This Cleveland-born, silver-tongued R&B balladeer first purred his way onto the charts with 2000's righteous breakup anthem “Separated," an impassioned rumination on romantic betrayal and lost loves featuring Destiny's Child alum Kelly Rowland. But Avant isn't limited to heartache; his is an appeal that's disarming at all points along the relationship gamut, his soft-edged, molasses-soaked vocals and everyman lyrics lending themselves equally to the breathless lust of “French Pedicure” and the yearning tenderness of “You & I.”