Lloyd (singer)

Lloyd
Polite in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Lloyd Polite Jr.[1]
Born	(1986-01-03) January 3, 1986 (age 38) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.[2]
Origin	Decatur, Georgia, U.S.
Genres	R&B[3]
Occupations	Singer songwriter actor
Discography	Lloyd discography
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Young Goldie EMPIRE Interscope Zone 4 Universal Motown The Inc. Sho'nuff Def Jam MJM
Formerly of	N-Toon
Children	2
Website	officiallloyd.com

Lloyd Polite Jr. (born January 3, 1986)^[4] is an American R&B singer. 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, which was formed by Joyce Irby in 1996. 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) peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 and led his first album Southside (2004), which entered the Billboard 200 at number 11. His second album, Street Love (2007) debuted at number two on the chart and was supported by the Billboard Hot 100-top 20 singles "You" (featuring Lil Wayne) and "Get It Shawty".

His third album, Lessons in Love (2008) peaked at number seven on Billboard 200, although its singles were less commercially successful. His guest appearance on Young Money's 2009 single, "BedRock" conversely yielded his furthest commercial success, peaking 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.^[5] His fourth album, King of Hearts (2011) peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200 and 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 Tru (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. 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.