CODY CHESNUTT

For Cody ChesnuTT, life in the music business looked promising from the start. Barely into his teens, he was performing on-stage in his Atlanta hometown, opening for acts that his dad was representing as their manager. By the time he'd hit his late twenties, ChesnuTT was leading his own group, the Crosswalk, and had inked a recording contract with Hollywood Records. Venus Loves a Melody, his first full-length album, was wrapped up and ready to go. Before that could happen, however, the label released ChesnuTT from the deal. Not long after, the Crosswalk disbanded. Disheartened, ChesnuTT pulled back and holed up in his bedroom, where he wrote and recorded for himself. In two years, he laid down more than enough material for a standard album. Three dozen songs formed his double-disc 2002 debut, The Headphone Masterpiece. Later that year, he collaborated with the Roots for an alternate version of his "The Seed" -- dubbed "The Seed (2.0)" -- for the rap band's Phrenology album. While it seemed like ChesnuTT would continue to release music at a prolific rate, the follow-up to his debut was a December 2006 EP, Black Skin No Value. He didn't release a second album until October 2012, when Landing on a Hundred appeared on One Little Indian. Linda Seida, Rovi