She has since appeared in supporting roles in films and television series as well as several musical productions, including VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club and TV One's R&B Divas, and movies such as The Fighting Temptations (2003), Pastor Brown (2009) and School Gyrls (2010).

[2] Stone was born in Columbia, South Carolina, where she began singing gospel music at First Nazareth Baptist Church, under the leadership of Reverend Blakely N. Scott.

[1] In the late 1970s, when Stone was 16, she formed the rap trio The Sequence, a female hip-hop act, also consisting of Cheryl "The Pearl" Cook and Gwendolyn "Blondie" Chisolm.

Singles such as "Monster Jam" featuring rapper Spoonie Gee and "Funky Sound (Tear The Roof Off)" kept the band touring, with Robinson acting as their mentor.

[4] The group faded into obscurity as hip hop changed from its original party sound to a more gritty street art form and the trio eventually disbanded in 1985.

[4] Stone then worked with hip hop and electro funk music group Mantronix, before becoming the lead vocalist of the trio Vertical Hold which released the popular single "Seems You're Much Too Busy" as well as two albums: A Matter of Time (1993) and Head First (1995).

[6] Signed to Jocelyn Cooper's Midnight Songs, Stone also shared songwriting credits on D'Angelo's first two studio albums, Brown Sugar (1995) and Voodoo (2000), as well as provided backing vocals when on tour with him.

[11] Also that year, she recorded the theme song for the UPN/The CW sitcom Girlfriends, starring Tracee Ellis Ross, as well as a cameo appearance from the third season episode "Blinded by the Lights".

Involving a wider range of contemporary R&B musicians, Stone collaborated with Carvin & Ivan, Raphael Saadiq, Swizz Beatz, Alicia Keys and Eve on much of the album.

[15] "More Than Woman", a duet with singer Joe, earned Stone her first Grammy Award nomination in the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals category at the 45th ceremony.

In 2002, Stone had a guest role on Girlfriends and played store owner Madame Mambuza in the American teen comedy The Hot Chick, starring Rob Schneider.

[17] The following year, the singer appeared in the role of Alma in the Jonathan Lynn's musical comedy-drama The Fighting Temptations alongside Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Beyoncé.

Davis consulted Warryn Campbell, Jazze Pha and Missy Elliott to work with Stone, who penned and produced half of the final track listing herself.

The album debuted at number 14 on the US Billboard 200, selling 53,000 copies in its first week of release, and entered the top twenty in Belgium, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands.

[19] Its release was preceded by the single "I Wanna Thank Ya" featuring Snoop Dogg, a top five hit in Belgium and Stone's second chart topper on the US Dance Club Songs.

Her fourth studio album The Art of Love & War, a reference to her experiences in her final days at J Records, where it had become expected that she would help develop new talent, was released on October 15, 2007.

[24] Lead single "Baby", a duet with Betty Wright, became her second number-one hit on the US Adult R&B Songs and earned Stone her third nomination at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.

[28] Stone and Brian McKnight, who starred together in Chicago on Broadway, toured nationally in a production of Hinton Battle's Love Lies, which started with an engagement at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. in April 2013.