Miguel – How Many Drinks?

Miguel is a modern R&B singer who specializes in sensual, swaggering ballads. His career has taken an interesting turn. The native of Los Angeles had been dabbling in the spotlight for a few years before making his breakthrough as a songwriter with Jaheim’s “Finding My Way Back,” an R&B hit that was nominated for a Grammy. As a headliner, he went on to write a number of platinum and Top Ten R&B/hip-hop hits, such as “All I Want Is You,” “Sure Thing,” and “Adorn,” which won a Grammy and is included in his Top Five crossover smash album Kaleidoscope Dream (2012). Miguel continued to be in high demand as a collaborator, lending his expertise to gold and platinum singles by artists such as Mariah Carey, A$AP Rocky, and Mac Miller, as he expanded his discography with deftly divergent albums like Wildheart (2015) and War & Leisure (2017). Later, in 2019, he made his debut on the Latin chart with the Spanish-language Te Lo Dije EP. Thanks to TikTok, “Sure Thing” saw a resurgence in 2023 and the artist peaked at number one on the Hot 100. He then made a comeback with the smoldering “Give It to Me.”

Miguel Jontel Pimentel, a resident of the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, began working with the production business Drop Squad when he was 16 years old. After three years, he was given a spot in the R&B group Fatty Koo and made an appearance on their BET reality show. However, he declined the opportunity and went on to secure a solo deal with major-label Universal for distribution. Miguel released “Getcha Hands Up!” as a promotional solo single in 2005. The music video, which featured Miguel’s impressive dance abilities, was broadcast on BET. Young & Free, an album, was supposed to be released, but it was never. By then, Miguel’s underground reputation had grown thanks to his joint projects with Blu, Exile, and Daz-I-Kue.

Raymond and Raymond
In 2007, Miguel secured a solo contract with Jive and proceeded to collaborate with both independent and major-label musicians. He had placed songs on albums by Asher Roth and Musiq Soulchild by the end of the decade. 2010 saw significant growth for him. He co-wrote the song “Finding My Way Back,” which peaked at number 12 on Billboard’s R&B/hip-hop chart. The song was later nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Song category. In addition, Miguel co-wrote two of the Jam & Lewis-produced tracks that were featured on Usher’s Raymond v. Raymond, which peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 just before Miguel made his official solo debut with the Top Ten R&B/hip-hop hit, “All I Want Is You,” an atmospheric hip-hop soul song. The lead album, All I Want Is You, was released in November of that year and, helped by the hits “Sure Thing” (number one R&B, number 36 on the Billboard 200) and “Quickie” (number three R&B), it peaked in both the Top Ten and the Top 40 of the R&B/hip-hop albums chart. With Wale’s Top 40 pop single “Lotus Flower Bomb,” which Miguel co-wrote, approaching platinum certification, Miguel returned to solo work in early 2012 with three EPs titled “Art Dealer Chic.”

The intermediate releases produced Kaleidoscope Dream, which debuted at number one on the R&B/hip-hop chart and made it into the October 2012 Billboard 200 Top Five. Miguel’s second number-one R&B/hip-hop hit, “Adorn,” was nominated for three Grammys and won for Best R&B Song. Meanwhile, the RCA-issued full-length album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the area of Best Urban Contemporary Album. The song “How Many Drinks?” from the album received a nomination the year after. Despite his fame, Miguel was still open to doing freelance work. The joint single “#Beautiful,” featuring Mariah Carey, was released in May 2013 and achieved platinum status. A$AP Rocky (the gold “Everyday”), Mac Miller (the platinum “Weekend”), J. Cole, Janelle Monáe, Big Sean, Jessie Ware, and Hudson Mohawke were among the artists Miguel spent time recording sessions for in between albums.

In June 2015, Miguel’s third album, Wildheart, was made available. It opened among the Top Five of the Billboard 200, peaking at number two and holding the same position on the R&B/hip-hop chart as his previous full-length. Wildheart, which was less melodic than its predecessors, focused on sensual slow jams and received a Grammy nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album. Before the urgent War & Leisure was released in December 2017, there was another series of collaborations, which included a duet with Dua Lipa and hits like “2 Lovin U” (produced by DJ Premier) and the platinum-certified “Sky Walker” (with Travis Scott). It was another R&B/hip-hop chart topper, and it debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200. Among his most financially successful featured performances, Miguel continued his extracurricular activities in 2018. Kygo’s “Remind Me to Forget” was one of his appearances. The Spanish-language EP Te Lo Dije, his subsequent solo album, debuted at number 11 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart in 2019. The Miguel-assisted hit “Show Me Love” by Alicia Keys started to rise to gold status in the same year.

In the first few years of the 2020s, a combination of featured appearances and smaller-scale solo work were released. Miguel had appearances on songs early in the decade, including the platinum “Happiness Over Everything (H.O.E.)” by Jhené Aiko. In 2021, the Art Dealer Chic EP series got back on track with a fourth edition that featured the grimy “Funeral.” Following his appearance on Diplo’s “Don’t Forget My Love,” Miguel had an unprecedented surge in popularity for “Sure Thing” in 2023, largely due to TikTok. As a result, the song’s re-release peaked at number 14 on the Hot 100, surpassing “Adorn” as his highest-charting pop hit. That April, in response, the singer released the simmering slow groove “Give It to Me.”