Shareese Renée Ballard, better known by her stage name Res, is an American singer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her musical style is a blend of indie pop, soul, and rock.
Solo career
Res released her debut album, How I Do, in 2001 along with its first single "Golden Boys." Despite heavy rotation on VH1, the song did not catch on in radio play. "Ice King" emerged as the second single later that year but also failed to break through with radio audiences and no video was filmed. In early 2002, Res released the third single from How I Do, "They-Say Vision." The song and accompanying video were breakthrough hits and reached #1 on the Billboard Dance chart and #37 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales chart. With the chart success of the single, the album entered the Billboard 200 for the first time. A fourth single, "Sittin' Back," was also released, but did not enjoy the same success as "They-Say Vision." Meanwhile, in 2002, Res appeared on a track with Tony Allen, Ray Lema, Baaba Maal, Positive Black Soul and Archie Shepp for the Red Hot Organization's compilation albumRed Hot and Riot, a tribute to Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. Res also performed a cover of Jefferson Starship song, "Miracles" for the Jennifer Lopez movie Maid in Manhattan. In 2003, her record label, MCA Records, was phased out by MCA Inc. and absorbed by Geffen Records. Res was later released from her contract at her request after the label refused to release any further work despite paying her contracted label salary. After parting ways with Geffen, Res was called upon to model for Marc Ecko's "Ecko Red" clothing line and appeared in print advertising. In 2006, Res recorded "To Empower" for the soundtrack of the drama filmAkeelah and the Bee. She joined Gnarls Barkley's St. Elsewhere tour providing supporting vocals while writing and recording material for her second album. In 2009, Res released her second album Black.Girls.Rock! through digital media available on iTunes. The album features tracks originally recorded for her shelved Geffen album. Black.Girls.Rock! is described by Res as "more of a singer/songwriters album than my debut. Great, classic songs!" Res funded a limited production run of vinyl pressings. On February 14, 2011, Res released a compilation of unreleased demos and remixed songs titled A Box of Chocolates after the Forrest Gump quote. The digital-only album is mixed by DJ NI** Sky and features a blend of music from multiple genres of music. The album was intended as a Valentine's Day gift to her fans as they awaited a proper release of Black.Girls.Rock!. In 2013, Res signed with Javotti Media/EOne Records and her long-awaited third studio album "Reset" was set to be released September 15, 2016. As of June 2018, the album had not been released, but an Indigogo campaign to raise funds for the album had raised $39,000.
In 2009, Res joined long-time collaborator and emceeTalib Kweli to form a hip-hop/electro duo known as Idle Warship. They have released a few teaser tracks online including a song named "Steady" that borrows from '80s classic "Sunglasses At Night" by Corey Hart. In June 2009, Idle Warship completed their first headlining tour through Europe. They performed to sold-out crowds in Switzerland, Norway, France and Germany. Idle Warship has produced a mixtape called Party Robots made available for download in October 2010 available from Res' official site. Idle Warship just finished their debut album Habits of the Heart, released November 1, 2011. The first single from this debut, "Laser Beams" is produced by DJ Khalil and The New Royales.
