Anthony Hamilton
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
Hamilton next signed with MCA and recorded his critically acclaimed but largely overlooked 1996 album, XTC. Another transitional period followed and Hamilton ultimately found himself at the Soulife label. It was at Soulife, a relatively new venture run by some of the singers old Charlotte friends, that Hamilton laid down tracks for another solo album and also wrote songs for such artists as Donell Jones and Sunshine Anderson. In 2000, he accepted an invitation to sing backup vocals on singer/organist DAngelos Voodoo Tour and traveled the world. Upon returning home, Hamilton discovered that Soulife had also gone belly up.
With a second album unreleased, Hamilton spent the next two years selling songs and singing backup for artists including 2Pac and Eve. Then, in 2002 a lead spot singing on the Nappy Roots track Po Folks garnered Hamilton some much-needed attention, as the song was nominated for the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 2003 Grammy Awards. A subsequent gig performing at a Grammy luncheon led to a meeting between Hamilton and producer Jermaine Dupri, who quickly signed the singer to his So So Def label. Technically his fourth album, Comin from Where Im From bowed for So So Def in 2003. In 2005, some of his Soulife recordings were dusted off and polished up for release as Soulife, and the new album Aint Nobody Worryin followed later in the year.
