Case (singer)

Case Woodard, known mononymously as Case, (born October 4, 1975) is an American R&B singer, songwriter and record producer. A two-time Grammy Award nominee, he is best known for his late 1990s hits including "Touch Me, Tease Me" (featuring vocals from Foxy Brown and Mary J. Blige), "Happily Ever After", "The Best Man" (a duet with Ginuwine, R.L. and Tyrese), the R&B number-one and top five pop hit, "Missing You", and "Livin' It Up" with rapper Ja Rule. The latter two earning him multiple award nominations including two Grammy Award nominations.

Music career
After stints with R&B group 'Future' and a duo called 'Black', Case got work co-writing and singing background for artists including Usher, Christopher Williamsand Al B. Sure. Armed with a song written by Faith Evans, Case was discovered by Russell Simmons who signed him to Def Jam Records.

Case’s solo career took off in 1996 with the release of "Touch Me, Tease Me" featuring a then up-and-coming rapper Foxy Brown and R&B singer Mary J. Blige from The Nutty Professor soundtrack, going gold and reaching #4 on the R&B Songs chart and #14 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also found success across Europe, peaking inside the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at #26 on that chart. His self-titled debut album, which featured production and writing from fellow recording artists such as Faith Evans and Mary J. Blige, released in the summer of 1996, also featured minor R&B hit singles "More to Love" (#38 R&B) and "I Gotcha" (#12 R&B). Case was also involved in a short-term affair with Mary J. Blige, as she co-wrote four out of the fourteen songs on his debut album, and in addition to appearing and co-writing "Touch Me, Tease Me", initially appeared with Case on his debut single "More to Love" on the early pressings of the album. Shortly after their breakup, Blige's vocals were overdubbed with Vernell Foster (Later known as Vee from R&B duo Koffee Brown).

Case followed the success of his first album with the release of Personal Conversation in 1999. The album featured the hits "Happily Ever After" (which reached #3 on the R&B charts and #15 on the Hot 100) and "Faded Pictures", which featured R&B singer Joe and reached #3 on the R&B charts and #10 on the Hot 100. "Happily Ever After" featured Beyoncé in the video as Case's love interest. The album's third single, "Think Of You" failed to do well, managing to only reach #50 on the R&B charts. Personal Conversation achieved gold status.

In 2001, as the first artist on the new Def Soul imprint, Case released his third album Open Letter and topped the charts with the Tim & Bob produced hit song "Missing You." Open Letter, Case's most well-known album went gold. "Missing You" is Case's only #1 single to date as it topped the R&B charts and reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later that year, Case also appeared on rapper Ja Rule's hit "Livin' It Up," as well as releasing one more single from his album, "Not Your Friend." After the success of Open Letter, Case moved to Atlanta to be closer to his children. He earned his first two nominations for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ("Missing You") and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Livin' It Up") at the 44th Grammy Awards in 2002. He lost both to "U Remind Me" by Usher and "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" by Eve and Gwen Stefani, respectively.[1]

Case's success has been partly due to his appearance on movie soundtracks. Many of Case's most popular tracks appear on the soundtracks for Nutty Professor, Rush Hour, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and The Best Man. These singles were "Touch Me Tease Me" (Nutty Professor), "Faded Pictures" (Rush Hour), "Best Man I Can Be" (The Best Man) and "Missing You" (Nutty Professor II). Case's single, "Shoulda Known Betta" (featuring Ghostface), reached #87 on the R&B charts in 2004. The single appeared on the Johnson Family Vacation soundtrack, and was produced by The Neptunes.

After a few years away from the music industry, Case reappeared in 2008 on the track "Face to Face" (a duet with singer Coko) which was included the soundtrack of Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns (film).

His fourth studio album, The Rose Experience which had undergone various title changes and a label shift (from Def Jam to his own indie imprint, Indigo Blue) was released on March 24, 2009. It was preceded by a single, "Lovely" which reached #72 on the R&B chart.

His fifth studio album Here, My Love was released on June 15, 2010 on Real Talk Entertainment featuring the single "Old Fashion Lovin'"[2] and peaked at #58 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart.[3]

In 2014, a Best Of compilation was released through Def Jam Recordings on May 27, 2014.[4] Later this year, he signed with eOne and went to work on his sixth studio album titled Heaven's Door.[5] The first single "Shook Up" was released on January 13, 2015.[6]Heaven's Door was released on March 31, 2015.[7] A compilation EP titled Case: Relocked, Reloaded, Revisited (Re-Recordings)followed in 2016.[8]

The following year, he was profiled in the TVOne series Unsung which followed his career.[9] With the buzz of his episode, he released a Valentine's Day EP titled Love Jones Vol. 1.[10]

In 2018, he signed with X-Ray Records and continued to tour. In August 2018, it was announced his next studio album Therapy will be released on September 7, 2018.[11] It was later pushed back to September 21. The album's first single "Make Love" featuring Teddy Riley and Tank was released on August 30.[12]

Discography
Main article: Case discography
 * Studio albums
 * Case (1996)
 * Personal Conversation (1999)
 * Open Letter (2001)
 * The Rose Experience (2009)
 * Here, My Love (2010)
 * Heaven's Door (2015)
 * Therapy (2018)