Priscilla Renea Hamilton (born September 14, 1988), known professionally as Muni Long (pronounced "money long"), is an American singer and songwriter from Gifford, Florida. Under her birth name, she released her solo debut studio album, Jukebox, in December 2009 through Capitol Records. She then spent the following decade co-writing songs for other artists, including the hit singles "California King Bed" for Rihanna, "Worth It" for Fifth Harmony, "Love So Soft" for Kelly Clarkson, "Imagine" for Ariana Grande, and the global chart-topping hit "Timber" for Pitbull featuring Kesha.
Returning to her recording career in 2018, she independently released her second studio album, Coloured in June of that year, which saw Hamilton exploring Americana and country soul genres. After adopting the stage name Muni Long, she saw further recording success with her 2022 single "Hrs and Hrs", which reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100; prompting a recording contract with Def Jam Recordings. The song also received a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance, and was included on her third album Public Displays of Affection: The Album (2022).
She has received three other Grammy Award nominations throughout her career, including for Best New Artist, Best R&B Song ("Hrs & Hrs"), and a nomination for Album of the Year through her work on Back of My Mind (2021) by H.E.R.
Early life
Priscilla Renea Hamilton was born in 1988 on her grandparents' farm in Indian River County's rural Gifford neighborhood west of Vero Beach, Florida, and graduated from Vero Beach High School in 2006. Her father was a member of the Navy. She has stated she began singing at age two but was uncomfortable singing around people until she was older. She later stumbled upon YouTube and began posting videos of her singing in her room. Her first video was a rendition of "Cry Me a River" she submitted to a contest whose winner would sing with Justin Timberlake at the Grammy Awards, albeit she did not win. She recorded videos of herself singing the dictionary and made her own songs independently. Her channel eventually received over 30,000 subscriptions and she was given the opportunity to participate in MTV's Say What? Karaoke.
Career
2009–2010: Career beginnings and Jukebox
In 2009, after garnering popularity on YouTube, at age 21, Long signed with Capitol Records under her birth name. Her debut album was due for an October 20, 2009, release but was delayed for additional recording to occur. The album was preceded by the single "Dollhouse", which was released on August 18, 2009. The single failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100 but did reach number eleven on the Heatseekers singles chart, No. 31 on the Hot Dance Club Songs becoming a mild chart success.
Jukebox, was released on December 1, 2009. The record sold a mere 1,200 copies in its first week and failed to reach the Billboard 200. However, it did reach number twenty-three on the Billboard Heatseekers album chart, staying on the chart for one week. Despite its commercial failure, the album was critically acclaimed. Billboard highlighted her "knack for combining prose and poetry with catchy beats". The second and final single, "Lovesick", was released on March 2, 2010, but failed to chart completely.
2010–2018: Songwriting for other artists and Coloured
Long began writing songs for other recording artists. In 2010, she co-wrote the UK number-one single "Promise This"; as well as "California King Bed", a track from Rihanna's fifth studio album, Loud, released in November 2010. During late 2011, she took part in the ASCAP retreat, a songwriting event in France sponsored by Cain Foundation, Avid, Gibson and Sennheiser. She continued her songwriting career, landing credits on 2011 and 2012 albums by Rihanna, Demi Lovato, Madonna, Mika, Selena Gomez & The Scene, Chris Brown and Little Mix.
In 2013, Long was featured on B.o.B's song "John Doe" from his album Underground Luxury. In 2014 she also contributed to Fifth Harmony's debut album Reflection, by co-writing the song "Worth It", being the album's third single; the song reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Long co-wrote Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert's 2014 hit duet, "Somethin' Bad", which was nominated for a Grammy Award, and reached number one on Billboards Country Chart. The song was later chosen by NBC Sports to replace "I Hate Myself for Loving You" by Joan Jett as the opening theme for its National Football League. Like Jett's song, "Somethin' Bad" was reworked to fit the broadcast's narrative as "Oh, Sunday Night" and was performed by Carrie Underwood, who recorded the original with Miranda Lambert.