When you think about 90s R&B, what comes to mind? The casuals will play Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It” and Mark Morrison’s “Return Of The Mack” to death at house parties. You’ll get a little Jodeci and Mary J. Blige, and probably “Can We Talk” by Tevin Campbell. It can all run a little predictably. As a result, 90s R&B risks feeling a little cliché.
But what about the R&B acts you haven’t thought about in a while? You might remember their big hits but couldn’t quite put a name on them. Noisey has selected four artists who might make you snap your fingers trying to remember what they made. As a result, you might be able to round out your 90s R&B playlist.
4 Underrated 90s R&B Artists That You Should Play Again
Sweetback
What do you do when you want to make music but the lead singer of your band doesn’t? The other members of Sade had to grapple with this question when Sade Adu herself wasn’t in a rush after their Love Deluxe world tour. But Stewart Matthewman, Andrew Hale, and Paul Denman still wanted to keep making music during her break from the industry.
Hale and Denman kept recording in the background. Meanwhile, Matthewman created his own studio, tinkered with different dance singles, and produced for a young Maxwell and his debut album. Eventually, they came together with a wide array of vocalists, everyone from Maxwell to Chico DeBarge to Amel Larrieux of Groove Theory.
The result made for something much more contemporary than their past Sade efforts. Sweetback was aiming for “global soul music“, experimenting in dub reggae and ambient music alike to create something sultry and modern. Eventually, it would inspire the next era of Sade when they came back together and released Lovers Rock in 2000.
After 7
Babyface ruled the R&B industry with an iron fist. He and L.A. Reid were responsible for helping so many artists become superstars. Boyz II Men, Toni Braxton, Tevin Campbell, TLC. Bobby Brown became a massive solo sensation with the pair’s initial guidance. Even established acts like Madonna and SZA got some of their biggest hits with his penmanship.
With Babyface’s incredible hit-making pedigree, he reckoned he could help put his family on in the process, too. Insert After 7, where his brothers, Melvin and Kevon Edmunds, recruited their friend Keith Mitchell for their own R&B group. Their music reflects how great Babyface was at crafting irresistible songs like “Ready or Not” and “Til You Do Me Right”.
Hi-Five
Hi-Five was one of those groups where you knew their hits but didn’t quite know them. It didn’t help that there were so many different iterations in their brief history. Initially, it started out with Tony Thompson, Russell Neal, Toriano Easley, Roderick “Pooh” Clark, and Marcus Sanders. However, Easley got arrested after their debut. Neal left after their second album due to label disputes. Then, Clark got into a car accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down.
But in each iteration of the group, they had incredibly catchy songs like “She’s Playing Hard To Get” and “I Like The Way (The Kissing Game)”. But with the rotating cast, it’s natural to only remember the songs and who’s in Hi-Five.
Brownstone
Brownstone were slated to be the next great R&B group in the mid-90s. Discovered by Michael Jackson after different auditions around LA, their debut album, From The Bottom Up, soars with their gospel vocals. However, drama within the group and reported health concerns caused the group to fracture before they could capitalize on their awards recognition. But on their debut album, it’s not hard to see the potential Brownstone had.
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