Terius Adamu Ya Gesteelde-Diamant[2][3] (né Youngdell Nash; born September 20, 1977), known professionally as The-Dream, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.

[4][5] He is known for having written or co-produced songs for artists in R&B and hip hop, often in tandem with production partner Tricky Stewart.

[6] His co-writing credits include "Me Against the Music" (2003) for Britney Spears, "Ride" (2010) for Ciara, "Umbrella" (2007) for Rihanna, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" (2008), "Cuff It" (2022), "Break My Soul" (2022) and "Partition" (2013) for Beyoncé, "Touch My Body" (2008) for Mariah Carey, "16 @ War" for Karina Pasian (2008), "Baby" (2010) for Justin Bieber, "All of the Lights" (2010) for Kanye West, "No Church in the Wild" (2013) for Jay-Z and Kanye West and "Savage (Remix)" (2020) for Megan Thee Stallion.

Through his own label, Radio Killa Records, he released the triple album Ménage à Trois: Sextape Vol.

[10] He states that the death of his mother gave him a "soft spot" for women, to which he credits his desire to write songs about female empowerment such as Rihanna's "Umbrella".

Of his grandfather, Nash recalls "He came out of a bad time for blacks in the South, but even though we lived in the hood, we had a boat, some cars and a house that was paid for.

[12] The album was produced by The-Dream, his production partner Tricky Stewart, and Los Da Mystro, and featured Fabolous and Rihanna.

Released December 11, 2007, on The-Dream's Def Jam imprint Radio Killa Records,[14] the album featured the singles "Shawty Is a 10", "Falsetto" and "I Luv Your Girl" and received generally positive reviews from critics, as Rolling Stone called it "one of the most likable R&B records of the year" and UrbanMusicReviews.com said that the singer had "hit a home run".

Nash wrote and produced Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", which was included on her third studio album I Am... Sasha Fierce and released in 2008.

[18] Upon its release, the album received general acclaim from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 83/100 from Metacritic and it was more commercially successful than its predecessor, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200.

[23][24] Once again produced by The-Dream, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, and Los Da Mystro, the album spawned the singles "Love King" and "Make Up Bag".

The album features guest appearances from Jay-Z, Big Sean, Pusha T, Beyoncé, 2 Chainz, Kelly Rowland, Gary Clark Jr. and Fabolous and the singles "Slow It Down"[29] and "IV Play".

On February 28, The-Dream featured on a track released by Kanye West on his SoundCloud, entitled "Bed Yeezy Season 5 (ft.

In addition to his work with Nivea and Rihanna, Nash has written and produced songs for many other R&B, hip hop, and pop artists, including J.

Holiday, Usher, Yung Joc, Jesse McCartney, Mariah Carey, Karina Pasian, Ciara, Brandy, Diddy, Mary J. Blige, B2K, Beyoncé, Kylie Minogue, Janet Jackson, and Tulisa Contostavlos.

In 2009, The-Dream and Tricky Stewart co-wrote and produced the album How to Be a Lady: Volume 1 by the R&B girl group Electrik Red.

In early 2009, The-Dream began working with Christina Milian on her fourth studio album Elope,[37] which led to her signing a joint-deal with Radio Killa Records.

Upon the release of the song, fans of Aaliyah voiced distaste for The-Dream's rendition on radio shows and blog sites.

[42] John Calvert of The Quietus writes that The-Dream's "stadium-R&B reinvented the genre as a mythological epic", citing it as an influence on Frank Ocean's 2012 song "Pyramids".

[43] AllMusic editor Andy Kellman writes that, with Carlos McKinney and Tricky Stewart, The-Dream "seized possession of [...] the belt for the electronic pop-R&B division, once held by innovators Leon Sylvers III, Kashif and Morrie Brown, Prince, Jam & Lewis, Teddy Riley, Timbaland and Missy Elliott, and the Neptunes".

[57] Nash began dating LaLonne Martinez in early 2014,[58] they became engaged in May 2014 and married on July 3, 2014, at San Francisco City Hall.