Brandy is the self-titled debut album by American R&B singer Brandy Norwood. It was released by Atlantic Records on September 27, 1994 in North America, December 5 in the United Kingdom and on several dates in Europe and Oceania, starting on February 3, 1995. The album contains a range of contemporary genres, and the songs are a mix of soft hip hop soul, pop and contemporary mid-1990s R&B. They were chiefly produced by Keith Crouch who would contribute all four single releases from the album. Aside from Crouch, Norwood worked with a range of other writers and producers, including R&B group Somethin' for the People, Arvel McClinton, and Damon Thomas.
C+C Music Factory was an American musical group formed in 1989 by David Cole and Robert Clivillés. The group is best known for their five hit singles: "Gonna Make You Sweat ", "Here We Go ", "Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...", "Just a Touch of Love", and "Keep It Comin'". The band stopped recording in 1996, following Cole's death. In 2010, C+C Music Factory reformed, with Eric Kupper replacing Cole. Original vocalist Freedom Williams acquired trademark rights to the name in 2003 and still tours under that moniker.
Immature is an American R&B boy band, managed by record producer Chris Stokes. Its members include Marques "Batman" Houston, Jerome "Romeo" Jones, and Kelton "LDB" Kessee, all natives of Los Angeles, California, where the group was formed. The group released four albums under the Immature moniker including On Our Worst Behavior in 1992 which included former member Don "Half Pint" Santos, later replaced by Kessee, Playtyme Is Over in 1994, then We Got It in 1995 and finally in 1997 released the album, The Journey.
Keith Sweat is the fifth studio album by the American R&B recording artist Keith Sweat. The album was released on June 25, 1996. The single, "Twisted", made it to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, his biggest hit ever on that chart. "Nobody" peaked at #3 on the same chart. Both songs are his final two of six hits to reach number one on the R&B singles chart and gave Sweat two more Top 5 pop hits in eight years since his first single, "I Want Her".
Suit is the fourth studio album by American rapper Nelly. It was intended to be released on August 17, 2004, before being delayed and released on September 13, 2004, by Universal Records. Production for the album was handled by several producers, including The Neptunes, Jazze Pha, Doe, AHM, Jayson "Koko" Bridges, Kuya Productions, Soulshock and Karlin, Ryan Bowser, Big Boi and Beat Bullies. Released in conjunction with Sweat, Nelly intended to release a single album before conceptualizing and releasing two albums simultaneously, both of which would contrast each other's themes. Nelly characterized Sweat as "more up-tempo" and "energetic" while describing Suit as more of "a grown-up and sexy vibe [...] it's more melodic".
Make It Last Forever is the debut album of American R&B recording artist Keith Sweat. It was recorded at INS Recording and Power Play Studios in New York City. Released on November 24, 1987, the album went to #1 on the Top R&B Albums chart for three weeks, and #5 on the Billboard 200. Make It Last Forever was one of the earliest R&B albums to showcase the up-and-coming new jack swing sound, as it was mostly produced by Sweat himself and music producer Teddy Riley.
Kut Klose is an American R&B trio that formed in Atlanta, Georgia. The three female singers that made up the group were Athena Cage, Lavonn Battle and Tabitha Duncan. The girls were discovered by Keith Sweat who produced their debut album. They are best known for their hit single "Get Up On It", "I Like" and the album Surrender. The name Kut Klose referres to the shortness of the three singers and the fact that their heights are only about 2 - 2.5 inches apart.
Music From The Motion Picture New Jack City is the original soundtrack to Mario Van Peebles's 1991 film New Jack City. It was released by Giant Records through Reprise Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records. The soundtrack consists of eleven original songs, most of which were performed by chart-topping R&B and hip-hop artists of the time. The music is heavily influenced by the new jack swing genre of R&B. Prominent artists and producers of the new jack swing era contributed to the soundtrack, including Guy with Teddy Riley, Keith Sweat, Color Me Badd, and Johnny Gill; Al B. Sure! produced the track "Get It Together," performed by F.S. Effect.
American singer Usher has released nine studio albums, ten compilation albums, eight extended plays, and 74 singles. His music has been released on the LaFace, Arista, Jive, and RCA record labels. 23 million of his albums have been shipped in the United States with 75 million total records sold worldwide, making him one of the best selling music artists. He has nine Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and 18 Hot 100 top-ten singles. In 1994, Usher released his self-titled debut album in North America, producing three singles that had moderate chart success, and the album sold more than 500,000 copies. His follow-up 1997 album My Way sold 8 million copies, becoming his breakthrough album. It was certified six-times platinum in the US, and spawned three successful singles, including his first UK number-one "You Make Me Wanna..." and first US Hot 100 number-one song "Nice & Slow". Usher's success continued in 2001 with his third studio album 8701. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. The album produced two number-one singles—"U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad". It has sold more than 4.7 million copies and has been certified four-times platinum in the US. Its worldwide sales stand at over 8 million.
