B Angie B

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B Angie B (born 1968) is an African American female R&B vocalist and dancer who came onto the music scene in the early 1990s.

Career and personal life

B Angie B known by many as The Queen Of Dance, was born Angela R. Boyd in 1968 in the small rural town of Morton, Mississippi. She grew up singing and honing her vocals in a local church. She graduated from Morton High School in the Scott County School District in 1984. A few years later, she and her best friend made a decision to move to out west to pursue a singing/music career together. The friend ended up getting pregnant and Boyd relocated to California alone.

It was not long after this relocation, that Boyd was discovered by producer (and future husband) James Earley and brought to MC Hammer's attention that Angie was a vocalist. Hammer is also the one credited with giving Boyd her stage name B Angie B when one day Hammer spoke the words "just be Angie". She sang on "Pump It Up (Here's the News)" on Hammer's Let's Get It Started album (the version re-released on Capitol Records in 1988) and she became a backup singer during his concert tours.

Her next opportunity came in 1989 with Hammer's all female rap group Oaktown's 3.5.7. She added her vocals to the rap song "Juicy Gotcha Krazy" and appeared in the video along with Oaktown's 3.5.7. She continued to tour and produce background vocals for Hammer during his successful Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em album in 1990.

In 1991, Hammer signed B Angie B to his Capitol-distributed Bust It imprint.^[1] That year, Bust It/Capitol released her self-titled debut album, which James Earley produced with his Northern California colleague Felton Pilate (formerly of the funk band Con Funk Shun). Bust It/Capitol released a few songs from B Angie B's album as singles, including "So Much Love" and remakes of two 1970s soul hits: Rufus & Chaka Khan's "Sweet Thing" and the Emotions' "I Don't Want To Lose Your Love". The latter single became a minor hit. In April 1991, the album debuted at #11 on the Billboard Hip-hop/R&B charts and #132 on the Pop charts, with album sales peaking at a mediocre 137,000 copies. The sales did not quite satisfy Capitol, and Boyd was dropped from the label a little over a year later.

She appeared in the Kid 'n Play farce Class Act and sang on the soundtrack title track "Class Act (Work That Body)". The title track was also released as a video.

Boyd released a second album in 1995 under the Bust It label (with independent distribution). She dropped the first "B" and was known as Angie B. The album did not make an impact on radio or retail charts.

At the turn of 2000, B Angie B (now amicably divorced from James Earley) resided back in Mississippi and with Earley had one child, a daughter. Her 1991 solo debut B Angie B on Capitol records was reissued in mid 2005 with a bonus DVD along with previous releases from former label mates Oaktown 357, after its 2005 re-issue, the album sold an additional 4,000 copies as of 2008.

After becoming disillusioned with the music industry as a whole, she quietly left the scene and focused on raising her family.[?] She and her two children now live in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA where she works in interior design and real estate.

In the summer of 2009, new music was released on her Myspace page (www.myspace.com/bangiebmusic), including a remake of "Ring My Bell". She has stated that she does not intend to release an album, preferring live performance and internet traffic.

References