Lo-Key? | |
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Origin | Kansas City, Missouri, U.S., Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
Genres | R&B, hip hop, new jack swing |
Years active | 1991–present |
Labels | Perspective |
Members | Andre "Dre" Shepard Darron "D" Story Tony "Prof-T" Tolbert Tyrone "T-Bone" Yarbrough |
Past members | Lance Alexander |
Lo-Key? is an American hip hop/R&B band that formed in Kansas City, Missouri and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their single, "I Got a Thang 4 Ya!" (1993), reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart, [1] and No. 27 on the Hot 100.
Lo-Key? formed in Kansas City, Missouri and Minneapolis, Minnesota, consisting of singer/trumpeter Darron "D" Story, singer/multi-instrumentalist Andre "Dre" Shepard, bassist Tyrone "T-Bone" Yarbrough, producer/keyboardist Lance Alexander and rapper/singer Tony "Prof-T" Tolbert. The group honed their skills around the Minneapolis club circuit, where Alexander and Tolbert became in-house producers for Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis' Flyte Tyme Productions. The group signed to Jam & Lewis' record label, Perspective Records, and released their debut album, Where Dey At?, on October 6, 1992. They had a hit with the single "I Got A Thang 4 Ya!" in 1992, which spent a week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart, and reached No. 27 on the Hot 100. [2] Arthur Jafa, director of photography for the independent film Daughters of the Dust (1991), directed the video for the single. [3]
Alexander and Tolbert also were hitmaking songwriters and producers in their own right. Among the hit songs they've produced for other artists were "Butta Love" by the group Next, "Love Makes No Sense" for Alexander O'Neal, "I Wish" for Shanice and "Strawberries" for Smooth. Tolbert continued to work with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, appearing as a songwriter and background vocalist on albums by Earth, Wind & Fire, Janet Jackson and Usher. Lance Alexander later went on to form his own label called Baby Honey Records [4] [5] during which time he teamed up with Minneapolis producer Christopher Starr and formed the group V.IP. [5] which released the single entitled Lil Mama How Ya Do Dat [6] featuring Juvenile.
New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley, Bernard Belle, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, new jack swing was most popular from the late 1980s to early 1990s.
Alexander O'Neal is an American R&B singer, songwriter and arranger from Natchez, Mississippi.
Control is the third studio album by American singer Janet Jackson, released on February 4, 1986, by A&M Records. Her collaborations with the songwriters and record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis resulted in an unconventional sound: a fusion of rhythm and blues, rap vocals, funk, disco, and synthesized percussion that established Jackson, Jam and Lewis as the leading innovators of contemporary R&B. The distinctive triplet swing beat utilized on the record is also considered to be a precursor to the new jack swing genre. The album became Jackson's commercial breakthrough and enabled her to transition into the popular music market, with Control becoming one of the foremost albums of the 1980s and contemporary music.
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. They have enjoyed great success since the 1980s with various artists, most intensively with Janet Jackson. They have written 31 top ten hits in the UK and 41 in the US. In 2022, the duo were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Excellence category.
Crash is the fifth studio album by English synth-pop band the Human League, released on 8 September 1986 by Virgin Records. The album would provide the band with their second US number-one single, "Human", the same year. It was produced by the American production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who also wrote several tracks.
"Come Back to Me" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson from her fourth studio album Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989). It was written and produced by Jackson in collaboration with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The R&B ballad talks about a lover trying to rekindle a romance that faded away a long time ago. It was released as the fifth single from the album in the United States on June 18, 1990, while in the United Kingdom, it was issued as the album's third single on January 15, 1990. Jackson also recorded a Spanish version of the song titled "Vuelve a mí".
"U Remind Me" is a song by American singer Usher. It was written by Edmund "Eddie Hustle" Clement and Anita McCloud and produced by Clement along with duo Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis for Usher's third studio album 8701 (2001). A mid-tempo R&B track, the song is about a man who meets a woman who seems like a nice catch, but he decides not to enter a relationship with her because she looks too much like an ex-girlfriend with whom he had a bad breakup.
