08 Apr Teddy Riley revisits crafting Guy’s debut album #ReturnToTheClassics
By the late 1980s, R&B music was at a crossroads with its aging audience and sound. The genre itself was looking to go into a more youthful direction. Fortunately, help was on the way in the form of a teenage prodigy from Harlem, New York. Building off of the successes from Johnny Kemp and Keith Sweat in 1987, the newfound New Jack Swing genre was leaving its mark on pop culture audiences. In the same year, the mastermind behind this incredible blending of Hip-Hop and R&B would become part of a group named Guy that would ultimately define themselves as the trailblazing unit that would propel the dominance of New Jack Swing with their debut offering. Their self titled album, Guy would be released on June 13, 1988 by Uptown Records.09 Nov Heavy D: A Legend Gone Too Soon (May 24, 1967 – Nov 8, 2011)
The legendary Dwight “Heavy D” Myers passed away on the afternoon of November 8, 2011 in Los Angeles, California around 1pm PST at an LA Hospital.
The loss of Myers signaled another painful reminder that popular culture is losing our legends at an alarming rate. Numerous current and past entertainers expressed their sentiments via Twitter and other media outlets. His groundbreaking arrival on the urban music scene in the late 1980s was instrumental in fortifying the foundations of Hip Hop and New Jack Swing genres respectively.
12 Sep Color Me Badd singer Sam Watters reflects on making debut album C.M.B.
C.M.B. was released on July 23, 1991 by Giant Records. With their debut album, Color Me Badd landed on the musical radar in the midst of New Jack Swing's dominance on urban and popular culture. During this juncture, there were an abundance of New Jack Swing artists leaving an indelible imprint on the hearts and minds of youths and adults alike.
For Color Me Badd, the door of opportunity presented itself in the form of the New Jack City movie soundtrack. Color Me Badd seized the opportunity and they were rewarded for their efforts. Due to the overwhelmingly successful record, “I Wanna Sex You Up,” Giant Records signed the group to a record deal and gave them only a month to record their debut album.
Color Me Badd became the first R&B act signed by Cassandra Mills, who was President of the record company's urban division. The group delivered on their promise with their debut offering and they reached an extraordinary level of success worldwide.
15 May Jon B. reflects on his 1997 album, Cool Relax
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.22 Mar Al B. Sure! co-producer Kyle West recalls the making of In Effect Mode (1988)
In Effect Mode was released on May 3, 1988 to an ever-changing R&B fan base and it became an instant success for newcomer Al B. Sure! Upon its release, Al B. Sure! created quite a buzz with his lead single “Nite and Day.” At a time where the R&B genre was at a crossroads in terms of the musical and artistic direction, Al B. Sure! arrived on the scene with a groundbreaking sound called New Jack Swing. New Jack Swing was a new movement dominating the R&B music scene in the late 1980s. Teddy Riley is credited with ushering in this musical genre after the pivotal success of Keith Sweat's “Make It Last Forever” album that was released a year earlier. In Effect Mode was transcendent in proving how commercially viable New Jack Swing could potentially become as a musical genre. It helped to create a new wave of New Jack Swing performers for the ladder half of the 1980s and the early 1990s. Alongside his cousin, Kyle West, Al B. Sure! produced, arranged and wrote every song on the album with the exception of two records. He ultimately became one of the more noteworthy figures in the R&B scene of the late 1980s and gave credence to a burgeoning genre of urban music. Unlike most R&B singers, Al B. Sure!'s musical foundation was built in rap music. He was best friends with Eddie Ferrell (Eddie F.) of Heavy D & The Boyz while growing up in New York and his desire was to become a rapper initially, but it wasn't until after listening to the music his cousin, Kyle West was producing that he decided to pursue a singing career. In the course of a six month period, Sure! taught himself how to write, arrange and produce R&B songs in the same vein of his idol Michael Jackson. After turning down an athletic scholarship to play sports at the University of Iowa, he shifted his focus to become a full-time recording artist. For the last few months of 1986, he spent time honing his craft in as a songwriter and musician to begin producing his debut album. In January of 1987, he met Andre Harrell who was starting his own record label called Uptown Records and here is where his story begins. Between the autumn of 1986 through the spring of 1988 the majority of In Effect Mode was recorded in Unique Recordings studio in New York, New York. SoulCulture recently sat down with Kyle West, the first cousin of Al B. Sure! and co-writer and co-producer of seven songs on Al B. Sure!'s debut album, In Effect Mode to talk about the process of creating the album from start to finish.13 Dec Michael Jackson – Michael | Album Review
As much as I would like to ignore the controversy surrounding the new Michael Jackson album, Michael, I feel obliged to address it. Having received this album via Sony Records and not some dodgy internet download, it came with an accompanying press release which went into great depth about the creation of the album and the controversy surrounding the authenticity of some of the tracks.
Let’s get one thing straight, on any other day I’m a sucker for conspiracy theories and I would like to express that I am going to be as impartial as I can honestly be, as both a fan of Michael Jackson and a writer. I’m not here to impart my opinion on you regarding this specific aspect of the album, instead, merely to act as a vessel to present the facts.
22 Mar BLACKstreet: “If Teddy Riley isn’t there you’re not getting the real music”
Check 1: Interview with Chauncey “Black” Hannibal? Yep.
Check 2: Interview with legendary producer and swingbeat creator Teddy “Street” Riley?
Yep yep.
That’s the real BLACKstreet, no diggity, no doubt. Founding members Riley and Hannibal are coming over for a one-off show in the UK on April 2nd (Good Friday) at the IndigO2 in London. It’ll be the first time they’ve appeared together in Britain, as part of four man vocal group BLACKstreet, for over 15 years. That’s the show that the buzz is all about.
If you’ve got tickets to see another three blokes masquerading as the group, performing in places like Leamington Spa or Basingstoke, it's not going to be the real thing; just two geezers singing over a DAT (whereas Teddy and Hannibal are bringing a full band) in a nightclub on a fancy dress “school disco night” – be assured that’s not the real BLACKstreet. You’ll have plenty of reasonable diggity to get your money back.
The emergence of ex-sidemen doing spoiler shows in Europe has understandably got BLACKstreet more than a little vexed: “Yeah, legally we're putting a halt and were setting all of it down. It’s a shame that these guys are out there trying to belittle the name. If it ain’t Riley or Hannibal it’s not the real Blackstreet!” says Chauncey.