Andre Deyo

Andre' Nathaniel Deyo (born April 19, 1978), better known by his stage name mrDEYO, is an American R&B singer and songwriter best known for writing "Jenny From The Block" for Jennifer Lopez and subsequently writing the book "Jenny & Becky From The Block" after the release of "Becky From The Block" by Becky G. He has been signed to a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing since 2002.

Andre' Nathaniel Deyo (born April 19, 1978), better known by his stage name mrDEYO, is an American R&B singer and songwriter best known for writing "Jenny From The Block" for Jennifer Lopez and subsequently writing the book "Jenny & Becky From The Block" after the release of "Becky From The Block" by Becky G. He has been signed to a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing since 2002.

Author

2013¹

"Jenny & Becky From The Block" is an autobiographical story about Deyo's most successful release, "Jenny From The Block" originally written by Deyo and recorded by Natasha Ramos, then by Jennifer Lopez, and covered by Becky G. Deyo describes his experiences and details the ways in which he created "Jenny From The Block" following his interaction and involvement with its new version by Becky G which featured Jennifer Lopez in the video. The book was released independently through Deyo's social media outlets and on his website.

Music career

2001

Deyo released his first song with Arista recording artist Koffee Brown titled "I Got Love" (Scars) from their Mars/Venus album and was featured on the hook and rap (produced by Chris Liggio).

2002-2003

During his placement in autumn of 2002, Deyo wrote "Jenny from the Block" for Jennifer Lopez, which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song inspired the new nickname "J. Lo" and reached number one in Argentina and Canada, and entered the top ten on multiple charts. It was produced by Troy Oliver (of New Haven, CT) and featured Jadakiss and Styles (of The Lox). The This Is Me... Then album also produced another DEYO written single, a co-write with Cory Rooney "I'm Glad". It was #4 on the Hot Dance Charts (4 weeks) and won a Billboard Award for Best Selling Latin Song of the Year. The video was nominated for four MTV Video Music Awards in 2003: Best Female Video, Best Dance Video, Best Choreography, and Best Art Direction. Deyo's pen and vocal skills went into Ginuwine's fourth album entitled The Senior with the songs "Chedda Brings" a co-write with longtime collaborator Antonio McClendon and "Big Plans" which featured Method Man. Deyo's vocal backgrounds can be heard on each of these records and is credited on the album. DEYO also lent his hand and vocal production to Monica's only #1 album After the Storm, which was the long-awaited release of All Eyez on Me. The song "Go To Bed Mad" was a duet featuring label mate Tyrese (selected by Apple's Larry Jackson and RCA CEO Peter Edge).

2004

Deyo had another single with O'Ryan (Omarion's look alike little brother) called "Take It Slow" . The song was a co-write with Tommy Niblack (who vocal produced with Deyo on "Go To Bed Mad"), Makeba Riddick (Woods) (of Beyoncé fame), and Adonis Shropshire (Bad Boy hit writer). A month later he landed a placement with Frankee, famous for her answer back song to Eamon's "Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back)" called F.U.R.B. (Fuck You Right Back). Linking together with producer Chris Liggio again he penned "I Told U So" for her release The Good, the Bad, the Ugly.

2009¹

Jennifer Lopez's Greatest Hits album will feature the two singles "I'm Glad" and "Jenny From The Block" mrDEYO wrote for her, and it has been reported that it may be released in February 2009. At one points reports were saying (with no official confirmation) that Lopez is releasing new material on the album "STILL FROM THE BLOCK" (which celebrates her 10 years of hits in the industry) including first single "Still From The Block" produced by Swizz Beats which will hit radio January 9, 2009. The video will premier at the end of January. Lopez has yet to release her greatest hits and has since left Epic Records who was set to drop the album. She is now signed with Def Jam and there has been no further talks on the greatest hits project. Since 2009 Deyo has been with SongU.com, coaching and giving his professional opinion on SongU members songs as well as sharing songwriter experiences with them.

