Cheri Dennis

Cheri Dennis is Cleveland pedigree with a New York motor. Raised in Shaker Heights and sharpened in the girl group Spoyled, she bet on the city while hip-hop and R&B were running the table, and landed in the room when the culture was loudest.

Her break came from a chance meeting with Diddy at a NYC party. It turned into vocals on Mase’s Double Up (1999) and Puff Daddy’s Forever, then an official signing with Bad Boy Entertainment in 2001. She announced herself with “So Complete” on The Saga Continues…: warm, expensive, unmistakably her.

“I Love You” landed in 2005, a Ryan Leslie production with Jim Jones and Yung Joc in the mix. It premiered on BET’s 106 & Park and climbed the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop chart, a record behaving like a hit because the song is the argument. “Portrait of Love” kept the pressure on, and in 2008 the long-awaited debut In and Out of Love arrived on the Billboard 200 with polished storytelling and vocals that sit right in the pocket. “Ooh La La” reached past the album credits as theme music for MTV’s Making the Band 3.

Behind the solo work, Cheri’s pen and background vocals helped hold up a long list of names, through writing, features and harmonies: Faith Evans, The Notorious B.I.G., Black Rob, Danity Kane, Yung Joc, Machine Gun Kelly and more.

Her tone is recognizable in a split second, and the discography still answers when you press play. If you love Bad Boy’s softer-but-strong lane, pull her albums up and let the speakers do the talking.

Bookings and features: Toni@menageworks.com