Love

Born Simone Wilson (aka Simone Gooden) on July 2, 1970 in London. Known by her stage name Monie Love, is a female English rapper and former radio personality in the United States. Love was a well respected figure in British hip hop, and made an impact with American hip hop audiences as a protégé of female American rapper Queen Latifah, as well as through her membership in the late 1980s/early 1990s Native Tongues Posse. Love was one of the first BritHop artists to be signed and distributed world-wide by a major record label. Sister of Dave Angel and Baz.

Love began her hip hop/BritHop career as a rapper in the British Jus Bad crew, which featured DJ Pogo, Sparki, and MC Mell'O'. The group released the single "Free Style/Proud" on the indepedent Tuff Groove record label in 1988.

Love first gained critical and commercial notice in the United States 1989 for her cameos in Queen Latifah's Grammy-winning and pro-woman single "Ladies First," in the Jungle Brothers' well-received single "Doin' Our Own Dang," and in De La Soul's hit single, "Buddy." The acclaim led her to a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records, making Love one of the few British hip-hop efforts released by a major label.

Love also has a place in hip-hop history as a member of the Native Tongues Posse, a positive-minded hip-hop collective that included Queen Latifah, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, the Jungle Brothers, and a number of other acts.

Love's debut album, Down To Earth, spawned two, Grammy-nominated hits, "Monie in the Middle" (a high school-set track dealing with a woman's right to determine what she wants out of a relationship) and "It's a Shame (My Sister)" (which sampled The Spinners' "It's a Shame" written for the band by Stevie Wonder). The album reached #26 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Love was featured on her brother Dave Angel's remix of Whitney Houston's R&B hit "My Name Is Not Susan" in 1991, and appeared in the music video alongside Houston. Love's 1992 single, "Full-Term Love," from the Class Act movie soundtrack, reached #7 on the Hot Hip-Hop Singles chart.

Love collaborated with Prince and Marley Marl for her 1993 second album, In A Word Or 2. In A Word Or 2 featured the Prince-produced single "Born To B.R.E.E.D." (which reached #1 on the Hot Dance Music chart and #7 on the Hot Rap Singles chart), as well as a re-release of "Full-Term Love." The same year, Prince asked her to write lyrics for a few songs on his side-project, Carmen Electra's eponymous album.

Love's last musical release was the EP "Slice of Da Pie" in 2000.