Keri Hilson

Keri Hilson live at Supafest in Australia in April 2011.

Keri Lynn Hilson (* 5. December 1982 in Decatur , Georgia ) is an American R & B - singer , songwriter and actress . She became famous as a songwriter for singers like Britney Spears , the Pussycat Dolls and R. Kelly . She achieved her worldwide breakthrough as an R&B artist with Timbaland and the song The Way I Are . Her most successful songs include Knock You Down , I Like and Pretty Girl Rock .

Career

Beginnings of the music career

Hilson first gained public attention in 2004 as the accompanying voice in Xzibit's song Hey Now . Until then she had primarily made a name for herself as a songwriter and co-producer for performers like Usher ( Red Light ), Ciara ( Oh ), Ruben Studdard and Toni Braxton . Furthermore she worked on the fifth album by Britney Spears , u. a. she wrote on the commercially successful comeback single Gimme More and on the third single Break the Ice . Her single with her mentor Timbaland The Way I Are made her known worldwide.

She also became famous for the title Control Me ; the alleged recording of Hilson was thought by some to be a demo for Rihanna and by others a demo of Rihanna that Hilson covered. Some thought that the recording of Keri was also the master (ing) version, and that of Rihanna was kept more as a demo, later also as a master (ing) version. Because of these ambiguities and complications, it later happened that others thought the recording was a collaboration between the two singers. But all the demos, which in the end were the same, were neither by or for Rihanna nor by Hilson, nor by both together: The demo was by Jazzy and is known to her as Remote Control Me ; the finished song is also from her, it's just called Remote Control and can be found on her mixtape Beauty And The Beat , which was released in 2010. Remote Control , the Master (ing) version, is also mistakenly known as Remote Control Me , which could be related to the name of their demo .

Hilson's role models include Janet Jackson , Diana Ross, and Tina Turner .

2008–2010: In a Perfect World ...

Keri Hilson in April 2009 at a fan meeting

Her debut album In a Perfect World… was released in Germany on March 25, 2009 , on which producers Danja , Polow da Don , Walter Milsap and label boss and mentor Timbaland contributed. Keri Hilson released the track Return the Favor with Timbaland as the lead single . The single reached number 21 in the German single charts. The second single from the debut album was the joint track with Ne-Yo and Kanye West Knock You Down . The third single from the album was the track I Like , produced by David Jost and also part of the soundtrack of the film Zweiohrküken . The song topped the iTunes download charts, entered the official German charts as number one and achieved gold status . Her debut album In a Perfect World ... was then reissued with I Like as a bonus. In October 2009 she appeared in the casting series Popstars as a guest judge and sang her song I Like at the finale on December 10th . Keri Hilson was nominated twice for a Grammy in 2010 , including Newcomer of the Year. This year Akon's new single Oh Africa was released for the 2010 soccer World Cup in South Africa , which was recorded with Keri Hilson and Jan Vollers. The song was used by beverage manufacturer Pepsi for the commercials related to the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa. Other songs she released from the album are Turnin Me On with Lil Wayne and Slow Dance .

2010-2011: No Boys Allowed

Keri Hilson's second album is called No Boys Allowed . Keri Hilson's first single was Pretty Girl Rock , which she also sang in " Germany's Next Top Model " final. Subsequently, several remix versions came out, on which rappers Kanye West and Lil Kim can be heard. On July 8th 2011 Keri Hilson released a No Boys Allowed - New Version in Germany. In an interview, Keri Hilson revealed that she wanted to release a video for the singles All the Boys , Bu You , Beautiful Mistake and Hustler , and that she would be coming to Germany for two concerts on her No Boys Allowed tour. Keri Hilson released the second single, the joint track with rapper Nelly Lose Control . Promo songs for the album were the singles Breaking Point and The Way You Love Me with Rick Ross . Musicians like Faith Evans , JoJo and Dawn Richard had guest appearances in the music video for the single The Way You Love Me . The track was not placed in any country in the charts, as Hilson had canceled the CD release due to negative reviews.

