Mario Winans

Biography

Mario Mendell Winans (né Brown; born August 29, 1974) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer from South Carolina. A member of the Winans musical family, he is best known for his 2004 single "I Don't Wanna Know" (featuring Enya and P. Diddy), which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
In the early 1990s, Winans signed with Dallas Austin's Rowdy Records as an in-house producer and received early credits on R. Kelly's self-titled second album (1995) and Pebbles' Straight from My Heart (1995). He later signed with Motown to release his debut studio album, Story of My Heart×Story of My Heart24 June 1997 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Don't Know (interlude)1:032Don't Know4:033Arouse Me4:414Ever Now and Then4:165Love Man4:346Wanna Be Your Man (interlude)0:577You Never Know3:588Come Back Home4:469My Sweetheart3:3910Stay With Me4:3511Don't Know (remix)4:1512Love Is in the Air5:2613It's All Good3:5214One Last Chance4:0015Don't Take You Love Away3:4516Take My Breath Away4:16 (1997), which was commercially unsuccessful. After contributing to Diddy's 1998 single "Come with Me," Winans subsequently joined Bad Boy Records' production team, the Hitmen. He also appeared on Diddy's 2000 single "Best Friend" and his 2002 single "I Need a Girl (Part Two)," both of which entered the Billboard Hot 100, with the latter peaking at number four. He then signed with Bad Boy, an imprint of Universal Records, as a solo artist.
"I Don't Wanna Know" served as the lead single from his second studio album, Hurt No More×Hurt No More20 April 2004 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks1Ready for Love1:382Never Really Was4:213I Don't Wanna Know4:194You Knew4:465How I Made It3:026Already Know1:5673 Days Ago3:398What's Wrong With Me3:179Can't Judge Me4:0210Disbelief4:4811Enough1:0112Pretty Girl Bullshit4:3213This Is the Thanks I Get3:4314I Got You Babe3:5715So Fine3:2516Should've Known3:4917Turn Around4:0618The Game3:56 (2004), which peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. The following year, he co-wrote CeCe Winans' song "Pray", which won the Grammy Award for Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards.
Winans's recording work accompanies a career in production and songwriting, from which he has been credited on releases for artists including the Weeknd, Kanye West, the Notorious B.I.G., Ice Spice, Lil' Kim, Destiny's Child, Jennifer Lopez, Pusha T, Busta Rhymes, and Trey Songz, among others.

Hurt No More (2001–2005)

Mario Winans recorded his second album Hurt No More×Hurt No More20 April 2004 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks1Ready for Love1:382Never Really Was4:213I Don't Wanna Know4:194You Knew4:465How I Made It3:026Already Know1:5673 Days Ago3:398What's Wrong With Me3:179Can't Judge Me4:0210Disbelief4:4811Enough1:0112Pretty Girl Bullshit4:3213This Is the Thanks I Get3:4314I Got You Babe3:5715So Fine3:2516Should've Known3:4917Turn Around4:0618The Game3:56 in 2001, 2002, and 2003 in between working with other artists. The album is based on stories of love and betrayal.
The first single "I Don't Wanna Know" was based on a sample of the Fugees' 1996 hit single "Ready or Not", which itself was based on a slowed-down sample of the instrumental track "Boadicea" by Enya from her 1987 self-titled album. Enya and her representatives said yes to Winans and P. Diddy for her approval of the sample. She even re-recorded Boadicea for the song, although Winans had no idea that the Fugees sample he had used was a sample itself. They even gave Enya herself credit for the single as "Mario Winans featuring P. Diddy and Enya". The song features a rap by P. Diddy. The song was released as a single in early 2004 and became a worldwide hit, reaching number 1 in Germany and the United Kingdom and on the rhythmic top 40 radio chart in the United States; to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the US R&B/Hip-Hop singles chart; and to number 3 on both the Australian and Norwegian singles charts. It also reached the top ten on a composite European singles chart.
Hurt No More was released on April 20, 2004, in the US and by early June 2004 had reached number 1 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, number 2 on the Billboard 200, and number 3 on the UK Albums Chart.
The album's second single, "Never Really Was", used a sample of the orchestrated beginning of Madonna's 1986 hit "Papa Don't Preach" as its background music. However, the song failed to chart in North America. A remix version was released as a single featuring rapper Lil Flip.
The song "This Is the Thanks I Get" was stated to be the album's third and final single but no official release was set. The song went on to peak on the Billboard Bubbling Under R&B chart at number 12.

Production

2009
Diddy - Press Play
"Last Night" (featuring Keyshia Cole), "Through the Pain (She Told Me)", "Thought You Said" (featuring Brandy)