Kiely Williams

Kiely Williams
Kiely Williams in December, 2008
Background information
Birth name	Kiely Alexis Williams
Born	July 9, 1986 (1986-07-09) (age 25) Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop, R&B, pop, Electropop
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, dancer, actress
Years active	1999–2011 (on hiatus)
Labels	Epic (1999-2002) So So Def (2003-2007) Walt Disney (2005-2006) Hollywood (2006-2008) Nine Lives Entertainment (1999-Present)
Associated acts	3LW (1999-2007) The Cheetah Girls (2005-2008)
Website	Official Website

Kiely Alexis Williams (born July 9, 1986) is an American singer, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is best known for being a member of former girl groups 3LW and The Cheetah Girls.

Career

1999-2006: 3LW

In 1999, Williams along with Adrienne Bailon, and Naturi Naughton formed the girl group 3LW. The initial formation of the 3LW was pulled together by Michelle Williams, also known as Mici Williams, older sister and guardian of Kiely. Williams has two younger sisters, Tasia Williams (born 1988) and Tia Williams (born 1990), who wanted a singing outlet for her daughter. 3LW released their first single "No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)" in fall 2000, which became a top 30 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. And the album's next single "Playas Gon' Play" which was released in early 2001. Their debut album, released in 2000, went Platinum.

In 2001, Kiely also played herself in an episode of The Jersey, where she switched bodies with a boy.

In the summer of 2002, Naughton left the group due to The Cheetah Girls began work on their debut album in January 2006. However, when filming and recording for The Cheetah Girls 2 came up, the album was put on hold. In an interview with Billboard about the postponed album, Sabrina Bryan stated that the girls worked on writing for the album on their Party's Just Begun tour and that they hoped to gather an audience of older fans while simultaneously staying true to their younger fan base.^[1] Bryan also stated that the girls would work with producers they have worked with in the past as well as exploring new producers, such as Timbaland.^[1]

The album was originally titled Who We Are,^[2] and set to be released on June 19, 2007^[3] but this was postponed to September 25, 2007, with a release name of TCG.

The track "So Bring It On" was released as the album's first single. "Fuego" was released as the second single from the album.^[4] The Girls recorded their own version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" for the holiday compilation album, A Disney Channel Holiday, which was released on October 16, 2007.

Kiely (right) performing with the Cheetah Girls on "One World Tour"

The girls began filming their third Cheetah Girls movie, entitled The Cheetah Girls: One World, in March 2008. It is the only movie to not feature Raven-Symoné and premiered on August 22, with its soundtrack released on August 19. The movie debuted with 6.2 million viewers, the lowest-ever rated premiere for the series. In the fall of 2008, the group went on tour to support the One World movie, which would be their last tour together. In January 2009, the group disbanded. The girls are currently pursuing solo projects.

2009-present: Solo career

During the summer of 2008, Williams began quietly working on a solo singing project separate from work in her girl group The Cheetah Girls. She filmed the music video for her first single "Make Me a Drink" in New York City in November 2008.^[5] In August 2009, a preview of Williams' debut solo "Make Me a Drink" (which was written by Young Money recording artist Shanell, who has also written for Lil Wayne's upcoming record) appeared on YouTube, "Make Me A Drink" has never been released.

She completed a starring role in the independent film Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale and is slated to star in The Science of Cool, another independent feature that will be released in 2010.^{[dated info]} More recently^[when?], Kiely began work on Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming. The role of Kandi Kane, in Elle, required Kiely to record several songs for the film and the accompanying soundtrack and learn extensive choreography. Stomp the Yard 2 and Elle are slated for a 2010 release.

Williams and former Cheetah Girl band-mate and close friend Sabrina Bryan are also collaborating together on a talk show which Williams described as "a young version of The View".^[6]

On October 28, 2009 Williams official website released the instrumentals of her first single, titled "Spectacular", a song written by Williams and produced by Mike City. The single was released exclusively to club DJs the first week on November. Williams was in talks with major labels to sign a joint deal along with her family's own Nine Lives Entertainment brand, which she has been signed to since 1999. The single was released to the public on January 15, 2010, and the accompanying music video was released to YouTube on April 5, 2010.

Discography

Albums with 3LW

Main article: 3LW

• 2000: 3LW
• 2002: A Girl Can Mack
• 2002: Naughty or Nice

Albums with The Cheetah Girls

Main article: The Cheetah Girls discography

• 2003: The Cheetah Girls (soundtrack)
• 2005: Cheetah-licious Christmas
• 2006: The Cheetah Girls 2 (soundtrack)
• 2007: In Concert: The Party's Just Begun Tour
• 2007: TCG
• 2008: The Cheetah Girls: One World (soundtrack)

Solo singles

• 2010: "Spectacular"^[7]
• 2009: "Make Me a Drink"
• 2008: "Circle Game"

http://vodpod.com/watch/4163052-kiely-williams-circle-game-first-solo-song-ever-hq

Other solo songs

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
2008	The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2	Yaffa Waitress	Cameo
	The House Bunny	Lily	One of the Zeta Alpha Zeta's
2010	Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale	Kandi Kane	post-production
	Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming	Brenda	out now
	The Science of Cool	TBA	pre-production
Television Films
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	The Cheetah Girls	Aquanette "Aqua" Walker	Disney Channel Original Movie; filmed in Canada.
2006	The Cheetah Girls 2		Disney Channel Original Movie filmed in Barcelona, Spain.
2008	The Cheetah Girls: One World		Disney Channel Original Movie filmed in India
2012	The Cheetah Girls: 4Ever Cheetah-licious!		Disney Channel Original Movie filmed
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	The Cheetah Girls	Aquanette Walker	ABC pilot; never picked up.
Television guest appearances
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Taina	Leah	1 episode
2007	Disney Channel Games	Herself	Blue Team
2008	The Suite Life of Zack & Cody	Herself (with The Cheetah Girls)	Guest star; 1 episode
	Studio DC: Almost Live		Guest star
	Disney Channel Games	Herself	The Lightning/Blue Team

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Sabrina Bryan Interview with Billboard
2. ^ Adrienne in Hip-Hop Weekly
3. ^ www.tommy2.net
4. ^ Kiely Williams via Radio Disney Uncut Interview Podcast recorded 2007-07-10
5. ^ Little Cheetah Women Blog
6. ^ Kiely Williams EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW April 9, 2009
7. ^ KielysWorld.com

External links

• Kiely William's Official Website
• Kiely Williams at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Williams, Kiely
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 9, 1986
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death