Pru

Born Pru Renfro, the inventive vocalist Pru spent her childhood as the youngest of four siblings under the guidance of her mother Patsy in Houston’s South Park neighborhood. An open-minded parent, Patsy nurtured her daughter’s imagination and occasionally brought the youngster along to the nightclub where she served drinks, letting Pru perform between scheduled sets. Time at a performing arts high school strengthened those emerging abilities, and by the time she reached Texas Southern University, Pru had already begun shaping her own vocal approach. Seeking to mirror the artistry of Cassandra Wilson and Dianne Reeves, she moved to Los Angeles, where she found work in venues frequented by music-industry insiders in hopes of making crucial contacts. Her songwriting soon attracted notice, securing a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell and an introduction to Capitol Records executive Roy Lott. Lott was struck by both her compositional talent and the adaptable voice she had developed, one that echoed the inventive directions taken by R&B stylists such as Lauryn Hill, Macy Gray, and Erykah Badu. Further refinement came during tours with the Family Stand and musicians from Sade’s band, after which Capitol issued the self-titled debut Pru in November 2000. Pru wrote twelve of the album’s thirteen tracks, including the first single “Candle,” which drew lyrical and melodic cues from Smokey Robinson’s “Tracks of My Tears.”