AHMIR

Artist Information

Biography

From the streets of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, AHMIR is the premiere, up and coming male R&B group with a rapidly growing national and global fan base. "They're Next" is the fitting title Billboard magazine labeled this R&B foursome in their featured article detailing their rising success. With influences ranging from Boyz II Men, Jodeci, Carl Thomas, Donny Hathaway, Jagged Edge, and D'Angelo, AHMIR brings urban and classic R&B sounds together to reflect the wide range of feelings and emotions we all experience. First formed in 2002, the members of AHMIR consist of "Sing-Sing", "Big Mike", "Mr. Jones" and "KC".

The long-awaited debut album from AHMIR entitled "THE GIFT" is a delicate balance of catchy club singles and timeless ballads. AHMIR's signature harmonies and superior songwriting can be heard and felt on each track. "THE GIFT" features the hit single "Welcome To My Party" which made its debut at #8 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles Sales chart and became the #19 top selling R&B/Hip Hop single last year. Also featured on the album are the ever-popular ballad "The Wedding Song" and the new dancehall club smash called "Right To Left" featuring King Ilabash.

AHMIR has opened for such major recording artists as John Legend, 112, Jagged Edge, & Boyz II Men and have been the recipient of multiple national awards and accolades for "Best R&B Group". AHMIR is proud to finally give "THE GIFT" to the world.

AHMIR is managed by Michael J. Cheung, Esq., president of Chino World Management, Inc. Contact: (917) 841-3588 or info@ahmirmusic.com.

For more information, visit www.ahmirmusic.com or www.myspace.com/ahmirmusic.

BILLBOARD Charts:

Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles Sales:
Debut #8 and Peaked #3 - 25 Weeks on Chart
#19 YEAR END Best Selling R&B Hip Hop Single

Hot Singles Sales:
Debut #32 and Peaked #19 - 12 Weeks on Chart

Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs:
Debut #100 and Peaked #82 - 13 weeks on Chart

RECORD POOL Charts:

S.U.R.E. Record Pool (NY):
New & Hot S.U.R.E. Shots!
The Top Indies Releases
Hottest Tunes In The Big Apple: #18
Prime Chart Movers
Top Independent Releases: #3
Top Upward Sizzlers #27
Featured Artist

Masspool DJ Association (MA):
Breakouts: #7
Top 50 Urban: #39

Full Fledge Record Pool (FL):
Top 50 Hip Hop/R&B Chart: #8

Pittsburgh DJ Association (PA):
Top 15 Independents: #1

Promomusic (Canada):
Top 50: #29
Top 50 Urban: #50

Illinois Record Pool (IL):
Top 100 Urban Singles: #7
Top 50 Urban (Independent): #1

Resource Record Pool (CA):
Positively Received

One Metropolitan Detroit Record Pool (MI):
Smokin' Picks

DJ League (Europe):
Top 50: #9

DDK Record Pool:
Urban/Rap Top 50: #49

MIXTAPES/COMPILATIONS:

DJ Supa Mello - America's Pimp "Club Certified" Mixtape
DJ Denox - "Strictly For The Clubs" Mixtape
DJ Denox - "This is Sum' '06" Mixtape
DJ Tafari - May '06 Mixtape: Featured Artist
DJ Tafari - June '06 Mixtape
DJ Tafari - Memorial Day Mixtape
DJ L.A.S. - "Who's The Number One R'N'B Volume 10"
DJ Yoshio - Twelve May 2006 Mixtape
DJ Dask - Vinyl Express 49 Mixtape
DJ FDB - Fresh Mix June 2006 Mixtape
DJ Swing - Sugar Vol. 8 Mixtape
2 Funky Records - "Airplay" Limited DJ Sampler Vol. 003
2 Funky Records - "Playlist" Vol. 1 Compilation
Crossover Heat - Volume 1 Compilation
DJ Mad Dogg - Mad'z Virus Vol. IV
DJ Daddy presents MySpace Mixtape Volume One
DJ Kool Kev - R&B Mixtape #65
DJ Kool Kev - Party Up - Vol. 2

Instrumentation

Leon Jones aka "Mr. Jones"
Michael McDonald aka "Big Mike"
Mark Robertson aka "Sing Sing"
KC Washington aka "KC"

Discography

Single: "Welcome To My Party"
Release: March 2006
Format: CD/Vinyl
Radio: College/Community/Satellite and some Commerical P1/P2 stations

Official Website

http://myspace.com/ahmirmusic

Links

• Ahmir on NBC's "America's Got Talent" - 6/26/07

Audio

• Welcome To My Party
  Listen   Download
• No Place Like Home
  Listen   Download
• The Wedding Song
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• 6AM prod. by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins
  Listen   Download
• Cloud 9
  Listen   Download
• Let's Get This
  Listen   Download

