|
 The
most visible Winans family member outside the world of gospel, Mario
Winans gravitated toward percussion at an early age and eventually
learned piano. Immediately after graduating from high school, he began a
production career. In addition to working on several family-related
recordings, Winans piled up credits for other gospel artists, including
Fred Hammond, the Anointed, and the Clark Sisters; with his reputation
as a drum programmer, percussionist, producer, and composer already
considerable, he made the full transition into secular music to assist
in sessions for R. Kelly and Pebbles. Though he hadn't originally
planned to step into the spotlight as a solo artist, he signed to Motown
and released Story of My Heart in 1997. The album was not a success,
with only "Don't Know" scraping the Top 50 of the R&B/hip-hop singles
chart. Instrumental, programming, and production duties nonetheless
continued, including regular work for P. Diddy's Bad Boy roster. This
tight association led to a new solo contract.
Mario Winans Links
In 2004, Winans released his second album and his first for Bad Boy,
Hurt No More. Lead single "I Don't Wanna Know" blew up almost
immediately after it was issued, crossing over to the Top Five of
Billboard's Hot 100. |
