Today May 15th, 2023 marks the 40th Anniversary of “Juicy Fruit.” The single and album, released by the late great James Mtume.
Originally released on May 15th, 1983 – written by James Mtume, with lead vocals by Tawatha Agee.
“Juicy Fruit,” was a #1 R&B chart-topper for eight weeks, and Billboard’s Hot 100 at #45 as well as being Certified Gold.
Over the decades “Juicy Fruit” has found liberally used by artists like The Notorious B.I.G. and Keyshia Cole. It continues to find a new generation as it now circulates through video games like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
In 2020, the legend spoke to UB about his incredible career. We of course had to ask about the classic “Juicy Fruit!”
UrbanBridgez.com: Your production to me was kind of ahead of your time. With like Juicy Fruit alone. How did you come up with ideas for production back then? Mtume: That’s a great question brother. One of the incredible lessons I learned standing next to Miles Davis. Was always push the boundaries and when you’re hearing something new reach for it. When you hear new sounds in your head, you’re quite not sure what it is. You just know where it is know what I mean and you have to go down there and find it. So I would say that is a very interesting point that you raise, among my peers when I was coming up. I started hearing the combination of drum machines and synthesizers. Probably before most kats that came out of R&B, Jazz and Funk. By the time Juicy Fruit came up, nobody had ever done anything like that before. I’m not bragging, I’m just saying.
(Billboard Magazine)
UrbanBridgez.com: Exactly, all facts. Mtume: I thought it was flowing and it worked out. That’s something you don’t know when you’re trying to something new. People may not feel it the way I felt it, but fortunately they did. Once Biggie sampled it, it propelled our music into the next generation. Now we’re like three generations deep with that beat.
UrbanBridgez.com: What do you think it is about that production that makes people still interested, no matter who samples it or how they use it? Mtume: I think the combination of that beat and the incredible performance by Tawatha Agee singing the lead. It touched people where they live, in the heart. Here’s an interesting side-bar; when I took Juicy Fruit to the record label, they didn’t want to release it. I had to really fight. So they was like we’ll release it to the quiet storm after midnight hours. What happened after the first week brother they were getting so many calls from program directors. They were forced to release the record as a whole, including play during the day. They were really forced. When we talk about Juicy Fruit, that record was really almost never heard.
Mtume’s later credits include co-producing Mary J. Blige‘s Share My World and K-Ci and Jo-Jo’s Love Always in 1997. He rounded out 1994-1999 with TV’s New York Undercover. There his compelling musical themes masterfully assembled generations of artists at the show’s featured nightclub, Natalie‘s. Mutume also co-hosted the New York City-based talk radio series, Open Line.
Just last week on May 12th, his hometown of Philadelphia, PA honored him with a street bearing his name.
