[5] Originally a member of Jerkins' "camp" of lyric and melody writers, he soon began to branch out into vocal arrangements and production.
His mentor Jerkins was commissioned to executive-produce the album, and Butler would contribute to three songs, including one that was initially chosen to be the second single, "Tell Me Why".
[7] Butler's next opportunity within the Jerkins camp was to co-write and provide background vocals on "Heartbreaker", a song that made it onto Michael Jackson's tenth and final studio album Invincible.
[8] Butler would also contribute to seven songs on En Vogue vocalist Rhona Bennett's eponymous debut solo album, including lead single and dance chart hit "Satisfied", and co-write "Gots ta Be", the top-20 charting second single from boyband B2K's eponymous debut album.
[21][22][23] Butler was the principal vocal producer on the project eventually released in 2016, working on fourteen out of seventeen tracks of the deluxe edition.