"Twisted" is a single by Keith Sweat released in 1996. It was the first song off his self-titled third album, Keith Sweat. R&B group Kut Klose and remix rapper Pretty Russ are also featured on the song. It spent three weeks at number-one on the U.S. R&B chart, and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, behind Los del Rio's "Macarena", becoming his biggest pop hit.
"Nobody" is a song by Keith Sweat and Athena Cage from the band Kut Klose. The hit song spent three weeks at number-one on the US R&B chart, and reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video for the single features a young Mekhi Phifer.
"I Wanna Be Down" is a song by American recording artist Brandy Norwood. It served as Norwood's debut single, the first from her self-titled debut album, released in 1994. Written by musicians Keith Crouch and Kipper Jones, with production helmed by the former, it was released on September 6, 1994 by the Atlantic Recording Corporation. The song is a mid-tempo track that features a thunderous beat and light synth riffs. Lyrically, "I Wanna Be Down" describes a flirt with a boy, who Norwood tries to convince of her charms.
Canadian singer and songwriter Tamia has released nine albums, and twenty-six singles. She began her career in 1995 as a protégé of musician Quincy Jones, who offered her the chance to appear on his album Q's Jook Joint (1995). Selected as the album's first single, their collaboration "You Put a Move on My Heart" became a top 20 success on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The song, along with their second collaboration "Slow Jams" and "Missing You", a song she recorded with Brandy, Gladys Knight, and Chaka Khan for the soundtrack of the 1996 motion picture Set It Off, was later nominated for a Grammy Award.
"I Want Her" is a song by American R&B singer Keith Sweat. As the first single from his debut album, Make It Last Forever, it reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart for three weeks. and became the most successful number one single of 1988 on the Billboard Hot R&B chart. This was the first new jack swing song to reach #1 on the R&B charts and since then it has become one of the genre's templates, having its sparse lyric delivery inspired Guy, Abstrac and Whistle all in that order. "I Want Her" also peaked at number 38 on the dance chart. The song topped the R&B Billboard Year-End chart for 1988. It was ranked number 6 on complex.com's list of 25 best new jack swing songs of all time.
"Hold Me" is a ballad duet performed by American singers Teddy Pendergrass and Whitney Houston. It was written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed for Pendergrass's eighth studio album Love Language (1984). Production was overseen by Masser who used one of his earlier arrangements that he had produced for "In Your Arms", a song recorded by singer Diana Ross for her 1982 album Silk Electric, on the duet. "Hold Me" was among the singles released from Pendergrass's album and was later included in Houston's 1985 self-titled debut album, serving as the debut single of her career.
American hip hop recording artist J. Cole has released five studio albums, one live album, one compilation album, two extended plays, three mixtapes, thirty-seven singles, two promotional singles and twenty one music videos. J. Cole first took up rapping in his teens, collaborating with the local Fayetteville hip hop duo Bomm Sheltuh. The Come Up, his debut mixtape, was released on May 4, 2007 to positive reception. Following the release of The Come Up, J. Cole was contacted by American rapper Jay Z and subsequently signed to his record label Roc Nation. Cole released his second mixtape The Warm Up on June 15, 2009. "Lights Please", the first single from The Warm Up, peaked at number nine on the United States Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart and became Cole's first entry on a national record chart. He was later featured on "All I Want Is You", a 2010 single by American R&B singer Miguel – it peaked at number 58 on the US Billboard Hot 100. J. Cole's third mixtape Friday Night Lights was released on November 12, 2010.
"Come and Get with Me" was the lead single from Keith Sweat's sixth studio album, Still in the Game. The song was produced by Keith Sweat himself and featured two rapped verses from Snoop Dogg.
"Sweat" is a song recorded by American recording artist Ciara for her self-titled fifth album Ciara (2013), originally titled One Woman Army. Featuring guest vocals from rapper 2 Chainz, "Sweat" is Ciara's debut release under Epic Records after publicly asking to leave previous label Jive Records. The label failed to support Ciara creatively and financially on previous albums, Fantasy Ride (2009) and Basic Instinct (2010), contributing to poor performance of both albums. Ciara's contract with Epic Records reunited the singer with her mentor L.A. Reid, who is credited as originally signing the singer to his LaFace Records label during the beginning of her career in 2004, as well as having a hand in producing her debut album, Goodies (2004).
