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Robert Lavelle Huggar (born April 2, 1977), better known by his initials RL, is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for being the lead singer of the R&B group Next.[1]

RL
RL in 2019
Background information
Birth name	Robert Lavelle Huggar
Born	(1977-04-02) April 2, 1977 (age 45) Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Genres	R&B
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Arista (1995–2000) J (2001–2002) Interscope (2005–2006) Music World/Universal (2006–2007)
Website	www.justrl.com

Early life

Robert Lavelle Huggar was born in 1977 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Robert and Toni Huggar. Growing up, he was exposed to a variety of musical styles that helped influence his sound. His admiration of artists like Prince and Michael Jackson and music producers such as Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis encouraged him to pursue music.^{[citation needed]}

Next

Fronted by Huggar and brothers Terry Brown and Raphael Brown, Next originally performed under the name Straight4ward. For broader commercial appeal, the name was changed to "Next". The group was introduced to producer and DJ artist KayGee from Naughty by Nature. Subsequently, they signed with KayGee's newly formed Divine Mill record label, which, at the time, was distributed through Arista Records.

Solo work

RL first distinguished himself outside of Next with his duet with Deborah Cox on the song "We Can't Be Friends" as well as other feature projects. RL followed up that effort with "The Best Man I Can Be", the super-group track from The Best Man movie soundtrack which also featured Ginuwine, Tyrese and Case. By the time RL's soulful "Good Love" (from The Brothers movie soundtrack) and his hook to Tupac's Until the end of Time were released, he had created an artistic persona distinct and separate from Next. RL: Ements is RL's debut solo project and was released on J Records. It spawned the singles "Got Me a Model" (featuring Erick Sermon) and "Good Man".

Personal life

Huggar has a son, Charles, with his first wife.[2]

In October 2017, he married Lena Danielle.[3] Their daughter Rory Lane was born in January 2018.[4][5]

Discography

Albums

Year	Title	Chart positions
		US	U.S. R&B[6]
2002	RL: Ements Released: April 23, 2002	53	6

Singles

Year	Song	Peak chart positions		Album
		US	US R&B
1999	"The Best Man I Can Be" (with Ginuwine, Tyrese and Case)	67	15	The Best Man (soundtrack)
	"We Can't Be Friends" (Deborah Cox featuring RL)	8	1	One Wish
2001	"Good Love"	-	58	The Brothers (soundtrack)
2002	"Got Me a Model" (featuring Erick Sermon)	-	76	RL: Ements
	"Good Man"	-	48

As songwriter

Year	Song	Artist	Peak chart positions		Album
			US	US R&B
1999	"Party Tonight"	3rd Storee	—	66	3rd Storee
2000	"Whatever" (featuring Lil' Mo)	Ideal	47	11	Ideal
2000	"Where I Wanna Be" (featuring Nate Dogg & Kurupt)	Shade Sheist	95	49	Informal Introduction
2001	"Just in Case"	Jaheim	52	15	Ghetto Love
2002	"Anything"		28	6
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

Other notable songwriting credits

Year	Song	Artist	Album
2001	"Weekend Thing"	Koffee Brown	Mars/Venus
	"Bring Your Heart to Mine"	Luther Vandross	Luther Vandross
	"U R the One"	Usher	8701
2005	"Storm (Forecass)"	Jamie Foxx	Unpredictable
2008	"I Can Change Your Life"	Lloyd	Lessons in Love
	"The Floor"	Keith Sweat	Just Me
	"Sexiest Girl"
	"Teach Me"
2009	"Show Off"	Ginuwine	A Man's Thoughts
	"Open the Door"
	"Orchestra"
	"Touch Me"
	"Even When I'm Mad"
2012	"60 Seconds"	"Q" Parker	The Manual
2013	"Ready for Love"	Mindless Behavior	All Around the World

References

External links

• Official website

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