Dawn Angeliqué Richard (born August 5, 1983) is an American  singer, songwriter, and dancer. Richard is a former member of the musical group Danity Kane, from 2005 to 2009. She is currently a member of the group Dirty Money, along with label head Sean "Diddy" Combs and another singer/songwriter named Kalenna Harper.

Early life

Richard is of African-American and Haitian descent and was born in New Orleans, Louisiana with one brother. She is currently living in Baltimore, Maryland due to being displaced after Hurricane Katrina. Music has played an influential part in her life since early childhood. Her father is Frank Richard, former lead singer and percussionist of the popular Funk/Soul band Chocolate Milk. Her mother owned a dancing school where Dawn spent much of her childhood developing her skills at choreography and singing. Aside from music, Richard was a high school national basketball champion, as well as a state bowling champion at De La Salle High school. She was a top-notch student, and attended the University of New Orleans, majoring in marine biology with a minor in marketing, under a full academic scholarship.

Career
Early career

Early on in her teenage life, Richard began performing with a local New Orleans group called "Realiti". Discovered as a solo artist by Kemic A. Smothers at a 2004 live performance at Tipitina's Uptown in New Orleans, Richard was soon signed under the name "Dawn Angelique" to an exclusive recording contract/development deal with Octarve Anderson, Jr. and his Atlanta independent record label, Yeah! Brother Records. Recording in Los Angeles, Atlanta and New Orleans, Richard and Yeah! Brother records, along with platinum awarded production team The NexMen, Rochad Holiday and Curtis "Sauce" Wilson, crafted a stellar studio solo album called "Been a While", featuring the single "So What" which was co-produced by NeYo. Yeah! Brother Records and its New Orleans management company, Scratch Entertainment, headed by Kemic A. Smothers, Esq., agreed after negotiations with Sean "Diddy" Combs of Bad Boy Records, to postpone release of the album while arranging an immediate release from her exclusive recording contract with Yeah! Brother Records. Although it had no releases and did not chart, the studio album "Been A While" was still good enough to secure her a spot as the opening act for Anthony Hamilton in Tallahassee, Florida. During the recording of "Been A While", she focused on touring and live performances, dance, and becoming an NBA cheerleader for the New Orleans Hornets while attending university.

2005: Making the Band 3

Richard's "big break" came in 2005 when she auditioned for the MTV show Making the Band 3 in Orlando, where she was chosen to compete for a spot in Combs's future girl group. After the negotiated release from her contract with Yeah! Brother Records, she elevated her career by signing with international powerhouse Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment. She beat out numerous contestants to secure herself a spot, along with Aubrey O'Day, Aundrea Fimbres, Wanita Woodgett (now known as "D. Woods"), and Shannon Bex.

2006–2009: Danity Kane

The newly formed group became Danity Kane.The idea for the name of the group came from one of Richard's drawings. An avid fan of manga, while Danity Kane was in the studio, Richard drew a female superhero which caught the attention of Combs. When asked what the character's name was, she replied, "Danity Kane." To Combs, this represented the girls of Making the Band 3. He then decided that it should be the name of the group. The name and story were first introduced during Danity Kane's TRL appearance on June 14, 2006.

Richard has also remixed a song with London-based artist Cherri V, whose title is "Fast Car." The song has since become one of the most listened to songs on Cherri V's MySpace. Early 2008, a song called "Phase" was leaked onto the internet and featured Lil Wayne. Although it was buzzed as a Danity Kane track, only Richard's voice was featured on the song, which left speculation that it was a solo demo. In July 2008, two new tracks were released onto the internet, one called "Rush Love" which featured Flo Rida, and another track called "Strobe Light" (written by Mary Brown and produced by Chad Beatz (Tastemaker Music). It is still unknown if this was part of a future solo endeavor. During a MTV News break, it was stated that Richard was working on an untitled comic book. Richard's also stated in an interview that she would be releasing a soundtrack for the Danity Kane Comic Book, to be released in March 2009. Included would be the leaked track "Falls Away". On January 27, 2009, Richard confirmed to MTV News in an interview that Danity Kane had completely split up. In that same interview, she stated that she still considered herself a member of Danity Kane (along with Aundrea Fimbres), and still had hopes that each girl would be willing to work as a group again. On the April 16, 2009 episode of Making the Band, Combs revealed that he released O'Day and Woods, along with Bex, from their contracts, and would be releasing Fimbres as well. He told Richard that she will stay on the label and that if there are any future plans for a new Danity Kane, she will be the only returning member. However, on the April 23, 2009 finale of the series, Combs stated that all five original members would be returning if he ever decides to reunite the group.

2009-Present: Dirty Money

Richard is currently working with Bad Boy Records, writing for artist Cassie and Combs himself. On May 10, 2009, a copy of the song "Train Wreck" written by Richard and produced by Flex&Hated and Eric Price, which chronicles the formation and break up of Danity Kane, was leaked online and was featured on several music and news websites.Soon after Danity Kane's breakup, Richard along with O'Day were featured in a commercial on the opposition of California's Prop 8, a proposition planning to ban gay marriage. Dawn was against the passing of this law and in support of keeping same sex marriage. Richard has now become a member of another group called Dirty Money which includes Richard, Combs and a singer/songwriter named Kalenna Harper. The band have been recently working heavily on Diddy's new album Last Train to Paris. They have released three singles to date. Angels was the bands debut single and featured The Notorious B.I.G., and was officially released on November 3 (but the song had leaked to the internet in early June). The video was directed by Hype Williams. The band's second single Love Come Down was released later that day (November 3). Both singles will appear on Diddy's upcoming album "Last Train To Paris". On November 13, a new Dirty Money song leaked onto the internet. The song is called 'Hurt' and features Drake. The song is likely to be a track on "Last Train To Paris". The band's third single "Hello Good Morning" featured rapper T.I. and was released on March 30, 2010. It has just been confirmed that Dawn and her boyfriend Qwanell Mosley will have their own reality show said to be starting this summer.

Personal life

Danity Kane, Day26, and Donnie J. Klang were aired together on the second season of Making the Band 4. The series showed the two groups doing performances, living together, and the relationships between members of the bands. During the series, it showed Richard's relationship with Day26's Qwanell Mosley grow, and the two enter into a romantic relationship.