Some great R&B artists arrived in the 90s like Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, R. Kelly (I know, I know), and Usher that have been successful from the start and still have a steady career. Also we can’t forget others like Toni Braxton, Monica, Brandy, Jodeci, Tony! Toni! Toné!, Aaliyah, and so many more that started out in the 1990s who’ve had successful careers.
But there are
some (not all of them) that had some success but get lost in the shuffle of great artists, so here is a couple of some of those artists:
TOTALThe girl group from New Jersey signed on to Puff Daddy’s Bad Boys Records that consists members of Kimya, Pamela and Keisha. Before releasing a single, they make an appearance on Notorious Big’s
Juicy. Their first single
Can’t You See? featuring Notorious Big off of their debut album
Total (1996) was a hit on both R&B & Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Soon they followed up with hits
Kissing You and
No One Else.
Other hits include
What About Us from the
Soul Food soundtrack,
Sitting at Home, and
Trippin’. They were featured on hits by Mase (
What You Want) and LL Cool J (
Loungin’) also.
CASECase came on the scene with the hit
Touch Me, Tease Me from the Nutty Professor soundtrack after being a songwriter and background singer. Other hits include
No Guarantee with Chico DeBarge,
Happily Ever After and
Missing You702702 or “seven-oh-two” come from Las Vegas who were discovered by Michael Bivins (from
New Edition and
BBD). They made their debut on the
Subway's hit single
This Lil' Game We Play (when the group had four members). When the group became a trio when lead singer Kameelah Williams joined the group, they debuted with their first album
No Doubt that spawned hits as
Steelo,
All I Want and
Get it Together.
They also appeared on Missy Elliot's
Beep Me 911, who also wrote and appeared on the hit
Steelo. But they had their biggest hit with the single
Where my Girls at? (also written by Missy Elliot) off their second album 702. Other hits by 702 include
Star and
I Still Love You.
SILKDiscovered by Keith Sweat, the Atlanta based group debuted with the album
Lose Control with hits
Freek Me,
Girl U For Me,
Happy Days and
Lose Control (my favorite by them). The album went Double Platinum. After their second album
Silk produced minor hits but went Gold, they came back with the certified Platinum third album
Tonight in 1999 that spawned the hits
If You and
Meeting in My Bedroom.
CHANGING FACESGroup members Cassandra Lucas and Charisse Rose or better known as Changing Faces came on the scene with songs
Stroke You Up and
Foolin' Around with both being written and produced by R. Kelly off of their self-titled debut album. They came back on their second album
All Day, All Night with their biggest hit with
G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T. that reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the R&B chart.
MINT CONDITIONFormed in Minnesota in the mid-80s, Mint Condition were discovered by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis where they were signed to their record label Perspective Records. Their first album
Meant to Be Mint yielded the R&B classic and hit
Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes), where they charted at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number three on the Billboard Hot R&B chart.
Other hits include
U Send Me Swingin (
#2 R&B),
Forever in Your Eyes (
#7 R&B),
Someone to Love (
#32 R&B),
What Kind of Man Would I Be (
#2 R&B, #17 Pop),
You Don't Have To Hurt No More (
#10 R&B), and
If You Love Me (
#5 R&B).
BLAQUEThe Altlanta based group Blaque (
Believing,
Life, Achieving,
Quest,
Unity,
Everything) were discovered by Ronald Lopes who introduced them to his sister Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes of TLC where they were signed to her production company Left Eye Production. The self-titled album spawned the hit
808, I Do and
Bring It All To Me featuring JC Chasez. The album went certified Platinum.
DONELL JONESBefore Chicago native Donell Jones debut album
My Heart in 1996, he helped write songs for Usher (
Think Of You) and 702 (
Get it Together).
My Heart had minor hits with
In the Hood and the Stevie Wonder classic
Knocks Me Off My Feet. But it was when he released his second album
Where I Wanna Be where he hit his stride with the hit
U Know What's Up (
featuring Left Eye) where it went to number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Billboard Hot 100 R&B chart. Also off that album,
Where I Wanna Be hit number 2 on the R&B chart and going to 29 on the Hot 100.
Other songs by Donell include
This Luv,
You Know That I Love You and
Put Me Down.
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8cWhat artist(s) did I miss (I had more but I took a few off) on the list? What are some of your favorite R&B artists/songs of the 1990s?
I started this way back in September but never finished it until today because I was really lazy and rl got in the way.
