Gardner was raised on the west side of Detroit in a musical family. He played piano from the age of six, later taking up trumpet, bass and guitar. He cites
Stevie Wonder,
Donny Hathaway,
Roy Ayers,
Miles Davis, and
Freddie Hubbard as favorite artists, and took inspiration from
hip hop group
A Tribe Called Quest, becoming an MC, and working with
Slum Village. Slum Village invited Dwele to sing the hook of the song "
Tainted" for their album
Trinity (Past, Present and Future). It was successful and led to more high-profile work with rapper
Bahamadia, the group
Lucy Pearl and London's New Sector Movement. A second album,
Some Kinda..., followed in 2005. He released his fourth album titled,
W.ants W.orld W.omen, on June 29, 2010. Dwele was featured on the first single from Ye's fifth studio album,
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The song is entitled "
Power". He is also featured on "
Flashing Lights" from West's 2007 album
Graduation. Dwele released the first single, "What Profit", from his fifth studio album
Greater Than One. The song was written and produced by
Mike City, the same producer behind his other singles "I Think I Love U" and "What's Not to Love". The song was sent to radio on May 22, 2012. ==Discography==