Keri Hilson on November 26th, 2011 at one of her No Boys Allowed concerts

Keri Hilson has been on the No Boys Allowed tour since 2011, which she successfully completed in South Africa towards the end of 2012. In the United States, she released the last album release, the track One Night Stand with Chris Brown , which successfully entered the top 20 of the Billboard R&B and hip-hop charts.

Since 2012: LIAR (Love is a religion)

Since spring 2012 Hilson has been working on her third studio album, which will be called LIAR (Love Is A Religion) . Timbaland is her mentor as co-producer . In an interview with the online portal Rap-Up.com, Keri Hilson revealed that she would like to record songs for her album with Bruno Mars and Cee-Lo Green . Keri Hilson also worked on tracks with Timbaland for his new album. During the VH1 Diva Show , Hilson announced that in addition to Timbaland, producers such as Stargate and Polow da Don would be working on the album. She also announced that there may be duets with Timbaland, Chris Brown and Kanye West on her album. Hilson released a song called Keep It 100 with rapper Young Thug on the Internet as a foretaste of the new album. In the song, Keri Hilson processes the separation with the athlete Serge Ibaka . Two more songs with the titles Scream and Dab on My Haters with rapper Waka Flocka Flame were published on Hilson's YouTube channel, but are not part of the LIAR album. In collaboration with artist Tiwah Hillz from Zambia , Hilson recorded the song Beautiful and made it available as a free download. The third album LIAR has been finished for a long time, but Hilson was not able to release it for health reasons. On April 25, 2020, African singer Stonebwoy released a duet with Hilson called Nominate .

Others

Keri Hilson and Akon got involved in the fight against AIDS with an H&M campaign. In the spring of 2012, Hilson made her film actress debut in the comedy Think Like a Man with Chris Brown and many other American actors. She also contributed the theme song Freedom Ride to the film's soundtrack. Together with Beyoncé , Jay-Z and Kanye West , she campaigned for the Let's Move campaign launched by Michelle Obama to help many people lead a healthy life . In 2012 Hilson was nominated for the BET Award in two categories , but won neither. Keri Hilson and singer Chris Brown are under contract with Wilhelmina Models for advertising purposes , but the company paused this type of contract after a year of cooperation because they invested their money differently. Hilson performed with Kelly Rowland and Adam Lambert on the VH1 Divas. They sang hits by Donna Summer ; other performers were Miley Cyrus , Ciara and Demi Lovato . Keri Hilson starred alongside Vin Diesel in the 2013 action film Riddick , which landed herself a well-paying film role. According to rumors, Hilson was dating rapper Lil Wayne until the end of 2009 , and they also recorded some songs together. Hilson was in a relationship with basketball player Serge Ibaka from early 2012 to late 2014 . Chris Brown, Timbaland , Usher , Kanye West, LeToya Luckett and Nicole Scherzinger are Hilson's closest friends. Due to a misunderstanding about the track Turnin Me On , Hilson got into a conflict with Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Ciara . Hilson and Timbaland apologized for this conflict years later with the track Sorry , but this was never published. Most recently, Hilson appeared in the films Love by the 10th date and Almost Christmas .

Movies

• 2012: Think Like A Man (Think like a Man)
• 2013: Riddick
• 2016: Almost Christmas
• 2017: Love by the 10th Date (TV movie)

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2009	In a perfect world ...	DE28 (9 weeks) DE	-	CH65 (6 weeks) CH	UK22nd silver (14 weeks)UK	US4th gold (33 weeks)US	First published: March 24th, 2009 Sales: + 1,100,000
2010	No Boys Allowed	-	-	-	UK76 (1 week) UK	US11 (19 weeks) US	First published: December 17th, 2010 Sales: + 430,000

