Mint Condition | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Origin | St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S. |
Genres | |
Years active | 1985–present |
Labels | |
Members | Stokley Williams Ricky Kinchen Homer O'Dell Larry Waddell Jeffrey Allen |
Past members | Keri Lewis Roger Lynch Ray Coleman Kenny Young |
Website | mintconditionmusic |
Mint Condition is an American R&B band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The band is focused on diverse genres such as jazz, hip hop, funk and dance. Mint Condition has also been nominated for one Grammy and three Soul Train Awards. [1] [2] [3] The group is credited with being one of the last major funk bands to chart before hip-hop and new jack swing dominated black music in the 1990s. [4]
Mint Condition was formed in the early 1980s. The band was originally made up of lead singer and (in-studio) drummer Stokley Williams, lead guitarist Homer O'Dell, keyboardist Larry Waddell, keyboardist/saxophonist Jeff Allen, keyboardist/percussionist/rhythm guitarist Keri Lewis, and bass guitarist Rick Kinchen. [1] They were discovered by music producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis in 1989 during a performance at First Avenue in downtown Minneapolis and signed Mint Condition to Perspective Records soon afterward. [1] Their debut album, Meant to Be Mint , was released on June 11, 1991, by Perspective. Afterward, they attempted to attract new jack swing listeners with their dance cut "Are You Free", hitting #55 on the R&B charts. They enjoyed success with the ballad "Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)," which stayed on the charts for 34 weeks, reached the R&B top 5 (#3) and the Pop top 10 (#6) and was certified gold by the RIAA. Their third and final single, "Forever in Your Eyes", was also a successful Top 10 R&B hit (#7 R&B). Two years later, they released their second album, From the Mint Factory (1993). They enjoyed success with the single "U Send Me Swingin'" which peaked at #2 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart for four weeks straight in the spring of 1994. The song was also a hit on the Rhythmic Top 40 charts, where it reached #14. The band's next two singles, "Someone to Love" and "So Fine", were Billboard Top 30 R&B hits, reaching the #28 and #29 spots, respectively. [5] [6]
In September 1996, the band released Definition of a Band , peaking in the R&B Top 15. The first successful single on this album was "What Kind of Man Would I Be?" (#2 R&B, #17 Pop). The single reached the number 2 spot on the Billboard R&B charts in the following weeks and was certified gold by the RIAA that December. "What Kind of Man Would I Be?" remained on the Billboard R&B Charts for a total of 41 weeks. "You Don't Have to Hurt No More", the second single released from Definition of a Band, was also a Top 10 R&B hit (#10 R&B, #32 pop). The album received positive reviews and, together with the success of "What Kind of Man Would I Be?" and "You Don't Have to Hurt No More," helped Definition of a Band reach Gold status as well. [7]
Two years later, the group released The Collection: 1991–1998, a compilation of their greatest hits. After Perspective Records/A&M folded, the group signed with Elektra Records in 1999 and released their fourth full-length album, Life's Aquarium , which also debuted in the Top 10 (#7 R&B). Its main single "If You Love Me" reached the R&B Top 5 and remained on the charts for 31 weeks. The second single, "Is This Pain Our Pleasure", peaked at #42, also peaking at #34 on the R&B Airplay Charts.
After a six-year hiatus, the group resurfaced as a quintet as Lewis left the group to produce for other artists including his ex-wife and singer Toni Braxton. Lewis then joined the entertainment division at Santa Fe Station Casino. In 2005, they released Livin' the Luxury Brown on their independent label Caged Bird Records. The album hit #1 on the Independent Album Charts and in 2006, the group released Live from the 9:30 Club, a live album recorded at the 9:30 club in Washington, D.C..
In 2008, they released E-Life , debuting at #8 on the Billboard R&B album chart and spawned two singles, "Baby Boy, Baby Girl" and "Nothing Left To Say". The latter became the band's first Top 30 R&B single in almost a decade (#27 R&B) as well as a Top 5 Billboard Urban Adult Contemporary hit, peaking at #3.
This section needs to be updated.(November 2022) |
In December 2010, Mint Condition joined Prince and an ensemble cast of R&B and jazz musicians for his Welcome 2 America tour. On April 5, 2011, with the group's 20th anniversary approaching, Mint Condition celebrated with the release of their seventh studio album, titled 7.... It was produced by Shanachie Records and contained several hits, including "Caught My Eye" as well as "Not My Daddy", a collaboration with Kelly Price. [8] During February,[ when? ] Mint Condition appeared as the house band for TV One's program Way Black When, which celebrated the greatest African American music artists throughout the '70s, 80's, and '90s.
