Miguel Jontel Pimentel — aka Miguel — put out his full-length studio debut, All I Want is You, in 2010, but his relationship with R&B actually dates back much further.

The singer-songwriter first fell in love with music as a child growing up in San Pedro, California, thanks in part to his parents' eclectic tastes.

From his mother, Miguel heard classic R&B; his dad introduced him to styles like hip-hop, jazz and classic rock. All those influences would inform his rapidly formulating musical identity, which he began to pursue as a young teen.

Miguel didn't find immediate success after he put out All I Want is You. In fact, the album made only a modest impression when it first came out, but it proved to have staying power. Although it fell off the Billboard chart for three weeks, it crept back up onto the chart to become a sleeper hit, thanks in part to the vivid, omnivorous musical range and identity Miguel established on singles like "Sure Thing," "Quickie" and "Girls Like You."

All I Want is You established Miguel's gripping presence in the industry; by the time he was making its follow-up, Kaleidoscope Dream, two years later, the singer had a crisper perception of his role in the R&B sphere.

"Somewhere along the way… the genre became a stereotype, and I've never been one for stereotypes," Miguel told Billboard at the time, pointing out that his father is Mexican and his mother is Black.

"I've been in the middle my entire life, having to make decisions as to who and what I am. It was really important for me to stand out," he continued. "I wanted the music to stand out that way."

Miguel not only stood out — he also thrived as an R&B act operating at the top of the format, but also creating his own lane. In 2013, he won his first GRAMMY for Best R&B Song, for "Adorn." (To date, it’s his only GRAMMY win — though he’s earned 12 nominations.)

Press play on the video above for a deeper look into Miguel's boundary-breaking career, and keep checking GRAMMY.com for more episodes of Black Sounds Beautiful.

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