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2008	Energy In a Perfect World ...	-	-	CH64 (2 weeks) CH	UK43 (10 weeks) UK	US78 (9 weeks) US	First published: May 27, 2008
	Return the Favor In a Perfect World ...	DE21 (9 weeks) DE	AT25 (6 weeks) AT	-	UK19 (10 weeks) UK	-	First release: October 7th, 2008 feat. Timbaland
	Turnin Me On In a Perfect World ...	-	-	-	-	US15th platinum (22 weeks)US	First release: December 9th, 2008 feat. Lil Wayne
2009	Knock You Down In a Perfect World ...	DE30 (9 weeks) DE	AT37 (5 weeks) AT	-	UK5 platinum (22 weeks)UK	US3 × 2 Double platinum (31 weeks)US	First published: April 7th, 2009 feat. Kanye West & Ne-Yo
	I Like In a Perfect World ...	DE1 × 3 Triple gold (41 weeks)DE	AT2 (24 weeks) AT	CH5 platinum (35 weeks)CH	UK34 (9 weeks) UK	-	First published: December 11, 2009
2010	Pretty Girl Rock No Boys Allowed	DE14 (10 weeks) DE	AT21 (8 weeks) AT	CH62 (1 week) CH	UK53 (2 weeks) UK	US24 platinum (22 weeks)US	First published: October 12, 2010 Remix with Lil Kim & Kanye West

more publishments

• 2009: Make Love
• 2009: Slow Dance
• 2009: Get Your Money Up (feat. Keyshia Cole & Trina )
• 2009: Change Me ( feat.Akon )
• 2010: Breaking Point
• 2010: The Way You Love Me (feat. Rick Ross )
• 2010: Buyou (feat. J. Cole )
• 2011: One Night Stand (feat. Chris Brown )
• 2011: Lose Control (Let Me Down) ( feat.Nelly )
• 2015: Keep It 100 (feat. Young Thug )
• 2018: Beautiful (feat.Tiwah Hillz)
• 2020: Nominate (feat.Stonebwoy)

As a guest musician

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2004	Hey Now (Mean Muggin ') Weapons of Mass Destruction	DE33 (14 weeks) DE	-	CH42 (11 weeks) CH	UK9 (7 weeks) UK	US93 (4 weeks) US	First published: November 16, 2004 Xzibit featuring Keri Hilson
2007	The Way I Are Shock Value	DE5 platinum (34 weeks)DE	AT4 (36 weeks) AT	CH3 platinum (48 weeks)CH	UK1 platinum (45 weeks)UK	US3 (38 weeks) US	First published: July 9, 2007 Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson & DOE
	Scream Shock Value	DE9 (12 weeks) DE	AT18 (16 weeks) AT	CH45 (12 weeks) CH	UK12 (18 weeks) UK	-	First published: December 11, 2007 Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson & Nicole Scherzinger
2008	Hero Untitled	-	-	CH70 (3 weeks) CH	UK70 (6 weeks) UK	US97 (1 week) US	First published: June 23, 2008 Nas featuring Keri Hilson
	Superhuman Exclusive	-	-	-	UK32 (13 weeks) UK	-	Initial release: October 3, 2008 Chris Brown featuring Keri Hilson
	Numba 1 (Tide Is High) Not 4 Sale	-	-	-	UK84 (1 week) UK	-	First published: October 14, 2008 Cardinal Offishall featuring Keri Hilson
2009	Number One Untitled	-	-	-	-	US59 (11 weeks) US	First published: July 28, 2009 R. Kelly featuring Keri Hilson
	Hold My Hand Imperial Blaze	DE60 (4 weeks) DE	-	CH37 (13 weeks) CH	-	-	Initial release: September 29th, 2009 Sean Paul featuring Keri Hilson
2010	Oh Africa Listen Up! Official 2010 FIFA Album	-	-	CH52 (2 weeks) CH	UK56 (7 weeks) UK	-	Initial release: January 31, 2010 Akon featuring Keri Hilson
	Got Your Back No Mercy	-	-	-	UK45 (2 weeks) UK	US38 gold (20 weeks)US	First published: June 1, 2010 T.I. featuring Keri Hilson
	Liv Tonight 5.0	-	-	-	UK54 (4 weeks) UK	US75 (1 week) US	First published: November 2010 Nelly featuring Keri Hilson
2011	In the Air Transition	-	-	-	UK37 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 13, 2011 Chip featuring Keri Hilson

