New Orleans, Louisiana native Dawn Richard aka D∆WN, the daughter of Chocolate Milk percussionist and vocalist Frank Richard, released her first solo material under the name Dawn Angeliqué. The album Been a While, recorded while the singer was attending the University of New Orleans and working as a cheerleader for the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets, came out on the Yeah! Brother label in October 2005, around the time she made her first appearance on Making the Band 3. The third edition of that reality series produced Danity Kane, a group that released two Billboard 200-topping albums, Danity Kane (2006) and Welcome to the Dollhouse (2008), prior to splitting. Then, along with Diddy and Kalenna Harper, she became one-third of Diddy-Dirty Money, a short-lived group that debuted in 2009, released an album (2010’s Last Train to Paris), and then a mixtape (2011’s Love Love vs. Hate Love) prior to ending in 2012. While the group was active, Richard continued to develop her solo career. A mixtape (2011’s The Prelude to a Telltale Heart) and EP (2012’s Armor On) preceded her first official album, January (2013’s Goldenheart) with the second installment of her trilogy (2015’s Blackheart). She gifted her core R&B fans with a EP (2016’s Infrared) and is closing out the year with (2016’s Redemptionheart)