, Raheem didn’t manage to win the award. In 2013, DeVaugn presented his next LP, A Place Called Love Land. It was funded by a new label, Mass Appeal Entertainment. The lead single was "Love Connection". A year later, the artist presented a mixtape, King of Loveland, which was available for free downloading. In 2015, the singer released Love Sex Passion. It climbed to the 31st spot of Billboard 200. The latest album to date, Decade of a Love King, came out in October 2018