This is what happened to Blu Cantrell after she 'disappeared' following her rapid rise to fame
At the top of her game in the early noughties Blu Cantrell was among the biggest names on the R&B scene.
There was even talk that the musician was a contender with Beyoncé on the scene at that time, dazzling audiences with tracks such as Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!) and Breathe.
Her music was shooting up in the charts, only for the artist to vanish from the scene seemingly overnight.
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Blu Cantrell's disappearance led many people to wonder what on earth happened for someone who dominated charts so much to disappear.
Blu, whose real name is Tiffany Cobb, first made it big on a trip to Atlanta with her sister when someone approached her in a hotel lobby and told her she looked like a singer.
Recalling the moment in an interview with Pollstar in 2001, she said: “And I said, ‘Well, actually, I am a singer'. I guessed it was a pickup line but he brought me to RedZone and they signed me after they heard me sing."
Things took off quickly from there, with Blu having not one or two, but five record labels competing to sign her.
Success was quick to follow, with the rising star reportedly even beginning a feud with Beyoncé, who was just starting her solo career at that time.
On paper, everything seemed to be going brilliantly for the singer and she seemed all set to continue her rise to stardom.
So what went wrong?
In 2004 her success slowed down significantly after she left her contract because her label Arista forgot to renew it.
At this point she finally realised that while at the label she had not made anywhere near as much money as she should have.
In an interview on You Know I Got Soul, she revealed that she wishes she had someone who could guide her through the process.
She said: “I would have got my lawyer because that lawyer ended up representing them, which was a conflict of interest so they were all working together to basically take what was mine.
“Nobody really knows the whole truth but me and them, but I was really taken advantage of.”
Revealing where she had disappeared to between 2004 and 2012, she said: “I needed to take time off.
“I spent a lot of time overseas and I was living in London and I needed a break just to take time for myself because being an artist is a 24/7 thing. It’s no sleep, no eating and it’s a lot of hard work.”
Kit Roberts