Cool Relax was released on September 16, 1997 by Epic Records. Coming off a successful debut album, Bonafide in 1995, Jon B. returned to the heavily crowded R&B landscape by leaving an indelible mark with his sophomore album. He drew comparisons to his mentor, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds due to the fact Babyface was the executive producer of his first project.
The singles that were released from the “Bonafide” album contained many of Babyface’s trademark production elements. It wasn’t public knowledge that Jon B. wrote and produced the majority of the songs on his debut release.
Cool Relax revealed the production and writing talents of Jon B. and established him as an artist to be reckoned with for years to come.
For decades, the R&B genre has been dominated by African-American artists, but Jon B. became one of the few White artists to succeed and have staying power with a predominantly Black listening audience. Alongside the production talents of producers, Tim & Bob, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Marc Nelson, Babyface and Diane Warren he crafted a distinct sound, which ultimately led to the highest selling album of his career.
A native of Pasadena California, Jon B. grew up in a musical household. Both of his parents were music teachers and his siblings were also musicians. At the tender age of five, he began learning how to play the piano and gradually moving toward keyboard, drums and bass guitar. By the age of nine he wrote his first full composition. As a teenager, he sold his first album during lunchtime at his middle and once he attended high school he started his own rock band with neighborhood friends, called The Switch. This is where Buck started to gain a following and continued to hone his skills as a songwriter.
His big break would occur in 1992 when Tracey Edmonds, then President and CEO of Yab-Yum Records, heard his demo and immediately contracted him to write songs for After 7, Gina Thompson, Color Me Badd, Toni Braxton among countless others. Shortly thereafter, he would be signed as an artist to Epic Records and release his solo debut album.
Between September 1996-May 1997 the majority of
Cool Relax was recorded in DARP Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, AIR Studios in London, England and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds studio in Los Angeles, California.
SoulCulture recently sat down with Jonathan “Jon B.” Buck to talk about the album and some of its creative influences.
From the early '90s and throughout, Jon B, as well as a few others, had the R&B game on lock, mesmerising with his passionate ballads, doting love songs, uptempo club numbers and seductively smooth ride out jams. Continuing into the new millennium, many argue that while R&B as a genre was on the decline Jon’s finest offering came in 2004 when he offloaded the dark, deep and honest Stronger Everyday. While to date he’s released six official albums, including the more recent Helpless Romantic and Comfortable Swagg, his newest project focuses more on what the genre used to sound like as opposed to what it has become.