Meelah
Born: March 8, 1978
Birthplace: Las Vegas, NV
Zodiac Sign: Pisces
Kameelah Williams, aka, Meelah was born & raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ironically enough she became the lead singer of the multi platinum trio 702, which is the Las Vegas area code.
702 (pronounced "Seven-Oh-Two"), named after the area code of their hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada, is an American R&B girl group, with the final and most known line up consisting of Kameelah Williams and sisters Irish and LeMisha Grinstead.
The group was originally a quartet featuring the Grinstead sisters, which included identical twins Irish and Orish (born June 2, 1980 in Houston, TX), their older sister LeMisha (born June 10, 1978 in Houston, TX), and Amelia Childs whom they debuted as featured artists on Subway's hit single "This Lil' Game We Play". Amelia and Orish were removed from the group due to Mike Bivens not favoring their voices and were briefly replaced by classmates Tiffany Villarreal and Kameelah Williams. After six months before their debut single was released Tiffany would depart the group. Continuing as a trio, they released their debut single "Steelo" with great success.
Original member Orish Grinstead, twin sister of Irish, died on April 20, 2008, from kidney failure at the age of 27. She can be seen as one of the original four members of 702 in the video, "This Lil' Game We Play" with Subway and has a brief cameo in the video, “Steelo”.
In Las Vegas, sisters LeMisha and Irish Grinstead were students at the Las Vegas Academy of Performing Arts. Irish, her twin sister Orish, and LeMisha occasionally sang in the lobby of Caesars Palace where they were discovered by actor/comedian Sinbad. He visited their home in order to convince their parents to send the trio to Atlanta for a convention and music competition. Though the girls missed the deadline for entry, Sinbad used his name to get them in. "Sweeta than Suga," as they were then called (Sinbad suggested the name), came in second in the competition. As the convention was nearing a close, they met Michael Bivins (of New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe) who agreed to work with the sisters. They were briefly joined by singer Amelia Childs. The reconfigured group was christened "702," which is Las Vegas' area code, a name which Bivens suggested.[5] After they made their recorded debut on Subway's hit single "This Lil' Game We Play", Soon after Amelia and Orish was removed from the group due to poor vocals and replaced by Kameelah Williams and Tiffany Villarreal who were classmates at the academy. After 6 months in the group Tiffany would depart for a solo career. Bivins continued to work with different producers and songwriters to get the right feel for their first album. [KEEP SCROLLING TO CONTINUE READING]
Their debut album, No Doubt shot to No. 1 on Top Heatseekers. Missy Elliott co-wrote & produced 4 songs on the album including the smash hit single "Steelo" and its remix. The album spawned the 3 hit singles: "Steelo", "All I Want" and "Get It Together". "Steelo" with altered lyrics was used as the theme song to the Nickelodeon television show Cousin Skeeter and "All I Want" was featured in the Nickelodeon movie Good Burger, based on the sketch from series All That, where they also performed. "Get It Together" exploded by giving the group a No. 3 R&B single and a No. 10 Pop single on the Billboard charts. The album earned them a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award in 1997. It sold over 500,000 copies worldwide. In addition to the album, 702 opened for New Edition, Keith Sweat, and Blackstreet during the 1996-97 New Edition reunion tour. They also appeared on Elliott's debut album Supa Dupa Fly on her 1998 song "Beep Me 911", which reached No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart. They also sang with Busta Rhymes' new artist Rampage. "My Friend" was featured on the soundtrack to Men in Black. In 1998, 702 made cameos in the sitcoms Sister, Sister and Moesha.
Once the hype for the second album died down, 702 took a hiatus from the spotlight. Kameelah Williams decided to part from the group and go solo. She briefly became the new protégé of Faith Evans and signed a deal to be managed by Faith and her husband, Todd Russaw, under their Pedigree MGI Management. Kameelah sang backup and wrote three songs for Faith Evans' album, Faithfully. She also sang backup for Missy Elliott’s song “Take Away”, the third single from her 2001 album Miss E...So Addictive. In an interview with the SoulBack R&B Podcast in 2019, Pamela Long confirmed that Meelah was in fact a part of Total and recorded music with the group.
Williams returned to the group, replacing Cree Lamore, 702 returned to record their third album. They released the album Star in March 2003, and it made the Top 50 on the Billboard 200. The group worked with singers Mario Winans, Faith Evans and Clipse and producers The Neptunes, Mike City, and Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs. The single "Star" and "I Still Love You" did not make the Billboard Hot 100, but did make Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. "Star" at No. 98 and I Still Love You" at No. 49. The album earned them two Soul Train Lady of Soul Award nominations later in 2003. Also in 2003, 702 shared lead vocals on the track "Gamble It" from the album "Emotions" by Sirena. Irish Grinstead appeared in The Brewster Project in 2004. In 2006, 702 appeared on the independent album E Sharp Presents. The composition of that group was Misha, Irish and Orish Grinstead but the cd cover image from their second album "702" appears on the cover.
In 2010, Williams confirmed via her official Twitter that she was now permanently solo and is currently working on her solo album. Kameelah also has a child with artist Musiq Soulchild. She also appeared on the third season of R&B Divas: Atlanta.