Further guest contributions

• 2006: Help ( Lloyd Banks feat. Keri Hilson)
• 2007: Good Things ( Rich Boy feat. Keri Hilson & Polow da Don )
• 2008: Hello (Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson)
• 2009: Everything, Everyday, Everywhere ( Fabolous feat. Keri Hilson)
• 2009: She Don't Wanna Man ( Asher Roth feat. Keri Hilson)
• 2009: Medicine ( Plies feat. Keri Hilson)
• 2010: Million Dollar Girl (Trina feat. Keri Hilson & P. Diddy )
• 2010: Deuces (Remix) (Chris Brown feat. Keri Hilson)
• 2011: Never Let Go ( Anthony Hamilton feat. Keri Hilson)
• 2011: She Got That ( Tank feat. Keri Hilson)
• 2017: Beautiful (Tiwah Hillz feat. Keri Hilson)

Music videos

year	title	Director (s)
2008	Energy	Melina Matsoukas
	Return the Favor (feat. Timbaland )	Melina Matsoukas
	Turnin Me On ( feat.Lil Wayne )	Erik White
2009	Make love	Mike Barnes
	Knock You Down ( feat.Kanye West & Ne-Yo )	Chris Robinson
	Slow dance	Paul Hunter
	I like	Aeron Platt
2010	Breaking point	Brain Barber
	Pretty girl rock	Joseph Kahn
	The Way You Love Me (feat. Rick Ross )	Laurieann Gibson
2011	One Night Stand (feat. Chris Brown )	Colin Tilley
	Lose Control (Let Me Down) ( feat.Nelly )	Colin Tilley

swell

1. ↑ usmagazine.com
2. ↑ iamjazzy.bandcamp.com
3. ↑ mtv.com
4. ↑ last.fm
5. ↑ myspace.com
6. ↑ nydailynews.com
7. ^ Federal Association of the Music Industry: Gold / Platinum database
8. ↑ Keri Hilson: New edition with I Like - relevant.at ( Memento of the original from June 14, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 29, 2010. 
9. ↑ https://www.vip.de/vips/keri-hilson-t2669.html found at vip.de, accessed on September 4, 2019
10. ↑ Keri Hilson Pops Champagne in Atlanta . Rap-Up.com
11. ↑ Keri Hilson - Tour dates for Germany confirmed. ( Memento of the original from July 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Universal Music 
12. ↑ meinrap.de ( Memento of the original from August 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
13. ↑ billboard.com
14. ↑ theboombox.com
15. ↑ rap-up.com
16. ↑ hiphopearly.com
17. ↑ singersroom.com
18. ↑ singersroom.com
19. ↑ singersroom.com
20. ↑ lusakatimes.com
21. ↑ hotnewhiphop.com
22. ↑ rap-up.com
23. ↑ rap-up.com
24. ↑ rap-up.com
25. ↑ rap-up.com
26. ↑ bet.com
27. ↑ globalgrind.com
28. ↑ singersroom.com
29. ↑ blairwitch.de
30. ↑ rap-up.com
31. ↑ mtv.com
32. ↑ globalgrind.com
33. ↑ answers.com
34. ↑ celebuzz.com
35. ↑ metrolyrics.com
36. ↑ idolator.com
37. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
38. ↑ ^{a b c} Awards: DE CH UK US

Web links

Commons : Keri Hilson  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website (English)
• Keri Hilson at Allmusic (English)
• Keri Hilson in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Video interview in Berlin