Juanita Stokes, known professionally as Smooth, was an American singer and rapper born in 1972 in Los Angeles, California. She began her career as MC Smooth, signing with independent label Crush Music in 1990 and releasing her debut single "Smooth & Legit", which peaked at number 11 on the U.S. Rap chart. Her first album Smooth & Legit followed shortly after, produced by her brother Chris Stokes and Arabian Prince. In 1993, Smooth signed with Jive Records and released her second album You Been Played, which included the single "Female Mac". Her breakthrough hit came in 1995 with the release of "Mind Blowin'" from her self-titled third album, which peaked at number 7 on the Rap chart. The album Smooth also featured notable singles like "Blowin' Up My Pager" and "It's Summertime". In 1996, she collaborated with the R&B group Immature on their hit single "We Got It", which peaked at number 37 on the Hot 100. Smooth later moved to Perspective Records, releasing her fourth album Reality in 1998. The album featured the single "Strawberries" and reached number 48 on the R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. In 2003, she rebranded herself as Needa S and released two singles, but her fifth studio album What? was shelved.
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