Terius Adamu Ya Gesteelde-Diamant (né Youngdell Nash; known professionally as The-Dream, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for having written or co-produced songs for artists in R&B and hip hop, often in tandem with production partner Tricky Stewart. Beginning with I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), he has been credited on each of American singer Beyoncé's subsequent albums.
His co-writing credits include "Me Against the Music" (2003) for Britney Spears, "Ride" (2010) for Ciara, "Umbrella" (2007) for Rihanna, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" (2008), "Cuff It" (2022), "Break My Soul" (2022) and "Partition" (2013) for Beyoncé, "Touch My Body" (2008) for Mariah Carey, "16 @ War" for Karina Pasian (2008), "Baby" (2010) for Justin Bieber, "All of the Lights" (2010) for Kanye West, "No Church in the Wild" (2013) for Jay-Z and Kanye West and "Savage (Remix)" (2020) for Megan Thee Stallion. His work has earned him eight Grammy Awards from 21 nominationsincluding an inaugural nomination for Songwriter of the Year at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.
Following the success of "Umbrella", he signed with Def Jam Recordings as a recording artist to release five studio albums: Love/Hate (2007), Love vs. Money (2009), Love King (2010), 1977 (2011) and IV Play (2013). The former two albums yielded the Billboard Hot 100-top 20 singles "Shawty Is a 10" (featuring Fabolous) and "Rockin' That Shit", respectively. Through his own label, Radio Killa Records, he released the triple album Ménage à Trois: Sextape Vol. 1, 2, 3 (2018) and Sextape 4 (2020).
In addition to his work with Nivea and Rihanna, Nash has written and produced songs for many other R&B, hip hop, and pop artists, including J. Holiday, Usher, Yung Joc, Jesse McCartney, Mariah Carey, Karina Pasian, Ciara, Brandy, Diddy, Mary J. Blige, B2K, Beyoncé, Kylie Minogue, Janet Jackson, and Tulisa Contostavlos. In 2009, The-Dream and Tricky Stewart co-wrote and produced the album How to Be a Lady: Volume 1 by the R&B girl group Electrik Red.
John Calvert of The Quietus writes that The-Dream's "stadium-R&B reinvented the genre as a mythological epic", citing it as an influence on Frank Ocean's 2012 song "Pyramids". AllMusic editor Andy Kellman writes that, with Carlos McKinney and Tricky Stewart, The-Dream "seized possession of [...] the belt for the electronic pop-R&B division, once held by innovators Leon Sylvers III, Kashif and Morrie Brown, Prince, Jam & Lewis, Teddy Riley, Timbaland and Missy Elliott, and the Neptunes".
-Wikipedia
Birth Name: Terius Youngdell Nash
Also Known As: Terius Adamu Ya Gesteelde-Diamant
Born: September 20, 1977 (age 47)
From: Rockingham, North Carolina, U.S.
Spouse(s): Nivea (m. 2004; div. 2008) Christina Milian (m. 2009; div. 2011), LaLonne Martinez (m. 2014)
Genre(s):
R&B,
pop,
hip hop,
electronic
Instrument(s):
Vocals
Occupation(s):
Singer,
songwriter,
record producer
Active From: 1995-present