Sands of Time is the sixth album by the R&B band the S.O.S. Band, released on the Tabu label in April 1986. It was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. This would be the last album to feature original lead singer Mary Davis before she left the group to embark on a solo career.
"Human" is a song by English synth-pop band the Human League, released as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Crash (1986). The track, which deals with the subject of infidelity, was written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The song topped the charts of the United States, becoming the band's second single to top the Billboard Hot 100 after their 1981 single "Don't You Want Me". It also went to number one in Canada while reaching number five in Germany and number eight in the band's native United Kingdom.
"Jerk Out" is a song from The Time's 1990 album Pandemonium. The song was originally recorded in December 1981 by Prince at his home studio during sessions for What Time Is It?. Prince originally performed all instruments and vocals and this recording remains unreleased. Prince reworked the song in the spring of 1985 for the band Mazarati. The song was ultimately left off the Mazarati album, though circulates among collectors. Again, the song was reworked in late 1989 for inclusion on Pandemonium and contains input by the band. Prince and Mazarati member Bruce DeShazer's backing vocals remain on the finished track.
Ritual of Love is the second album by the American singer Karyn White, released on September 10, 1991. It contains her biggest hit, "Romantic", as well as her R&B hit, "The Way I Feel About You".
Johnny Gill is the third album by Johnny Gill, released in 1990, and his first for Motown Records. The album produced four hit singles: "Rub You the Right Way," "My, My, My," "Wrap My Body Tight" and "Fairweather Friend". The album was recorded with the label during the hiatus of New Edition. The album sold over 4 million copies worldwide. Before joining New Edition for their Heart Break album in 1988, he had already recorded two singles for the album - of which "Just a Lonely Night" and "Feel So Much Better". By February 1991, the album had already sold approximately 2,050,000 copies in the United States and 50,000 in Canada, making the album 2x platinum in the United States at the time.
Rated Next is the debut studio album by American musical group Next. After forming, the trio recorded several songs with record producers Prof. T. and Lance Alexander before catching recording artist and producer Keir "KayGee" Gist of American hip hop trio Naughty by Nature's attention. He signed Next to his record label Divine Mill, with most of Next's debut album being recorded in Gee's in-home recording studio and the remaining was recorded at Ken Johnston's Perfect Pair studio located in East Orange, New Jersey. Rated Next was eventually released on September 30, 1997 in the United States, under Divine Mill and Arista Records.
Mo' Money: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 1992 film of the same name. It was released June 23, 1992, on Perspective Records. The soundtrack peaked at six on the Billboard 200 chart. By September 1992, it was certified platinum in sales by the RIAA, after sales exceeding 1,000,000 copies in the United States.
"Free" is a song by American singer Mýa. It served as the third and final single from her second studio album, Fear of Flying (2000), in December 2000. Originally featured on the soundtrack to the 2000 film Bait, the song was one of the two tracks added to the re-release edition of Fear of Flying on November 7, 2000. It was written and composed by Jimmy Jam, Harrison, Terry Lewis, Alexander Richbourg, and Tony Tolbert. Lyrically, "Free" addresses on independence.
Reality is the fourth album by the American R&B singer Smooth. It was released on March 10, 1998, through Perspective Records, and contained production from Chris Stokes and the production duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It was her first album for Perspective.
On the Rise is the fourth album by the R&B band the S.O.S. Band, released by Tabu Records on July 1, 1983. It was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Gene Dozier.
Just the Way You Like It is the fifth album released by the R&B band The S.O.S. Band on the Tabu label in August 1984. It was produced mostly by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis with additional production from the band themselves.
"Don't Wanna Lose You" is a song by American singer and songwriter Lionel Richie. It was written by Richie along with James Harris III and Terry Lewis for his fourth studio album, Louder Than Words (1996), while production was helmed by Harris and Lewis under their production moniker Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The song reached number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Richie's final top 40 hit.
"Somewhat Loved (There You Go Breakin' My Heart)" is a song by American production duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis featuring American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, for the duo's debut studio album Jam & Lewis: Volume One (2021). It was released as the album's third single on June 10, 2021. The song peaked at number nine on the US Adult R&B Songs chart, and number 30 on the US R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.