Monica Denise Arnold was born and raised outside Atlanta in College Park, and started singing in church as a toddler, diversifying quickly by competing in talent shows. When she was 11 years old, a winning performance of 'The Greatest Love Of All', patterned after Whitney Houston's version, impressed a talent scout and led to connections with Dallas Austin and Queen Latifah. Signed to the former's Arista-affiliated Rowdy label, Monica debuted at the age of 14 with 'Don't Take It Personal (Just One Of Dem Days)', with the Austin-produced single entering the Billboard charts in April 1995, and only missed the top of the Hot 100 by one spot. Recorded over a period of three years, parent album 'Miss Thang' arrived that July and was further boosted by two highly successful double A-side singles. She also showed uncommon maturity on the Usher duet 'Let's Straighten It Out', a vintage ballad that preceded the neo-soul movement by a couple years, and in a few collaborations with Tim & Bob, such as a cover of the S.O.S. Band hit 'Tell Me If You Still Care'. In 1998 she duetted with Brandy on the 'The Boy Is Mine' single, which topped the R&B and pop charts for three-months, and Monica' like-titled album was issued on Arista Records. For her third album, she co-wrote much of 'All Eyez On Me', but it was delayed repeatedly, even after the feel-good title song was issued as a single, and ultimately it was released only in Japan in October 2002.
She quickly rebounded in the studio with Missy Elliott heavily involved as a producer and writing partner, and the first result of their work together was 'So Gone', released in April 2003. It topped Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles, went Top Ten pop, and became the lead single of the 'After The Storm' album, a collection of mostly new material that went straight to number one upon its June release. Throughout each successive album that arrived every few years, Monica continued to mix and match contemporary trends while drawing from traditional R&B, with Jermaine Dupri and Dem Franchize Boyz helping her tap into the Atlanta snap sound with 'Everytime The Beat Drop', while the 'Still Standing' album was another Elliott collaboration, and 'Everything To Me' was based on Deniece Williams' 'Silly', with Jazmine Sullivan on-board as a co-writer. 'Still Standing' capped Monica's run with J Records, and she moved to RCA, which essentially absorbed the label. Her 'New Life' album was led by 'Until It's Gone', another ballad aided by Missy Elliott and Jazmine Sullivan, and in 2015 'Code Red' followed, with the title song released as a single, and featuring Elliott, and introduced by Monica's daughter Laiyah. She parted ways with RCA after 'Code Red', and by the end of the decade she'd established her independent phase with the singles 'BeHUMAN', 'Commitment' and 'Me + You'. During her career she has kept up her friendship with Missy Elliott, and has worked with her as co-writer, producer, and guest artist on her records, and this collection features rare unreleased works over the years recorded by Monica, featuring guest vocals and/or production by her good friend Missy Elliott.
Track listing
01 I Love Him (Intro)
02 U Turn Me On
03 No Stoppin'
04 Don't Be Cruel (feat. Beenie Man)
05 Let Me Know
06 Remember When
07 Girl, Please
08 If You Were My Man (feat. Jazmine Sullivan)
09 Everything to Me (Remix) (feat. Notorious B.I.G.)
10 Blackberry
11 (Anything) To Find You (feat. Lil' Kim)
12 No Stoppin' (feat. Fantasia)
