American musician
Stokley
Williams in 2014
Birth name Stokley Williams Born (1967-07-15 ) July 15, 1967 (age 57) [ 1] Origin St. Paul, Minnesota , U.S.[ 2] [ 3] Genres Occupations
Musician
songwriter
producer
Instruments Years active 1980–present Labels Bluraffe Ent
Musical artist
Stokley Williams (born July 15, 1967), also known simply as Stokley , is an American musician from St. Paul, Minnesota ,[ 4] best known as the lead singer and studio drummer of the R&B band Mint Condition .[ 5]
Career
In 2011, Williams was featured on Kelly Price 's song "Not My Daddy" from her album Kelly which earned him his first Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance.[ 6]
In 2017, Williams joined The Revolution on tour, to pay tribute to Prince .[ 7] Also in 2017, he released his Bluraffe/Concord Records solo debut Introducing Stokley , with production by himself as well as the Philadelphia production team Carvin & Ivan .
In 2019, Jam & Lewis' did a joint venture with Bluraffe ent /Perspective Records to release his second solo album, Sankofa .
In March 2020, Stokley earned his first number-one solo hit with "She..." reaching the top of the Adult R&B Chart (Billboard) for two consecutive weeks and high radio play on stations such as WAMO , WDAS , & WHUR .[ 8]
In 2024, he was cast as Rick James in Ja'Caryous Johnson's musical stage play, Super Freak: A Rick James Story, set to tour spring of 2024.[ 9] [ 10]
Influences
Williams has declared his main influences as being Cliff Alexis Sr., Prince , and Maurice White .[ 11]
Discography as a session musician
The Boys - The Boys (1990)[ 12]
Sounds of Blackness – The Evolution of Gospel (1991)
"Optimistic" (handclaps)
"The Pressure Pt. 1" (background vocals)
"The Pressure Pt. 2" (background vocals)
Karyn White – Ritual of Love (1991)
"Ritual of Love" (percussion)
"Love That's Mine" (background vocals)
"Do Unto Me" (drummer)
"Hard To Say Goodbye" (drum programming, percussion, background vocals)
Mo' Money – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1992)
The Harlem Yacht Club- "Brother Will" (drummer)
Janet Jackson – janet. (1993)
"What'll I Do" (drummer)
"The Body That Loves You" (percussion)
Johnny Gill – Provocative (1993)
"The Floor " (background vocals)
"Where No Man Has Gone Before" (background vocals)
"Mastersuite" (drummer, percussion)
"Quiet Time To Play" (percussion)
"I Know Where I Stand" (percussion)
Color Me Badd – Time and Chance (1993)
"The Bells" (drummer)[ 13]
Jason's Lyric – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1994)
Karyn White – Make Him Do Right (1994)
"One Minute" (drummer, percussion)
Sounds of Blackness – Africa to America: The Journey of the Drum (1994)
"The Lord Will Make A Way" (drummer, percussion)
"The Drum (Africa To America)" (percussion)
J. Spencer – Blue Moon (1995)
"U Should Be Mine" (lead vocals)
Solo – Solo (1995)
Soultry – Soultry (1995)[ 14]
"Where Do Broken Hearts Belong" (writer, producer, drummer, percussion, bass synthesizer)
"I Knew All Along" (writer, producer, drummer)
"Can I Get To Know You" (producer)
Janet Jackson – Design of a Decade: 1986–1996 (1995)
New Edition – Home Again (1996)
"One More Day" (percussion)
Ann Nesby – I'm Here For You (1996)
"I'm Still Wearing Your Name" (drummer)
"(What A) Lovely Evening" (drummer)
"Thrill Me" (drummer)
"This Weekend" (drummer)
"Let Old Memories Be" (drummer)
Jesse Powell - Jesse Powell
"All Alone" (writer, producer, background vocals, drummer)
4.0 – 4.0 (1997)
Luther Vandross – One Night with You: The Best of Love, Volume 2 (1997)
"I Won't Let You Do That To Me" (percussion)
Jon Secada – Secada (1997)[ 15]
"Too Late, Too Soon" (percussion)
Sounds of Blackness – Time for Healing (1997)
"The Blackness Blues" (drummer)
How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)
Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida (1999)
Elton John & Janet Jackson – "I Know The Truth" (drummer)
Jordan Knight – Jordan Knight (1999)
"Finally Finding Out" (percussion)
Yolanda Adams – Mountain High...Valley Low (1999)
Usher – 8701 (2001)
"Twork It Out" (drummer)
"How Do I Say" (drummer)
Blu Cantrell – So Blu (2001)
"I'll Find A Way" (drummer)
Deborah Cox – The Morning After (2002)
Toni Braxton – More Than a Woman (2002)
"Lies, Lies, Lies" (acoustic guitar, guitar solo)
Ann Nesby – Put It on Paper (2002)
Ali Shaheed Muhammad – Shaheedullah and Stereotypes (2004)
"Put Me On" (vocals)
"Banga" (background vocals)
Prince – Musicology (2004)
"Call My Name" (background vocals)
