Aaron Hall (singer)

Aaron Robin Hall III was born in the Bronx, New York City, and raised in Brooklyn. His father Aaron Hall II was a prominent New York pastor of the church where Hall learned the Black American traditions of gospel music styling and performance. He is the second oldest son of the Hall family, along with prominent brothers as Damion Hall and minister Todd Hall.^[2] Hall explored his vocal talent and began singing in a Baptist church from an young age.^[3][4] A few years before Hall segued into his R&B career, his mother Johnella Romeo Hall was hit by a car on Christmas Eve and died.^[5]

Hall developed a speech impediment as a child that would last into adulthood, causing him to struggle to pronounce his own name and restricting his ability to give interviews during his early career. Channeling all his energies into his love for dogs, he later became a dog trainer for his celebrity peers.^[6]

Hall's talent encouraged by his friend, Timmy Gatling, who also worked alongside him in a store, Abraham & Straus in the 1980s. Gatling knew Teddy Riley through their early group called Kids at Work, which was managed by Gene Griffin. After Timmy's discovery, the three decided to form a group, Guy.^[4]

In between Hall's traditional Black gospel voice and erratic singing brought up major comparisons to artists later being in the business. Hall described his own voice as "running on inflections, heavy intonations and very little breathing".^[7]

Following the breakup of Guy, Hall signed with Silas Records, a subsidiary label of MCA Records formed by Louil Silas Jr.^[8] Hall reunited with his brother and Teddy Riley as Guy for a reunion album, Guy III (2000). It features the modest hit, "Dancin'".

Hall began his solo career after his group Guy collapsed. In 1992, he worked with several producers from the Silas label on his debut album, The Truth. It included hits like "Don't Be Afraid", "Get a Little Freaky with Me", "Let's Make Love", and others. One of his biggest singles, "I Miss You", reached #2 on the R&B chart and later peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his biggest pop hit.^[9] In later years, he created hits for movie soundtracks and collaborated with other artists.

Hall released a second studio album in 1998, Inside of You. After the failed Guy reunion in 1997, which only brought a track for the New York Undercover movie soundtrack, Hall announced he would work on another solo album the following year. He names it as a new approach in his career, including a message to harsh conditions he had experienced in the industry.^[10][11] The album features Faith Evans and hip-hop group Terror Squad, and it includes Fat Joe, Big Pun, Cuban Linx and Unique on a remixed track. The album had success with "All The Places (I Will Kiss You)" becoming a hit single, charting as a top 10 hit on Billboard's Top Hip Hop/R&B Songs and a top 30 song on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.^[9]

In the late 2000s, Hall resigned from MCA starting a new independent label named "Artists Only International". It was a music subsidiary of "Headstart Entertainment". He declared he was "..no longer a slave anymore" referring to his former contract with MCA.^[12] Hall experimented with different genres mixing R&B, reggae and hip-hop together, giving his approach to music a more distanced critique from reviewers than usual.^[13] He defined it as his "last album" and in an article teased that he would later use a new persona, a new name ("E. Kane"). His visions didn't jibe with his future plans.^[14]

On November 24, 2023, a lawsuit was filed against Hall and Sean Combs by an unnamed woman, alleging they both raped her and a friend after an event at Uptown Records in the early 1990s.^[15][16][17] In 1996, Hall was arrested and charged with raping a woman in a Manhattan hotel.^[18]

• Aaron Hall discography at Discogs