The Floacist

After the 2007 split of R&B duo Floetry, spoken word artist and whisper-voiced vocalist Natalie Stewart — aka the Floacist — made a handful of guest appearances on recordings by other musicians, including Brian Culbertson's XII. She signed as a solo artist to the Shanachie label, which released her debut album, Floetic Soul, in November 2010. Dominated by seductive ballads featuring Stewart’s trademark breathy whispers, she benefited from collaborations with Musiq Soulchild, Raheem DeVaughn, and Lalah Hathaway, along with production input from J.R. Hutson, Know-I, and Chris "Big Dog" Davis. It scraped the Billboard 200 with a debut at number 195 and reached the Top 20 of the R&B albums chart. Almost exactly two years later, she released Floetry Re:Birth — produced by her husband, Nolan Weekes — for the same label. It topped out at number 51, R&B. Supported once again by Davis, among others, Stewart returned with Rise of the Phoenix Mermaid in March 2014.