Mashonda Karima Dean (née Tifrere; born January 9, 1978) is an American R&B singer from Boston, Massachusetts.

[3] In 1999, she was featured on American rapper Jay-Z's single "Girl's Best Friend", for the soundtrack to the film Blue Streak.

The song, produced by Swizz Beatz, was also included as a hidden track on Jay-Z's fourth studio album Vol.

[citation needed] Mashonda's debut album January Joy, produced by Beatz, Kanye West, and Raphael Saadiq, was released in November 2005 in Japan.

She was the stepmother to Dean's son from a previous relationship, Prince Nasir;[8] he was born during her pregnancy and she named him.