In September 2012, the group released Music at the Speed of Life . That December, Mint Condition was entered into the Soul Music Hall of Fame. [9]
In 2013, they were featured on TV One's Unsung . On October 16, 2015, they released the Christmas CD Healing Season. [ citation needed ]
The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
Year | Work | Category | Label |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Healing Season | Best R&B Album | Nominated |
Year | Work | Category | Label |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | Definition of a Band | Best R&B/Soul Album by a Duo or Group | Nominated |
1997 | What Kind Of Man Would I Be | Best R&B/Soul Single by a Group, Band or Duo | Nominated |
2005 | Livin' the Luxury Brown | Best R&B/Soul Album by a Duo or Group | Nominated |
[ citation needed ]
The Isley Brothers are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, the group has enjoyed one of the "longest, most influential, and most diverse careers in the pantheon of popular music".
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin, and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million records worldwide.
Sade are an English band, formed in London in 1982 and named after their lead singer, Sade Adu. Three members, Paul Anthony Cooke, Stuart Mathewman, and Paul Spencer Denman, are from Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Its music features elements of soul, quiet storm, smooth jazz and sophisti-pop. All of the band's albums, including compilations and a live album, have charted in the US Top Ten.
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. Their productions have received commercial success since the 1980s with various artists, most extensively 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.
Angela Laverne Brown known professionally as Angie Stone, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. She rose to fame in the late 1970s as member of the hip hop trio The Sequence. In the early 1990s, she became a member of the R&B trio Vertical Hold. Stone would later release her solo debut Black Diamond (1999) on Arista Records, which was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and spawned the single "No More Rain ".
The Emotions are an American soul/R&B vocal group from Chicago. The group started out in gospel music but transitioned into R&B and disco music. The Emotions were named by VH1 as one of the 18 most influential girl groups of all time.
Maurice White was an American musician, best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter and chief producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, also serving as the band's co-lead singer with Philip Bailey.
Next is an American R&B musical trio, popular during the late 1990s and early 2000s. They are best known for their Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit single "Too Close". They are also known for "Wifey", "Butta Love" and "I Still Love You", all of which still receive frequent airplay on Urban Adult Contemporary radio stations in the U.S. and internationally.
The Whispers are an American vocal group from Los Angeles, California, who have scored hit records since the late 1960s. They are best known for their two number-one R&B singles, "And the Beat Goes On" in 1979 and "Rock Steady" in 1987. The Whispers scored 15 top-ten R&B singles, and 8 top-ten R&B albums with two of them, The Whispers and Love Is Where You Find It, reaching the No. 1 spot. They have earned two platinum and five gold albums by the RIAA.
Samuel Joshua Watters is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and record executive. Watters was a member of the multi-platinum selling 1990s R&B group Color Me Badd and co-authored many of their hits including "I Adore Mi Amor", and "All 4 Love". Watters has also written and produced songs for Grammy-winning and nominated artists such as American Idol winners Fantasia, Kelly Clarkson and Jordin Sparks, and other superstars such as Céline Dion, Whitney Houston, Leona Lewis, and Anastacia. Watters is a member of the production/songwriting team The Runaways including fellow hitmakers Rico Love, Wayne Wilkins, Ryan Tedder, and Louis Biancaniello.
BeBe & CeCe Winans are an American gospel/R&B music brother and sister duo. BeBe and CeCe Winans are the seventh and eighth of the Winans family's ten children, most of whom have had gospel music careers. Together, they have received several awards, including three Grammys.
Stokley Williams, also known simply as Stokley, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and studio drummer of the R&B band Mint Condition.
"Best of My Love" is a song by American band the Emotions from their fourth studio album Rejoice (1977). It was composed by Maurice White and Al McKay of Earth, Wind & Fire, and produced by White and Clarence McDonald.
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.
Xscape is an American girl group from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1990 by Kandi Burruss, Tamera Coggins, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, LaTocha Scott, and Tamika Scott. The following year, Coggins left the group and Xscape became a quartet. They were discovered by Jermaine Dupri who signed the group to his So So Def label. The group released their debut album Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha in 1993, which spawned two top-ten Billboard Hot 100 hits, "Just Kickin' It" and "Understanding". The album sold over one million copies in the United States, earning a platinum-certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
E-Life is the sixth studio album by the band Mint Condition issued in 2008 on Image Entertainment. The album reached No. 8 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 12 on the Billboard Top Independent Albums chart.
Meant to Be Mint is the debut studio album of R&B band Mint Condition. The album was released on June 11, 1991, on Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis' A&M imprint Perspective Records. Meant to Be Mint reached to no. 13 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Definition of a Band is the third studio album by the R&B band Mint Condition. It was released on September 24, 1996, on Perspective Records. Definition of a Band was Mint Condition's most successful recording to date, yielding two hit singles and a Gold certification from the RIAA.
Life's Aquarium is the fourth studio album by American R&B group Mint Condition. The album was released on November 16, 1999, and it is their first album released for Elektra Records.
Robert Brookins was an American singer, songwriter, producer and musician. A member of the band Earth, Wind & Fire he also worked with artists such as George Duke, Stephanie Mills, Stanley Clarke and The Whispers.