Mario Dewar Barrett (born August 27, 1986)[1][2] is an American Grammy-nominated R&B and pop singer and actor. He is best known for his hit singles "Just a Friend 2002" (2002) and "Let Me Love You" (2004), which won him two Billboard awards, as well as for appearing in the films Step Up and Freedom Writers. His latest album, Go! was released on December 11, 2007 in the United States, but was released in South Africa on October 9, 2007 under Gallo Records.

Mario is currently working on his fourth album which is due out mid-2009.

Career

Mario (2002-2003)
Main article: Mario (album)

Mario began recording his debut album Mario. A year before releasing it in July 2002. The lead single "Just a Friend 2002" , which was a cover of Biz Markie's hit, was an instant success, peaking at #4 on the charts. Follow up singles were "Braid My Hair" & "C'mon" . He was the opening act on the Scream Tour 3, which featured Bow Wow, Nick Cannon, B2K & Marques Houston. As of 2006, his debut album has sold over 700,000 copies. During this period, he became a draw in the teen market .

Turning Point (2004-2006)
Main article: Turning Point (album)

After his debut album was released, Mario wanted to record an album that was more mature. He enlisted a number of well-known producers to help him, such as Scott Storch & Lil' Jon. He released his second album, Turning Point on December 7, 2004. The album was more successful than his first, mainly because of the hit single "Let Me Love You". The single, described by reviewers as "melodic and sweetly lilting, reminiscent of Michael Jackson's vintage romantic ballads" was successful, peaking at the number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for nine consecutive weeks. The single is written by Ne-Yo. Other follow up singles include "How Could You" co-written by J. Valentine, with a cameo appearance in the video by rapper Cassidy; "Here I Go Again"(whose video starred model/singer Cassie; and "Boom" featuring Juvenile. To date, Turning Point has sold platinum and the lead single double-platinum.

In February 2006, Mario filed a lawsuit against his former manager, Troy Patterson, alleging that Patterson had paid him $50,000 for the sale of more than 3 million records. Mario's new manager is J. Erving and he was chosen by Mario. Mario has homes in Baltimore, Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Go! (2007-2008)
Main article: Go! (Mario album)

Mario's third album Go is dedicated to his mom Shawntia Hardaway and was released in South Africa under Gallo Records on October 9, 2007, in the U.S. on December 11, 2007. The album includes collaborations with Jermaine Dupri, Ne-Yo, Janice Robinson, Eric West, Lionell Davis, Scott Storch, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Timbaland, Bryan-Michael Cox, The Neptunes, Jim Jonsin, Akon, Dre & Vidal, Warryn "Baby Dubb" Campbell, Sean Garrett and Mr. Collipark. Mario, who has described the album as "sex...more personal...more passionate", had more creative control on Go than on his previous two albums. The first single to be lifted from the album was "How Do I Breathe" which was released in May. The second single was "Crying out for Me" after a poll on his website. The single was later certificated Gold by the RIAA. On December 13, 2007, Mario was on "106 & Park" where he stated that the third single off the album will be "Music For Love". The entire album was made available for the public to listen to on his Myspace page before its release. He also has a new song that came out on December 11, "Do Right". Go has sold 331,540 copies in the U.S.

In an interview with DJ "Z", Mario stated that problems with the record label caused the album launch to be pushed back 6–8 months.

And Then There Was Me (2009-Present)
Main article: And Then There Was Me (Mario album)

Before the release of his third album Go on 21 December 2007. In an interview to Billboard Mario confirmed that he was working on a new album "by the time school starts back up, like after next summer” “But there's really even more than that, 'cause I'm gonna start recording, like, [at] the end of January" . While the album is being released with different producers including Darkchild, Babyface, Polow da Don, RedOne, CJ of Charlio Productions, Malay, Jazze Pha, Stargate, KP, Tricky Stewart and The-Dream as confirmed by Mario. Mario stated that the album will be released in March or April 2009.  In a Saynow message on Sept 14th 2008 from Mario[citation needed] he revealed that the new album is halfway done and he is finishing up the rest in a studio in L.A. he also sang a snippet of one of his new songs.

A song entitled "Emergency Room" was leaked on the internet, credited to Mario and featuring Rihanna, and also played by various radio stations throughout the country. The song's title was especially controversial, because of the situation which Rihanna is with her boyfriend Chris Brown, which Vibe.com has documented extensively. Mario quickly released a statement explaining the song:

“This was a rough cut that I was working on and wanted to present it to Rihanna and her record label. Those aren’t Rihanna’s vocals on the song at all. The record was far from done. I’m still proud of the record but want to make sure that the truth is out there”.

However on March 7, 2009 in an interview Mario confirmed that the album would now be released in June and that the first single is set to be "Break-up". Mario said that he would like to work with no more than 4 producers for this album . Mario has described this album as World music, an old school R&B influenced with a modern dance pop sound. The album is being described as his “most personal, colossal album of his career.” He told to Singersroom that the title may change for his effort which will reportedly have a single out within a few weeks

Discography

    * Mario (2002)
    * Turning Point (2004)
    * Go! (2007)
    * And Then There Was Me (2009)

Izvor: Wikipedia