Muni Long ascended from being known as an in-demand songwriter during the 2000s and 2010s to becoming the first indie woman artist to top Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart in the 2020s. Her career, one of patience, persistence and taking a chance with revamping her musical identity, includes many accolades and finding her place with the nostalgic-based urban R&B crowd.
Born Priscilla Renea Hamilton in Gifford, Florida on September 14, 1988, Muni Long’s rise to stardom began on YouTube under her first and middle names. Originally posting videos with no real intention other than for fun, her channel gained a lot of traction, earning her the opportunity to perform on MTV’s Say What? Karaoke sequel SWK 2.0 in 2007. As her channel continued to surge in popularity, she wrote Girlicious' “Here I Am” for their 2008 debut album and signed with Capitol Records the following year. While work on her debut album was ongoing, her debut EP Hello My Apple, containing three original songs that she had previously performed on YouTube, was released in early 2009 as a treat to hold her fans over.
After writing the song “Happy Hour” for British singer Cheryl, Priscilla Renea’s debut album Jukebox arrived in late 2009, with it only managing to land on the Billboard Heatseekers chart at #23 and was supported by the singles “Dollhouse” and “Lovesick.” Following its release, she used her gift of songwriting to craft hits for other artists such as Rihanna’s “California King Bed,” Chris Brown’s “Don’t Wake Me Up,” K. Michelle’s “V.S.O.P.,” Pitbull’s “Timber,” Miranda Lambert’s “Somethin' Bad” and Kelly Clarkson’s “Love So Soft” among others, as well as making a few guest appearances before releasing her indie sophomore album Coloured in 2018, a country-soul, contemporary R&B effort that ended up flying under the radar.
In a move to present a more free and focused form of herself, Priscilla Renea co-founded her label Supergiant Records and took on the alias Muni Long in January 2020. With this identity, she settled in with the nostalgic R&B crowd and made some noise with her first two EPs Black Like This and Nobody Knows, but it was “Hrs & Hrs” from her next EP Public Displays Of Affection that became her big breakthrough as it reached #1 on multiple music charts, made her the first indie woman artist to top Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart and helped her label (renamed Muni Long Inc.) sign a partnership with Def Jam. Her success continued with the singles “Made For Me” and “Make Me Forget” from her 2024 album Revenge.
