R&B lost one of its quiet architects this weekend. Manuel Seal, the Grammy-winning songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who helped Jermaine Dupri build the So So Def sound, has died at 66.
Dupri announced the news Sunday night with an emotional Instagram tribute, calling Seal his brother and “the first person to really understand me musically.”
If you grew up on 90s and 2000s R&B, you already know Seal’s catalog by heart. He co-wrote Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby” and later helped craft “We Belong Together,” the 2005 smash that won Best R&B Song at the Grammys. On the Usher side, he wrote seven of the ten songs on the 7x platinum “My Way” album, including “You Make Me Wanna…” and “Nice & Slow.” He also co-wrote “My Boo,” the Usher and Alicia Keys duet, plus Xscape’s “Understanding” and Da Brat’s “Funkdafied,” where he sang the hook himself.
Dupri wrote that Seal had an answer for every one of his ideas, and taught him that the more you know, the better it’s going to sound. A cause of death had not been announced as of Monday night.
Seal won one Grammy across his career, from 13 nominations. He died on September 27, one day after his 66th birthday.