2010

Deyo was listed as one of Waterbury, Connecticut's Notable Waterburians in the 2010 and 2011 Waterbury Guide. Via his Facebook and Twitter he has notified his friends and fans he's still in development stages with the girl group Queenz, recording at Quad Studios and Diddy's Daddy's House Recording Studio. Artist Dan Talevski makes his debut in May. November 3, 2010 "For Colored Girls" is released independently on Melodye Perry. Originally written for the film of the same name by Tyler Perry, it was co-written with Perry, Jason Gilmore. It was also co-written and produced by Tommy Niblack.

2011

November 21, 2011 One year after releasing "For Colored Girls" as an independent release Melodye Perry releases her EP "Melodye" on Island Def/Jam. "This One's For Colored Girls" appears as track #4.

2012

January 21, 2012 Jared Cotter released "Mo' Thangs" as a single on iTunes as an independent release (Cafe De Soul). Jennifer Lopez released her "greatest hits" project titled "Dance Again... The Hits" on July 24, 2012, which featured "Jenny From The Block". The album was a moderate commercial success, peaking within the top ten in fourteen national charts and the top twenty in ten national charts. Aisha released her first album "I, Shout!!!" on Sony Music/Japan on October 3, 2012. Deyo co-wrote the song "Sing For You" with Aisha on the track produced by Chris Liggio. December 21, 2012 Antonio McLendon releases long-awaited music on his "The Truth" mix tape hosted by DJ Chubby Chubb. Deyo co-wrote "Scream". The track was produced by Latin Billboard Nominee LamonSounz. The two collaborated during the summer months and have unreleased material that is tentatively set to be released in 2013.

2013

March 6, 2013 - vh1's Love and Hip Hop New York cast member, rapper Lore'l, releases "Benjamin", a mrDEYO co-write with Lyn Miller, Erika Kayne, Garfield Bjorn, and Guillermo Edghill Jr. to a track produced by Big Nate and Case Boogie. He also displays his vocal production and mixing skills (assistant) on the song. April 8, 2013 - 16-year-old rapper and Cover Girl Becky G (Kemosabe Records/RCA) releases "Becky From The Block" audio and music video. The video features "Jenny From The Block" singer Jennifer Lopez giving her approval of her heavily sampled hit from 2002 by the young upstart. A cameo was also made by Lopez's beau Casper Smart. As of March 2024, the YouTube video has amassed some 93+ million views thus far. The song was to be featured on Becky's untitled first full album release which was come Spring 2014¹ but yet has yet to materialize. July 29, 2013 - Unsigned songstress Erika Kayne releases "Go Stupid" song and viral video written by Deyo produced by Case Boogie. Deyo wrote 60+ songs in a matter of 2 months for Erika's debut EP "Citizen Kayne" which was set to be released through her production company Vyrus Entertainment headed by industry veteran Charles Farrar (who discovered Trey Songz). Deyo's name was incorrectly added last as a writer on the song's credits, when he in fact wrote the entire song. October 7, 2013 - Erika Kayne Releases "Courage" song and video written by Deyo and produced by Case Boogie. Again, Deyo's name was incorrectly credited on this cut as well, as he wrote the song alone.

2014

April 18, 2014 - Erika Kayne Releases "Have Him" written by Deyo as part of her "Nostalgia" mixtape containing mostly cover songs. Produced by Case Boogie and released by Vyrus Entertainment. Deyo was not involved on the vocal production of this record outside of recording his own demo while writing it, which Kayne and her team used as a guide to record it. According to his Twitter page, Deyo is currently working on highly anticipated releases heavily with engineer/producer Garfield "June" Bjorn (@ibethatjune) on new projects to be released in 2014.

2015

June 17, 2015 - Deyo and long time collaborator Garfield "June" Bjorn create Dopeski Ent., an independent record label in Waterbury, CT. The company specializes in Music, Film, and Technology. Plans for the new studio is conceived and started by Bjorn.

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372922080 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.