Beside frequent songwriting and production partners Christopher Tricky Stewart and Carlos Los Da Mystro McKinney, Terius The-Dream Nash advanced electronic pop-R&B during the 2000s and 2010s, continuing a path cut by the likes of Leon Sylvers III, Kashif, Prince, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Teddy Riley, Timbaland, Missy Elliott, and the Neptunes. After a series of modest strides, Nash became a true force with Rihanna’s “Umbrella” (2007) and proved that it wasn’t a fluke by topping the chart the following year with Mariah Carey’s “Touch My Body” and Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” Nash simultaneously began a run with Def Jam as a recording artist, sculpting the melodically rich and impeccably layered Top Five R&B/hip-hop albums Love/Hate (2007), Love vs. Money (2009), and Love King (2010). Nash also became a go-to collaborator for rap artists, exemplified by Grammy-winning material with Kanye West and Jay-Z (“All of the Lights,” “No Church in the Wild”). Since leaving Def Jam, Nash has continued to release material of his own in high volumes, including the 150-minute Ménage à Trois: Sextape Vol. 1, 2, 3 (2018) and SXTP4 (2020).
Terius Youngdell Nash spent the first years of his life in North Carolina, then moved with his mother to Atlanta, Georgia. He learned to play trumpet in elementary school, eventually picked up drums and guitar, and following his mother’s death — while he was in high school — started writing lyrics. Nash found success in selling songs years later, after he met R&B producer Laney Stewart. Stewart helped Nash land his first publishing contract in 2003 in light of his penning “Everything” for B2K’s platinum Pandemonium! album. Paired with Stewart’s brother, producer and songwriter Christopher Tricky Stewart, Nash continued to write songs for various artists, including Britney Spears and Madonna’s 2003 Top 40 pop hit “Me Against the Music,” over the next four years. His watershed moment came when he and Stewart, along with Kuk Harrell, wrote Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” a number one pop hit in the U.S. and a smash abroad. The 2007 single was eventually nominated in two of the “big four” Grammy categories: Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
Several labels had approached Nash to crank out more hits for their artists. Among them was Def Jam, home to Rihanna, though the label was reluctant to sign Nash as a recording artist. Def Jam ultimately stopped dancing around the issue after Nash and another frequent studio collaborator, Carlos McKinney, sold “Bed” to J. Holiday, a fresh Capitol signee who took the ballad to number five on the Hot 100. Around the same time, Nash made his debut as a Def Jam artist with “Shawty Is da Sh*!” (aka “Shawty Is a 10”), followed shortly thereafter by “Falsetto” and the December release of Love/Hate, the parent album. Love/Hate peaked at number five on the R&B/hip-hop album chart, while its three singles — “I Luv Your Girl” was the last of the trio — reached the Top Ten of the corresponding singles chart. In October 2008, Nash, Stewart, and Harrell struck again as co-writers of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” another number one pop hit. Like “Umbrella,” it was nominated for two Grammys — Song of the Year and Best R&B Song — but won both categories this time.