Ginuwine

Elgin Baylor Lumpkin (born October 15, 1970), better known by his stage name Ginuwine, is an American R&B singer.

Elgin Baylor Lumpkin was born on October 15, 1970, in Washington, D.C. He is named after NBA legend Elgin Baylor, a fellow D.C. native.

In 1988, he graduated from Forestville High School (later known as Forestville Military Academy) in Forestville, Maryland, and later graduated from Prince George's Community College in Largo, Maryland, with a paralegal associate's degree.

Lumpkin began his career as a member of Swing Mob, a Rochester, New York-based record label and music compound founded by Donald "DeVante Swing" DeGrate, a member of popular 90's R&B group Jodeci.

He began his career as a member of the DMV-based musical collective Swing Mob in the early 1990s.

There, he met rapper Melissa "Missy" Elliott, rapper Melvin "Magoo" Barcliff, producer Steven"Stevie J" Jordan, singer-songwriter Stephen "Static Major" Garrett and producer Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley, who became his main collaborators through the 1990s.

As a solo act, he signed with Epic Records to release his 1996 debut single, "Pony".

The song peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and preceded the release of his debut studio album Ginuwine...The Bachelor (1996), which saw moderate but steady commercial success and received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

After Swing Mob folded, they continued working together on different projects, one of which was Ginuwine's 1996 debut album, titled Ginuwine...The Bachelor.

The first single, "Pony" peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.

His second and third albums, 100% Ginuwine (1999) and The Life (2003) both peaked within the top five on the Billboard 200 while the latter spawned the single "Differences", which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains his highest charting song.

His second album, 100% Ginuwine, was released in 1999 and featured the hit single "So Anxious".

After 100% Ginuwine, Ginuwine and Timbaland grew apart.

Producers such as R. Kelly and Troy Oliver have crafted hits for him since then.

In 2001, Ginuwine had a number-four hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with the single "Differences", which also peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Within a year, Ginuwine lost both of his parents.

He later wrote and recorded a song that is featured on his third album The Life entitled "Two Reasons I Cry".

In 2002, he was a featured artist on P. Diddy's number-one hit "I Need a Girl (Part II)".

Later that year, Ginuwine started his own label, Bag Entertainment.

His fourth album, The Senior (2003) spawned the top ten single "In Those Jeans", as well as the top 40 singles "Hell Yeah" (featuring Birdman) and "Stingy".

Ginuwine's third album, The Senior was released in 2003.

It featured the hit singles "Stingy", "Hell Yeah" and "In Those Jeans".

His fifth, Back II da Basics (2005) peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200 and served as his final release with Epic; he signed with Warner Records to release his sixth album A Man's Thoughts (2009), which performed similarly despite mixed critical reception, serving as his final release on a major label.

Ginuwine's fifth album, Back II Da Basics, was released on November 15, 2005.

The album debuted at number 12 on the Billboard 200, selling close to 100,000 copies.

Ginuwine stated on BET's Top 100 countdown that the album went Gold with sales of 500,000 copies.

Aside from his solo career, he formed the R&B trio TGT alongside contemporaries Tyrese Gibson and Tank in 2007, with whom he has released one studio album.

In May 2007, an album entitled I Apologize was released in stores.

Although attributed to Ginuwine, the release was an unauthorized album and included only three Ginuwine songs – apparently from stolen masters – and ten songs by other artists.

Ginuwine spoke against the unofficial release on both his MySpace page and through YouTube.

In 2007, Ginuwine collaborated with Canadian hip-hop artist Belly in the latter's debut solo song "Pressure", which was featured in Belly's debut album the Revolution, released in June 2007.

Ginuwine announced on his Myspace Blog on August 21, 2008, that due to label and legal issues, they will not be able to release an official TGT album.

Ginuwine's sixth album entitled A Man's Thoughts, was released on June 23, 2009.

The album was produced by The Underdogs, B Cox, Timbaland, The Runners, Johnta Austin, Oak and Polow da Don.

The album includes guests appearances from Brandy, Missy Elliott, Bun B and Timbaland.

Ginuwine formed a group with Tank and Tyrese named TGT.

Their first single was a remix of Tank's "Please Don't Go".

They were supposed to tour but plans fell apart due to conflicting schedules.

His albums Elgin (2011) and A Ginuwine Christmas (2011) followed thereafter.

According to Billboard, as of 2013, Ginuwine has sold an estimated 6.98 million albums in the US.