Cody ChesnuTT was performing on-stage in his Atlanta hometown when barely a teenager, and in his late twenties he was leading his own group, but ChesnuTT's musical career hit a downturn when he was released from his contract by Hollywood Records before his first full-length album was issued. ChesnuTT bounced back, however, writing and recording his double-disc 2002 debut, The Headphone Masterpiece, in his bedroom. He collaborated with the Roots for an alternate version of his track "The Seed" on the rap band's Phrenology album, but several years would pass before ChesnuTT's Black Skin No Value EP, a follow-up to his own debut, arrived in December 2006. He didn't release a second album until October 2012, when Landing on a Hundred appeared on One Little Indian. ~ Linda Seida