I’m sure you were somewhere getting in your feelings to the jams of these ladies. If not, you were pretending to be more cultured because you knew the words to Tracy Chapman’s “Give Me One Reason,” either way, the women behind some of our favorite emotional jams had more talent in their pinky fingers than most singers had in their whole bodies. Many achieved a pretty good level of success, and some are happy just making music, but they’re very underrated to us.

fanpop.com

Though times have certainly changed and we rarely see groups anymore, the groups of yesteryear live on and we sing their songs like they just came out yesterday. When a group broke up, they gave a simple excuse similar to, “Oh, we just wanted to do something different.”  Maybe…or maybe not. Check out the real reason some of our favorite groups broke up…

Read the rest of this entry »

Baylor and Neufville

It has been a good while since we’ve seen singer Jean Baylor, one half of the epic ’90s duo Zhané (pronounced Jah-Nay). The group, once known for their short hair and big voices, brought us such hits as “Hey Mr. D.J.,” “Sending My Love” and “Groove Thang.” The duo came together after Baylor and Renee Neufville met at Temple University while they were separately trying to get their starts in the business:

“Our introduction into the business came through Jazzy Jeff, as he was just starting Touch of Jazz. Someone introduced us to Jeff and we did a few recordings, and eventually sang on Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince’s remake of the 80’s hit “Ring My Bell,” featured alongside their hit single, “Summertime,” she says. When Renee and I were in college, we used to perform at talent shows, campus events and weddings, pretty much wherever we were asked. The funny thing is, we were not yet a group, we just enjoyed singing together and on each other’s songs that we wrote. One day at Jeff’s studio, we met Benny Medina and he suggested we become a group, and so we did.”

But that was then. Nowadays, Baylor is still making good music, but doing so as a solo artist and with a larger group called Free Day (which her husband, drummer Marcus Baylor, helped form).  She’s now gearing up for her first solo holiday album called Light Up the World, which she says will offer non-traditional Christmas jams that anybody and everybody can relate to. And she’ll also have a feature on the disc alongside R&B singer Eric Roberson.

“There are also songs that represent an expression of worship and celebration unto God. I just hope I get to do some Christmas shows so I can perform them live!”

As we await her holiday album, we thought we’d offer you the chance to get to learn a little something extra about one of our favorite singers. Check it.

My greatest love lesson is…

• Love God first. He puts everything else in place.

My best trait is…

• My winning personality!

My worst trait is…

• My terrible personality. (kidding)

My favorite four albums of all time are…

• *All things Anita Baker
• *All things CeCe Winans
• *All things Carmen McCrae
• *All things Stevie Wonder

If I could live anywhere in the world…

• Australia would be nice…

My happiest time was…

• My childhood

If I could only wear one designer’s clothes for the rest of my life, it would be…

• Besides the dollar store? Burberry.

Inspiration comes from…

• Everything around me

My favorite book is…

• God Chasers, by author Tommy Tenney

More on Madame Noire!

• What to Expect When Moving in With Your Man
• “Weave Wisdom” Episode 1: Weaves 101
• Steal This Star Style: Get These Fab Celeb Looks For Much Less
• 7 Reasons Nice Guys Finish First
• Bad Hair Days: Celebrity Hair Gone Wrong
• Kandi Burruss: Her Hair Wins & Womps Over the Years
• The Truth @bout Natural Hair With Anu: Re-Growing Temple Hair

One Chris, two Chris: The boys of Kriss Kross

Whether you’re part of the industry or listening from the outside in, everyone knows how fickle mainstream music can be. One hit is hard enough to come by, let alone an actual lasting and flourishing career. Hence the change up of our favorite R&B artists from lovelorn crooners to the newest school of techno babies (See: “DJ’s Got Us Falling in Love,” “Yeah 3x”. ) That’s why you can’t put a face to those early morning/late night radio jams that you barely remember the lyrics to: they’ve been diagnosed with the one-hit wonder syndrome.  Or in other cases, the fate of, “that’s that one song.” And while there’s nothing wrong with having a short career (better a little one than hustling mixtapes forever,) it does suck to be remembered as “that guy” or “‘ol girl.” So if you’ve been wondering who made some of your favorite songs from the ‘90s and up, or just if anyone else cares where they are, this list is for you.