The Exclusives began as songwriters and producers, co-writing the song "Never Window Shopping" for
Lloyd on his
Zone 4/
Interscope release
King of Hearts. Under the mentorship of R&B legend
Betty Wright, the duo collaborated with Wright and
The Roots, co-writing two songs on their album
Betty Wright: The Movie, released on November 15, 2011. The album received mostly positive reviews; Metascore gave it a 73 out of 100. Pen and Vintage co-wrote the songs "Real Woman", featuring
Snoop Dogg, and "Baby Come Back", featuring
Lenny Williams. Work on the Betty Wright album afforded them the opportunity to work with
The Roots on their first concept album, entitled
Undun, which was released on December 2, 2011. The album debuted at No. 17 on
Billboard Hot 200; The Exclusives co-wrote the song "The Other Side", featuring Greg Porn and
Bilal. The duo met a young August Alsina in 2011 and recorded "I Luv This Shit" in 2012. It topped the
Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop chart for two weeks in November 2013, August Alsina became the first R&B artist to reach number one with a debut single since
Jeremih with "
Birthday Sex" in 2009. On the main
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, it reached number 15, and peaked at number 19 on the
Rhythmic chart. It peaked at number 48 on the
Billboard Hot 100. On March 6, 2014, the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
certified "I Luv This Shit" gold for shipping 500,000 copies. The certification was updated to platinum on October 2, 2014. In August 2014, The Exclusives inked a publishing deal with
Warner Chappell Music. == Notable charted songs ==