Lloyd

Lloyd Polite Jr. (born January 3, 1986) is an American R&B singer.

Lloyd Polite Jr. was born on January 3, 1986, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Lloyd Polite Sr. and Robin Lewis Polite.

He grew up in the Calliope Projects in Central City, New Orleans and then moved to Decatur, Georgia.

In Decatur, Polite found his desire to sing and later relocated to New York City where he met Irv Gotti.

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and raised in Decatur, Georgia, he began his musical career as a member of the preteen-boy band N-Toon in 1996, which was formed by Joyce Irby.

The group disbanded in 2001, and Polite signed with record executive Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. Records, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings in 2003 to pursue a solo career.

His 2004 debut single, "Southside" (featuring Ashanti) served as the lead single for his debut studio album of the same name (2004).

The song peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, while the album entered the Billboard 200 at number 11.

In 2003, Polite was discovered and signed to Irv Gotti's The Inc. as a solo artist and released his debut album, Southside, on July 20, 2004.

It debuted at number 11 on the US Billboard 200 and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts.

The album's lead single, "Southside", featuring R&B singer Ashanti, managed to peak at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 13 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.

The second and final single, "Hey Young Girl" was released in August 2004 and peaked at number 61 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Later that year he featured on 8Ball & MJG's "Forever" and Tango Redd's "Let's Cheat".

In 2004, Polite was featured on label-mate Ja Rule's "Caught Up"; the song saw minor success in the United States, reaching number 65 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

However, on the UK Singles Chart the song peaked at number 20.

The singer reentered the recording studios to begin work with producers Bryan-Michael Cox, James Lackey, Jazze Pha, Big Reese and Jasper Cameron and The Inc.'s 7 Aurelius.

Outside of music, Polite first acted in the 2005 UPN television series One on One, in which he starred as the love interest of main cast member Spirit—played by Sicily.

He made his film debut as Gregory Williams—founding member of Switch—in TV One's original biopic, The Bobby DeBarge Story.

His second album, Street Love (2007) peaked at number two on the chart and was supported by the Hot 100-top 20 singles "You" (featuring Lil Wayne) and "Get It Shawty".

Released on March 13, 2007, Street Love debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums charts, with sales of 145,000 copies emerging as Lloyd's highest debut and biggest first week.

It eventually received a gold certification, and has sold over half a million copies domestically.

The album's lead single, Jasper Cameron-penned "You", featured rapper Lil Wayne, was a big commercial success, becoming his first top ten single on the Hot 100.

In addition, it reached the top position on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

The single reached number 45 in the United Kingdom and number 25 in New Zealand.

The second single "Get It Shawty" reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number four on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.

It also reached number 37 in the United Kingdom.

The third and final single, "Player's Prayer", was released and peaked at number 74 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

The song was not promoted and didn't receive a music video.

Later in 2007, he was featured on Huey's "When I Hustle" and Dem Franchize Boyz's "Turn Heads", both songs saw minor success in the United States, reaching number 80 and 75 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

His third album, Lessons in Love (2008) peaked at number seven on Billboard 200, although its singles were less commercially successful.

Lessons in Love was released on August 4, 2008.

"The title concept derives from a schoolboy fantasy of mine, where I become a professor of a classroom full of gorgeous girls, and I feel the best thing I can give them that's really worth having is lessons in love!"

he said about the issues worked into the tracks.

The album debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, with moderately successful first-week sales 51,000 — about half as many as his previous effort, number two album Street Love.

His guest appearance on Young Money's 2009 single, "BedRock" conversely saw his furthest commercial success and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.

After his departure from Murder Inc., he signed with Atlanta-based producer Polow da Don's record label Zone 4, an imprint of Interscope Records in March 2010.

His fourth album, King of Hearts (2011) peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200 was supported by the moderately-performing singles "Lay It Down" and "Dedication to My Ex (Miss That)" (featuring André 3000 and Lil Wayne)—the latter saw further success internationally.

Following a five-year hiatus, he independently released his 2016 single "Tru", which received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

It preceded the release of his fifth album of the same name (2016)—his first independent album.

In March 2019, Polite joined a lineup of prominent early-2000s contemporary R&B artists for The Millennium Tour, which quickly became one of that year's most popular shows.