![image host]()
![]()
Kenneth Edmonds best known as Babyface (a name Bootsy Collins gave him) is one of the best songwriters and producers in music history. He has written and produced over 26
#1 R&B hits throughout his career and has won 11 Grammy Awards. NME (New Music Express) ranked him at
#20 on their list of The Greatest Producers Ever list.
With his bandmate Antonio “L.A.” Reid, from the group the Deele, they would form a successful writing & producing partnership (sometimes along with Daryl Simmons). Babyface and Reid would also form together LAFace records.
Included in his illustrious career, Babyface wrote & produced almost the entire
Waiting to Exhale soundtrack (only one song he didn’t write) and helped write majority of the songs on the
Boomerang&
Soul Food soundtracks.
My list consists of songs that Babyface wrote either by himself, with the featured artist or with his with his writing partners of Reid and Simmons. Also, one artist will appear on the list once and
there is no order at all to the list.
Now let’s begin…
Can We Talk (1993)Tevin CampbellWritten by: Babyface, Daryl SimmonsAlong with co-writing the song, Babyface also produced the song.
Can We Talk was a top ten hit on the
Billboard Hot 100 peaking at
#9, spent the three weeks at
#1 on the
Billboard R&B charts and sold 500,000 copies (which became certified gold).
I’m Your Baby Tonight (1990) Whitney HoustonWritten by: Babyface, L.A. ReidAnother all-time favorite of mine,
I’m Your Baby was Houston’s eighth
#1 hit on the Hot 100.
FYI: Because she wanted to go the mall before it closed, Whitney sung this song in one take in the studio.
Here is more info: “Whitney had an hour to record before the mall closed and she really wanted to go before close. The bridge of the song wasn’t even written yet. So she said let’s go, sang the song from top to bottom. Nailed it! Then Babyface wrote the bridge super fast so she could make it to the mall in time. Incredibly rare singer. She flew in and recorded the song so easily.”
End of the Road (1992) Boys II MenWritten by: Babyface, L.A. Reid, Daryl SimmonsEnd of the Road (from the
Boomerang Soundtrack) is considered one of the most successful songs of all time where it spent a then record breaking 13 weeks at
#1 on the Hot 100. The song was the
#1 single of 1992 on the
Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1992 and won the group the Grammys for
Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and
Best R&B Song.
Baby-Baby-Baby (1992)TLCWritten by: Babyface, L.A. Reid, Daryl SimmonsBaby-Baby-Baby was the second single off their debut album where it was
#2 on the Hot 100 for six consecutive weeks and
#1 on the R&B charts (where it gave them their single on this chart)
FYI:
Baby-Baby-Baby was filmed at Bowie State University.
Every Little Step (1989)Bobby BrownWritten by: Babyface, L.A. ReidThere were so many songs from Bobby Brown’s
Don’t Be Cruel album that could’ve been on this list but at end I chose this one where it reached
#3 on the Hot 100 and
#1 on the Hot Black Singles chart. It also gave Brown his first career Grammy award (where he won for
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance).
FYI: It has been
rumored that Bobby’s former New Edition bandmate Ralph Tresvant both sung lead on Every Little Step by former manager Steven Machat.
The rest of the list is under the spoiler below:
Superwoman (1989)Karyn WhiteWritten by: Babyface, L.A. Reid, Daryl SimmonsOne of most underrated R&B singers around the late 80s-early 90s, Karyn White had her second top ten (peaking at
#8) on the Hot 100 and second R&B
#1 hit.
FYI: Karyn White was married to producer Terry Lewis (and they have a daughter Ashley Nicole together).
Whip Appeal (1990)BabyfaceWritten by: Babyface, PebblesCouldn’t make this list about Babyface without featuring one of his songs.
Whip Appeal peaked at
#6 on the Hot 100 in April 1990.
FYI: Babyface met his future wife (and ex-wife) Tracy Edmonds on the set when she auditioned for a role in the video.
Take a Bow (1994)MadonnaWritten By: Babyface, MadonnaOf the many Madonna songs that I like/love,
Take a Bow is by far my favorite. After being impressed with Babyface work with other musicians, Madonna wanted to collaborate with Babyface.
Take a Bow became Madonna’s 11th
#1 single on the Hot 100, where it stayed for seven weeks.
Take a Bow, is also her longest-running
#1 single on this chart.
Not Gon’ Cry (1996) Mary J. BligeWritten by: BabyfaceOff the
Waiting to Exhale soundtrack,
Not Gon’ Cry hit
#1 on the R&B charts and
#2 on the Hot 100 charts. It was certified platinum with selling 900,000 copies.
Breathe Again (1993)Toni BraxtonWritten by: BabyfaceThere were so many songs I could’ve picked by Toni Braxton but I chose my all time favorite by her which is
Breathe Again.
Breathe Again was the second single from Toni Braxton debut and self-titled album where it peaked at
#3 on the Hot 100 and
#4 on the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts. The song garnered heavy play which resulted in it being the most successful single released from the album.
Bonus:
I had 10 songs on the list but accidentally did 11 so…
Ready or Not (1990)After 7 Written by: Babyface, L.A. ReidA group that consists of brothers Melvin and Kevon (who are Babyface’s brothers) and Keith Mitchell, the trio had their first
#1 R&B single with this song. It was also the group’s first top ten pop single with it reaching
#7 on the Hot 100.
Also here is the Wiki page for all of Babyface songs and the songs he wrote/produced:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babyface_discography#SinglesSource1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
What's your favorite ONTD?![image host]()