Lyrics

• Welcome To My Party
• The Wedding Song
• No Place Like Home

Video

AHMIR on BET's 106 & PARK

Photo Gallery

Press

• "THE PERFECT 'GIFT' "
  

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• "AHMIR's GOT TALENT...AHMIR GLIMPSE OF WHAT TO COME"
  

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• "THEY'VE GOT TALENT"
  

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• "They're NEXT"- Billboard Magazine
  

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• "It's 'Party' time for local band... Ahmir lacks a record deal, but the R&B act has a No. 4 single" [+ Show ]
  

  When the Boston R&B group Ahmir takes the stage at Berklee Performance Center tonight, it will be am...When the Boston R&B group Ahmir takes the stage at Berklee Performance Center tonight, it will be among a couple of dozen regional artists who were invited to perform at the first New England Urban Music Awards. Like the evening's other performers, Ahmir is an unsigned band. The quartet, which has never played outside of the Northeast, will release its first album next month.
  
  Unlike the other acts, when Ahmir takes the stage tonight it will be performing the No. 4 song on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales chart.
  
  ''Things are starting to catch fire," says Ahmir cofounder Leon Jones, a Dorchester native who works in customer service at Verizon Communications. Ahmir's swift, startling rise on the charts is the latest instance of grass-roots, Internet-fueled promotion leading to a big-time payoff for independent musicians. Ahmir recorded ''Welcome to My Party" three months ago. The group posted a downloadable MP3 file of the song on its MySpace page (www.myspace.com/ahmirmusic). Its manager, Michael Cheung, sent out copies of the single to more than 700 DJs, some of whom started spinning the song in clubs. Cheung also assembled a gung-ho street team to talk up the track to retail clerks in stores across the country. ''Welcome to My Party" debuted in the top 10 on April 8, a week after its release. The following week, the single, which fuses classic R&B harmonies with edgy beats and an antiviolence rap, moved up to its current position at No. 4.
  
  Cheung, who began managing Ahmir in 2002 during his first year at New England School of Law, says that no matter how great the music is, this sort of unexpected breakout comes from a happy confluence of hard work and good luck.
  
  ''There's no real playbook," says Cheung, whose day job is in the litigation department at insurance company AIG. ''In addition to the song being very good, I have a very good team of people who were able to push the single at retail, even though it's not on a major label. They're playing it in stores and putting it in listening booths and on end-cap displays. Clerks started recommending it to customers. If someone asked for Mary J. Blige, they mentioned that they might like this new artist, Ahmir. Some clubs are playing the single, and the MySpace page has been amazing for connecting people. It was more strategy than money. Everything feeds off each other."
  
  Ahmir is Cheung's brainchild. He put the group together four years ago after holding ''American Idol"-style auditions that he publicized with fliers, e-mails, and ads in The Boston Phoenix. Cheung's concept was to create a male vocal group in the mold of Boyz II Men and Jagged Edge. He found four talented young singers in Jones, then a music performance major at Northeastern; Michael McDonald, a BU grad and veteran of the renowned Boys Choir of Harlem; Mark E. Robertson, who was studying music business at Berklee; and K.C. Washington, an aspiring model with an old-school falsetto.
  
  The group has written and recorded around 35 songs during the past few years, 15 of which made it onto the forthcoming album. Locally, WILD (97.7 FM) has been playing ''Welcome to My Party," which can be sampled at the ''Club Ahmir" section of the band's website, www.ahmirmusic.com. The silky smooth ballad ''Wedding Song" is also being previewed at the website.
  
  Jones says that while the group's members hope to become the biggest selling R&B group of all time, they're also committed to spreading a positive message through their music. ''Respect my house," instructs the rapper/host in ''Welcome to My Party. ''We'll make sure you have the most fun possible/ don't wanna see nobody go to the hospital/ Break it up break it up break it up."
  
  ''We love feel-good music, but also thought-provoking music that moves your emotions and sends a good message," says Jones, ''I think that's missing in urban music."
  
  Jones and his three bandmates financed their debut album themselves. Cheung has invested $30,000 of his own money in marketing and promoting Ahmir. He's also actively shopped recordings to record labels, with no success so far. But the rapid ascent of ''Welcome to My Party" on the Billboard charts may be just the boost the band needs, Cheung believes, to attract the interest of a major label.
  
  ''A lot of labels right now are so afraid of taking risks," he says. ''No matter how good the music is, they pretty much sign people who are selling on their own or are friends with P. Diddy. I think they'll be coming to me now."
  
  

• Featured Artist of the Month (VIBE)
  

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Setlist

We perform our current single "Welcome To My Party" and a follow-up single ballad entitled "The Wedding Song". We do covers that include Maxwell, Prince, Boyz II Men and Temptations.

Our sets vary depending on the event and can be anywhere from 10 - 45 minutes.

Basic Requirements

Calendar