Andwele Gardner (born February 14, 1978),[3] known professionally as Dwele, is an American R&B singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer from Detroit, Michigan.

[5][6][7] He was deeply affected by the fatal shooting of his father outside his home when he was age ten, later stating "I learned to put my emotions into music; it was my therapy.

"[5][8] He cites Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Roy Ayers, Miles Davis, and Freddie Hubbard as favorite artists, and took inspiration from hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, becoming an MC, and working with Slum Village.

[7] Dwele signed to Virgin Records in 2001, and the label released his debut album, Subject in spring 2003, which mixed neo soul and hip hop.

[5] In a 2005 review in The Independent, his style was summed up: "Dwele's rooted in vintage soul but isn't stuck in the past, overly reverential or an exercise in pastiche - there's a major hip-hop edge which betrays his original incarnation as a rapper.