MANUEL SEAL is a Grammy award winning songwriter and producer. With nearly 20 number one Billboard pop singles and a slew of top 10/top 40 hits to his credit, is the songwriting/producing mastermind behind some of pop biggest hits ever, including Mariah Carey's record-breaking #1 2005 summer monster, "We Belong Together," as well as Carey's career-sized smashes, "Always Be My Baby" and "It's Like That." It was Manuel who gave Usher the chart-topping hits, "You Make Me Wanna," "Nice and Slow" and "My Way" and has worked his intuitive, platinum magic for such acts as Xscape, LSG and Tamia and artists as musically disparate as Michael Bolton, Al Jarreau, Bebe Winans, Da Brat and Angie Stone.

An anomaly among hot young producers, Manuel keeps his finger on the pulse of what is sonically cutting-edge, yet unlike other young guns, he's no slave to technology: A multifaceted musician accomplished on keyboards and guitar, Manuel writes and arranges in the hands-on tradition of such legendary pop music craftsmen as Quincy Jones, Gamble and Thom Bell. "I'm from an era where you study," says the soft spoken, spiritually minded Manuel.

Young Manuel drew inspiration from such artists as Earth, Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, George Duke and embraced jazz, funk, rock and classical forms. Nevertheless, Manuel's life would be forever altered that day in 1991 when he met Atlanta-based hip hop producer Jermaine Dupri, who invited him to collaborate on a project for a young girl group called Xscape. The group's 1993 multi-platinum debut CD, Hummin' Comin' At Cha, featuring the hits, "Let's Kick It" and "Understanding," launched Manuel's astounding, prolific run as a songwriter, producer and arranger. The projects kept coming--and so did the hits--proving that Manuel was no fluke but a certified hit maker.

In 2001 Seal took a much needed sabbatical from writing and producing to rejuvenate and rethink the purpose of his life and career. Manuel also used the time to further enlighten himself on the intricacies of the business.

In 2004 Manuel officially returned to the top of the charts with no less than a roar: "My Boo," the '04 Usher/Alicia Keys duet which he co-wrote and co-produced, topped the Billboard Pop Singles chart, setting the stage for yet a new era of Manuel Seal-written and produced hits. Indeed, if his unprecedented success with such acts as Mariah and Usher is any indication, the red-hot Manuel is not about to cool anytime soon. He is gratified that as one of popular music's most prolific songwriter/producers, the hits just keep comin.' "I get to do for a living something that I love," says Manuel, still humbled by the notion. "That is a blessing."