With several hit albums and songs, killer good looks and a debut album entitled Miss Thang, Monica Arnold, better known simply as Monica, easily became the pop-R&B princess of the 1990s. Collaborating with a long inventory of A-list celebrities like LL Cool J, Brandy, Dem Franchize Boyz and even her cousin Ludacris, Monica continually represents her hometown of Atlanta while always keeping it classy.

Monica was raised in Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of M.C. Arnold Jr. and Marilyn Best. The outstanding vocalist grew up singing in church, and joined a traveling Gospel choir at age 10. In 1992, by the time she was 12, Monica was offered a recording contract with the Atlanta-based Dallas Austin, who ultimately signed her with his Rowdy Records label. Regardless of her rising fame, Monica finished high school in 1996 by age 16, just in time to see her debut album Miss Thang hit the R&B/hip-hop charts. The album contained the songs "Don't take it Personal (Just One of Dem Days)" and "Before You Walk out of My Life," both of which ended up going platinum as Top Ten singles. The talented vocalist released her sophomore album The Boy is Mine in 1998, after appearing on LL Cool J's Mr. Smith and recording the hit song "The Boy is Mine" with another up-and-coming R&B star, Brandy. The album landed at number two on the R&B/hip-hop charts, but it would be another five years before Monica would produce another hit album.

Monica's much-anticipated 2003 album After the Storm turned out to be a phenomenal success; the album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, and set the singer up for her next hit album, 2006's The Makings of Me. Monica's albums just kept improving, and The Makings of Me hit number one on the R&B/hip-hop charts later that year.