Some context: Mary Mary are an American gospel duo composed of sisters Erica Atkins-Campbell and Trecina Atkins-Campbell. Formed in 1998, Mary Mary was launched into mainstream recognition following the release of their best-selling debut album, Thankful (2000), which contained the hit single "Shackles (Praise You)". Their followup album Incredible (2002), reached number one on the Top Gospel Albums chart. Their third album, Mary Mary (2005), which contains themes the public interpreted as a channel to the group's experience, contains the worldwide hits "Heaven", "The Real Party", and "Yesterday".
The Atkins sisters, born Erica Monique and Trecina Evette, grew up in a large family with seven siblings in Inglewood, California. Their mother, Thomasina Atkins, is an evangelist and choir director at the Church of God in Christ. Their father, Eddie A. Atkins, was also a member of the Church of God In Christ, and a youth counselor, before he died in 2013. Due to their proximity in age, the two sisters grew up closer to one another than to any of their siblings: Darrell Atkins (born 1965, the only living boy- the second boy died as a child), Maliea Atkins (born 1967), Erica (born 1972), Tina (born 1974), Delisa Atkins-Brown (born 1977), Thomasina Atkins (born 1979), Alana Atkins-Jamison (born 1985), and Shanta Atkins (born 1986). Later, they would work creatively with over half of their siblings; Thomasina, Alana, Delisa and Shanta Atkins all sing background on Mary Mary's albums and during stage performances and Delisa was originally a member of the group but left before they started recording professionally due to pursuing college. Eventually, all eight Atkins children united on the Bobby Jones Gospel show on BET. During this time, Erica and Trecina entered the world of church choirs, traveling gospel shows, and television productions. The sisters enrolled at El Camino College to study voice. There they encountered the division between rigorous academic study of music versus the popular musical world. "We had to study classical and sing arias, which was fine," Erica told Times, "but the teachers would tell us if we sang anything else it would damage our instrument." In 1995 the two toured with Michael Matthews' traveling gospel shows, Mama I'm Sorry and Sneaky. Each sister subsequently toured as a backup singer for a variety of R&B acts, including Brandy.
Do Mary Mary have kids?
A:
Some context: Freddy Maertens (born 13 February 1952 in Nieuwpoort) is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist who was twice world road race champion. His career coincided with the best years of another Belgian rider, Eddy Merckx, and supporters and reporters were split over which was the better. Maertens' career swung between winning more than 50 races in a season to winning almost none and then back again. His life has been marked by debt and alcoholism.
Gilbert Maertens gave his son his first bike, which Freddy Maertens described as "a second-hand thing that he'd got from a beach business for a bargain." Not until he won a race on that would he get a better one. The author, Rik Van Walleghem, said: "The training school that Maertens went through with his father was hard. Horribly hard. Gilbert never lost sight of anything. He knew how much and how often his son trained, what he ate and drank, how much he slept, who he went around with. He imposed a merciless regime. And he had an eye open for the slightest thing that would obstruct his son's progress. He worried, for instance, that Freddy's male hormones would get the better of his son and drive him into the arms of bewitching young girl who'd put the slides under his mission. Women were the devil's work; it had been like that in the Garden of Eden and little had changed since." Gilbert caught his son flirting with a girl and took revenge by cutting his racing bike in half. He intervened with the army, when his son was called for national service, to ask that he not be given an easier time because of his reputation. Maertens' relationship with his father affected the rest of his life. He rode well only when he had a dominant figure behind him: first his father, then Briek Schotte and then Lomme Driessens. His wife described him as trusting and vulnerable, that he needed care because otherwise he would be "like a bird waiting for a cat."
How did Lomme Driessens affect his life?
A:
Some context: Inga DeCarlo Fung Marchand (born September 6, 1978), better known by her stage name Foxy Brown, is an American rapper, model, and actress. She is best known for her solo work, as well as numerous collaborations with other artists and her brief stint as part of hip hop group The Firm. Raised in Brooklyn, New York, her father Winston Marchand abandoned the family at a young age to pursue his career at ERAC records. Her albums include Ill Na Na in 1996, followed by Chyna Doll in 1999, and Grammy-nominated Broken Silence in 2001.
While still a teenager, Brown won a talent contest in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Members of the production team Trackmasters who were working on LL Cool J's Mr. Smith album were in attendance that night and were impressed enough to invite Brown to rap over "I Shot Ya." She followed this debut with appearances on several RIAA platinum and gold singles from other artists, including remixes of songs "You're Makin' Me High" by Toni Braxton. Brown was also featured on the soundtrack to the 1996 film The Nutty Professor, on the songs "Touch Me Tease Me" by Case and "Ain't No Nigga" by Jay-Z. The immediate success led to a label bidding war at the beginning of 1996, and in March, Def Jam Records won and added the then 17-year-old rapper to their roster. In 1996, Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim, Da Brat, and Total got together for the recording of Bad Boy's remix of "No One Else". This was the only track that Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown appeared on together, the two were friends at the time. In 1996, Brown released her debut album Ill Na Na to mixed reviews but strong sales. The album sold over 109,000 copies in the first week, and debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200 album charts. The album was heavily produced by Trackmasters, and featured guest appearances from Jay-Z, Blackstreet, Method Man, and Kid Capri. The album went on to go platinum and launched two hit singles: "Get Me Home" (featuring Blackstreet) and "I'll Be" (featuring Jay-Z). Following the release of Ill Na Na, Brown joined fellow New York-based hip hop artists, Nas, AZ, and Nature to form the supergroup known as The Firm. The album was released via Aftermath Records and was produced and recorded by the collective team of Dr. Dre, The Trackmasters, and Steve "Commissioner" Stoute, then of Violator Entertainment. An early form of The Firm appeared on "Affirmative Action", from Nas' second album, It Was Written. A remix of the song, and several group freestyles were in the album, Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature Present The Firm: The Album. The album entered the Billboard 200 album chart at #1 and sold over half a million records and is RIAA certified gold. In March 1997, she joined the spring break festivities hosted by MTV in Panama City, Florida, among other performers including rapper Snoop Dogg, pop group The Spice Girls, and rock band Stone Temple Pilots. Later, she joined the Smokin' Grooves tour hosted by the House of Blues with the headlining rap group Cypress Hill, along with other performers like Erykah Badu, The Roots, OutKast, and The Pharcyde, the tour set to begin in Boston, Massachusetts, in the summer of 1997. However, after missing several dates in the tour, she left it.
What did they think of her?
A:
were impressed enough to invite Brown to rap over "I Shot Ya.