Crystal Waters

Biography

Crystal Waters (born November 19, 1961) is an American house and dance music singer and songwriter, best known for her 1990s dance hits "Gypsy Woman" and "100% Pure Love×100% Pure Love1994 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracks1100% Pure Love (club mix)8:072100% Pure Love (radio mix)3:103100% Pure Love (Gumbo mix)5:254100% Pure Love (Hump mix)5:355100% Pure Love (DJ EFX's Tribal Pump mix)6:446100% Pure Love (PG Tips Anthem mix)7:437100% Pure Love (Trance Vox)6:34", and 2007's "Destination Calabria×Destination Calabria4 December 2006 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracksA1Destination Calabria (Original Extended Mix)6:56A2Destination Calabria (Nari & Milani Club Mix)6:43BDestination Calabria (Gaudino & Rooney Remix)8:06" with Alex Gaudino. All three of her studio albums produced a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked her as one of the most successful dance artists of all time. Her accolades include six ASCAP Songwriter awards, three American Music Award nominations, an MTV Video Music Award nod, four Billboard Music Awards and twelve No. 1 Billboard Dance Chart hits. Her hit song "Gypsy Woman” has been sampled hundreds of times. Though her music sales have yet to be re-certified, Waters has sold over seven million records worldwide.

Early life

Born in Deptford Township, New Jersey, Waters is the daughter of jazz musician Junior Waters and his wife Betty. Her great-aunt, Ethel Waters, was one of the first black American vocalists to appear in mainstream Hollywood musicals. Her family moved to New Jersey for a while but they again moved to Washington, D.C. At age eleven she began writing poetry, eventually getting inducted into the Poetry Society of America when she was 14, the youngest person ever to receive that honor.
She studied business and computer science at Howard University, but her creative work as a musician dropped off as she found less time for it. After earning her college degree in 1989, Waters secured a job as a probation officer with the Washington, D.C. parole board, making a living that would support her two daughters. One of her daughters, Ella Nicole, is a singer-songwriter who was discovered in 2014 and managed by Samonee K. founder of Argo Vibes.

Music career

Waters' first job in the music world was as a backup singer at a local recording studio. She realized she wanted the creative control of writing her own music. Meeting the Basement Boys at a D.C. conference, they agreed to collaborate. Waters' self-described style was jazz and the Basement Boys was house. The first two songs she wrote for the 'Boys were "Makin' Happy×Makin' Happy1991 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Makin' Happy (Hurley's Happy House mix edit)3:522Makin' Happy (Hurley's Happy House mix)6:223Makin' Happy (Basement Boys Happy club mix edit)3:324Makin' Happy (Basement Boys Happy club mix)7:52" and "Gypsy Woman".
Waters signed a writing contract with Mercury Records in 1989.
Her single "Makin' Happy", with contributions by remixer Steve "Silk" Hurley, shot quickly to No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs.
With her 1994 follow-up album, Storyteller×Storyteller17 May 1994 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1100% Pure Love4:402Ghetto Day3:333Regardless3:394I Believe I love You3:435Relax3:316What I Need4:467Storyteller4:438Is It for Me4:239Listen for My Beep4:0010Daddy Do6:1411Lover Lay Low5:5012Piece of the Lonely2:52, Waters made a mainstream comeback with her hit single "100% Pure Love×100% Pure Love1994 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracks1100% Pure Love (club mix)8:072100% Pure Love (radio mix)3:103100% Pure Love (Gumbo mix)5:254100% Pure Love (Hump mix)5:355100% Pure Love (DJ EFX's Tribal Pump mix)6:446100% Pure Love (PG Tips Anthem mix)7:437100% Pure Love (Trance Vox)6:34", which hit number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs, and became one of the longest-charting singles on the Hot 100 at 45 weeks ("Gypsy Woman" had remained on the chart for 16 weeks). Along with the single, her second album Storyteller, sold over one million copies in the United States. Feminist scholar and social activist bell hooks described Waters as "fierce and politically on the job" because of the singer's socially conscious lyrics.
In 1996, Waters participated in the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Rio, which was produced by the Red Hot Organization, performing the song "The Boy from Ipanema×The Boy From Ipanema1996 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1The Boy From Ipanema (Edit)3:262The Boy From Ipanema (Goh Hotoda Mix Extended)10:203The Boy From Ipanema (Deepzone Club)7:424The Boy From Ipanema (Classic Club)6:40".
In 2007, the mega European hit "Destination Calabria×Destination Calabria4 December 2006 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracksA1Destination Calabria (Original Extended Mix)6:56A2Destination Calabria (Nari & Milani Club Mix)6:43BDestination Calabria (Gaudino & Rooney Remix)8:06" by Alex Gaudino, featuring vocals by Crystal Waters, went to No. 1 on the European Pop Chart in over 30 countries. The track is a mashup, taking the instrumental from Rune's "Calabria" and the vocals from Alex Gaudino's and Crystal Waters' "Destination Unknown", both originally released in 2003. It was produced with the help of Maurizio Nari and Ronnie Milani (Nari & Milani), matching the saxophone hook/riff from "Calabria" to Crystal Waters' voice. "Destination Calabria" was released as a 12-inch single by the Italian label Rise Records, and as a CD single on March 19, 2007 by British label Data Records. It originally charted in Australia in February 2004, peaking at No. 98 under the title "Destination Unknown" before being re-released as "Destination Calabria" and reaching No. 2 in 2007.
In 2012, "Le Bump" with Yolanda Be Cool gave Waters another No. 1 on the Beatport House Chart.
With DJ Chris Cox in 2013, the No. 1 Billboard Dance Club Songs hit "Mama Hey", was listed as one of Billboard's "Top 50 Dance Songs of 2013".
In November 2015, Waters released "Synergy", and in October 2016 she released "Believe". Both songs quickly rose to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Dance Club Songs.
Her 2017 single "Testify×Testify3 February 2017 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Testify (radio edit)3:18" with Hifi Sean was released on Defected Records and went straight to the A-List on BBC Radio and garnered another No. 1 spot on the Billboard Dance Club Songs.
Her third collaboration with Sted-E & Hybrid Heights, titled "I Am House×I Am House9 February 2018 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1I Am House (radio edit)3:102I Am House (Masters at Work radio mix)3:193I Am House (Jacob Colon radio edit)3:564I Am House (Kidzblock radio mix)3:595I Am House (Norty Cotto radio mix)3:42", reached No. 1 in the club charts in Spring 2018, giving Waters a total of twelve No. 1 singles in the US Billboard Dance Club Songs.
In February 2020, she began a monthly radio/podcast show called "I Am House".