Jill Scott - The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3 (2007)
"How It Make You Feel" (producer, bass, guitar, drum programming, keyboards)
Brother Ali – Us (2009)
"Brothers And Sisters" (background vocals)
"Us" (background vocals)
Tech N9ne – All 6's and 7's (2011)
"The Boogieman" (background vocals)
Kelly Price – Kelly (2011)
Mint Condition – 7... (2011)
"Not My Daddy" (co-vocals, co-producer, drummer, keyboards, bass)
Elzhi – Elmatic (2011)
"Life's A Bitch" (additional vocals)
Brother Ali – The Bite Marked Heart (2012)
"I'll Be Around" (background vocals)
The World Famous Tony Williams - King or the Fool (2012)
"Mr. Safety" (additional vocals)
The Robert Glasper Experiment – Black Radio (2012)
"Why Do We Try" (lead vocals, percussion)
U-Nam & Friends – Weekend in L.A (A Tribute To George Benson ) (2012)
"Nature Boy" (lead vocals)
Brian Culbertson – Dreams (2012)
"No Limits" (lead vocals)
Wale – The Gifted (2013)
"The Curse of the Gifted" (uncredited background vocals)[ 16]
"LoveHate Thing" (featuring Sam Dew) (co-producer, guitar, bass, keyboards, drum programming)
"Sunshine" (co-producer, keyboards, drums, percussion, background vocals)
"Heaven's Afternoon" (featuring Meek Mill ) (co-producer, keyboards, guitar, background vocals)
"Gullible" (featuring Cee-Lo Green ) (producer, drum programming, guitar)
"Black Heroes" (co-producer, guitar, background vocals)
Lil' John Roberts – The Heartbeat (2014)
"Space" (additional vocals)
Wale – The Album About Nothing (2015)
"The Intro About Nothing" (additional vocals)
"The Bloom (AG3)" (background vocals, additional production)
Boney James – futuresoul (2015)
Maysa - Back 2 Love (2015)
"Keep It Movin'" (producer, additional vocals)
PJ Morton - Christmas with PJ Morton (2018)
Zo! - FourFront (2019)
After 7 - Unfinished Business (2021)
"The Day" (additional vocals, writer, producer, drum programming, keyboards, acoustic guitar)
"Sum Of A Woman" (writer, producer, drum programming, guitar, keyboards)
Discography as a group member
with Mint Condition
Meant to Be Mint (1991)
From the Mint Factory (1993)
Definition of a Band (1996)
The Collection (1991–1998) (1998)
Life's Aquarium (1999)
Livin' the Luxury Brown (2005)
Live from the 9:30 Club (2006)
E-Life (2008)
7... (2011)
Music @ the Speed of Life (2012)
Healing Season (2015)
with Ursus Minor
Nucular (2007)
Zugzwang (2010)
I Will Not Take "But" for an Answer (2010)
What Matters Now (2016)
Solo album
Introducing Stokley (2017)
Sankofa (2021)
References
^ "BBC Music – Stokley Williams" . Bbc.co.uk . Retrieved May 10, 2014 .
^ Bediako, Titilayo. "Stokely and Sylvia Williams: African American giants" . Insightnews.com . Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2014 .
^ Denman, Jamal (July 17, 2013). "Mint Condition front man focusing more on production" . Spokesman-recorder.com . Retrieved May 10, 2014 .
^ "Mint Condition" . twincities.com .
^ "Stokely Williams" . AllMusic . Retrieved January 23, 2020 .
^ "Mint Condition's Lead Singer Stokley Williams Receives 2 Grammy Nominations!" . Theurbanmusicscene.com . Archived from the original on December 29, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2014 .
^ Aswad, Jem (April 29, 2017). "The Revolution Pay Tribute to Prince With an Emotional New York Concert" . Variety.com .
^ "Stokley Strips Down & Celebrates Women In 'She…' And Announces New Album 'Sankofa' " . soulbounce.com . SoulBounce. October 14, 2019. Retrieved October 20, 2019 .
^ Allah, Sha Be (February 29, 2024). "Stokley Of R&B Group Mint Condition Cast As Rick James In 'Superfreak: The Rick James Story' - The Source" . Retrieved March 5, 2024 .
^ "Stokley Cast As Rick James In 'Super Freak: The Rick James Story' Stage Musical" . www.wbls.com . March 2, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024 .
^ "Mint Condition's Stokley Williams takes solo leap" . Rollingout.com . February 25, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2020 .
^ The Boys - The Boys (CD liner notes). Motown Record Company, L.P. MOTD-6302
^ "Time and Chance - Color Me Badd | Credits" . AllMusic . Retrieved January 23, 2020 .
^ Soultry - Soultry (CD liner notes). Motown Record Company L.P. 314530553-2
^ "Secada* - Too Late, Too Soon (The Mixes)" . Discogs.com . 1997. Retrieved January 23, 2020 .
^ Phillips, Noel (July 16, 2013). "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: STOKLEY WILLIAMS SPEAKS ON PRODUCING WALE'S "THE GIFTED" LP" . Respect-mag.com . Retrieved May 10, 2014 .
International National Artists