The-Dream

Such activity has earned him eight Grammy Awards from 21 nominations—including an inaugural nomination for Songwriter of the Year at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.

Terius Adamu Ya Gesteelde-Diamant (né Youngdell Nash; born September 20, 1977), better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Atlanta, Georgia.

His mother died in 1992 when Nash was fifteen years old, an event which would inspire him to write songs.

He states that the death of his mother gave him a "soft spot" for women, to which he credits his desire to write songs about female empowerment such as Rihanna's "Umbrella".

He moved in with his grandfather, a concrete mason who instilled a strong work ethic in Nash.

Of his grandfather, Nash recalls "He came out of a bad time for blacks in the South, but even though we lived in the hood, we had a boat, some cars and a house that was paid for. So I've always had a different outlook on life. There's nothing I can't do."

Beginning his career in 1995, The-Dream is known for his songwriting on numerous hit records for prominent artists in R&B and hip hop, often in tandem with production partner Tricky Stewart.

Nash met R&B producer Laney Stewart in 2001 who helped him get a publishing deal after Nash wrote "Everything" for B2K's album Pandemonium!.

Under the pen name The-Dream, Nash began writing lyrics for popular artists.

He co-wrote Britney Spears' song "Me Against the Music" from her album In the Zone.

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) 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, and "No Church in the Wild" (2013) for Jay-Z and Kanye West.

As a recording artist himself, he signed with Def Jam Recordings 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 spawned his own hit singles "Shawty Is a 10" (featuring Fabolous) and "Rockin' That Shit", respectively.

He spent two years working on Nivea's second album Complicated, which he executive produced, and continued to write and produce with Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Laney's brother, which led to Rihanna's 2007 hit "Umbrella".

In 2007, Nash signed a record contract with Def Jam Recordings and began working on his debut studio album Love/Hate.

The album was produced by The-Dream, his production partner Tricky Stewart, and Los Da Mystro, and featured Fabolous and Rihanna.

The album was written and recorded in eight days with twelve tracks making the final cut.

Released December 11, 2007, on The-Dream's Def Jam imprint Radio Killa Records, the album featured the singles "Shawty Is a 10", "Falsetto" and "I Luv Your Girl" and received generally positive reviews from critics, as Rolling Stone called it "one of the most likable R&B records of the year" and UrbanMusicReviews.com said that the singer had "hit a home run".

"Umbrella" was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2008 Grammy Awards.

In June 2008, The-Dream was named Best New Artist at the BET Awards.

Nash wrote and produced Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", which was included on her third studio album I Am... Sasha Fierce and released in 2008.

The song went on to win the Grammy Award for Song of the Year and Best R&B Song, becoming the first career wins at the Grammys for The-Dream.

On March 10, 2009, The-Dream released his second album Love vs. Money.

He re-teamed with Tricky Stewart, who produced most of the tracks on the album, and Los Da Mystro.

The album featured Mariah Carey, Kanye West, and Lil Jon and featured the singles "Rockin' That Shit", "Walkin' on the Moon" and "Sweat It Out".

Upon its release, the album received general acclaim from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 83/100 from Metacritic and it was more commercially successful than its predecessor, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200.

During the making of Love King, he recorded a song with T-Pain and expressed that he would like to make a collaborative album with Kanye West in the future.

In January 2010, The-Dream stated he was finished recording the album and he called it the best of his three albums.

The album was released on June 29, 2010.

Before the album's release, The-Dream announced that Love King will be his last solo album.

Once again produced by The-Dream, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, and Los Da Mystro, the album spawned the singles "Love King" and "Make Up Bag".

Despite positive reviews from critics, the album was less commercially successful than Love vs. Money, and debuted at number four on the Billboard 200.

On the Love King track "Sex Intelligent (Remix)", The-Dream sang that he would release a follow-up album titled Love Affair on June 7, 2011.

On that intended release date, The-Dream released a medley of two new songs titled "Body Work / Fuck My Brains Out" as a free download followed by an album titled 1977 on August 31, 2011, also as a free download.

Def Jam Recordings released 1977 commercially on December 18, 2012, with a modified track list.

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).

Radio Killa has also signed other artists including August Alsina and Christina Milian.

Terius Nash was born in Rockingham, North Carolina.

He moved with his mother to Atlanta, Georgia when he was two years old.

After learning to play trumpet in elementary school, Nash learned how to play the drums and guitar.