Early career: Mario Winans was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina but grew up in Detroit. He is a member of gospel music's most notable family, the Winans, being the son of Marvin Winans and Vickie Winans. He is also the nephew of gospel singers BeBe Winans and CeCe Winans. Winans started out learning music in school learning piano, keyboards, and drums. His mother Vicki Winans bought him a roomful of recording equipment, and he learnt the function of every piece of equipment. He started producing gospel groups straight out of high school and soon accumulated credits for Fred Hammond, The Anointed, and the Clark Sisters as well as various Winans family member albums. In the mid-1990's, he signed a production deal with Dallas Austin's Rowdy Records. His breakthrough came with credits on the tracks "I Can't Sleep Baby" and "You Remind Me Of Something" on R. Kelly's R. Kelly album in 1995. Work with Pebbles and 98 Degrees soon followed. Winans released his debut album Story of my Heart on Motown in 1997. While the song "Don't Know" reached the U.S. R&B top 50, the album failed to chart. Soon after, Winans teamed up with P. Diddy and his Bad Boy roster. His first work with Bad Boy was playing drums on "Come With Me" in 1998 by Diddy and Jimmy Page, based on the classic Led Zeppelin song "Kashmir" from their 1975 album Physical Graffiti. Over the past few years, Winans has racked a sizeable list of production credits for Bad Boy artists including Diddy, The Notorious B.I.G., Lil' Kim, Faith Evans, Loon, Black Rob, and 112. He has also worked with notable artists outside Bad Boy including Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Tamia, and Brian McKnight. Winans co-wrote the 2-part song "I Need a Girl" with P. Diddy and appeared on the "Pt. 2" version with Loon, Ginuwine, and Diddy, which became a hit recording in 2002. He also produced the Bad Boy remix compilation We Invent
1 | This Is The Thanks I Get | Hurt No More |
2 | I Dont Wanna Know | Hurt No More |