Oji Pierce

Pierce, the only son of Henry Primes Pierce and Rosella Harris Vaughn,^[2] was born in Statesville, North Carolina.^[1] He had two sisters, Dyrel and Ledra.^[3] Pierce received his primary and secondary education in the District of Columbia school system.^[1]

Musically shaped by the church, Pierce's career as a songwriter, producer and arranger took off when he produced singer Montell Jordan's debut album This Is How We Do It (1995), along with its number-one title track. While the song earned Jordan a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards, it won him and Pierce Best R&B 12-inch at the International Dance Music Awards in Miami.^[4] Following the success with Jordan, Pierce became a sought-after producer in the R&B and hip hop scene, working with artists such as Kenny Lattimore, Norman Brown, CeCe Peniston, and Coolio, for whose album My Soul (1997) he contributed the single "Ooh La La."^[1] In the late 1990s, he became instrumental in securing R&B duo Ruff Endz a recording deal with Epic Records.^[5]

Pierce died on August 21, 2006, at the age of 46,^[3] in Gallup, New Mexico after a battle with sarcoidosis.^[6]