R&B Bridgez: BLACKstreet 25
Following phenomenal success with his group Guy and as a writer/producer/keyboardist for hire, New Jack Swing architect Teddy Riley drew up the blueprint for BLACKstreet, a male vocal quartet that would blend the sweet harmonies of classic soul with the production sheen of the liberated ’90s. Riley would sing in his natural voice and through the electronic device the “vocoder” (a signature of one of his idols, Roger Troutman).
The ground floor of BLACKstreet’s revolving door was paved in 1992 by Teddy “Street” Riley and Chauncey “Black” Hannibal. Together with Levi Little and Joseph Stonestreet, the foursome made their debut with “Baby Be Mine,” for the soundtrack of the rap parody flick CB4. Just before work began on the group’s self-titled Interscope Records debut, however, Stonestreet was replaced by Chicago soul man Dave Hollister, whom Teddy saw singing background for Mary J. Blige.
The platinum-plus-selling BLACKstreet album’s first single was “Booti Call,” a production collaboration between Teddy and Erick Sermon of EPMD. Primarily featuring Teddy upfront, the verses were sung in a melody lifted from Boz Scaggs’ “Lowdown,” and the chorus was straight up George Clinton’s “Atomic Dog,” the groove a Sermonized freak of Zapp’s “Heartbreaker.” But it was the next single, “Before I Let You Go” (featuring Hollister up front) that set the stage for the group’s dominance in soul balladry, sitting at the #2 slot on the R&B chart for four weeks and peaking at #7 pop. It was followed by the sumptuous “Joy” – originally intended for Michael Jackson’s HIStory album – featuring Levi Little approximating a Jackson-like falsetto over a live string section (thus the “New Carnegie Mix” subtitle). The debut album’s fifth and final single was “Tonight’s The Night,” which paired BLACKstreet with female trio SWV (featuring lead singer Cheryl “Coko” Gamble).
Before BLACKstreet started their sophomore album, Levi and Dave were replaced by baritone Eric Williams and first tenor Mark Middleton. Then Teddy crafted what would become BLACKstreet’s breakthrough album, Another Level (1996). The group’s sound evolved from sample heavy hip hop into a purer R&B vibe.
The first single was the slammin’ club joint “No Diggity,” a remix of “I Like The Way You Work” from the first album which introduced a new phrase into street vernacular. Featuring West Coast rap lord Dr. Dre and newcomer Queen Pen (who was signed to Teddy’s Lil’ Man Records), it topped both Billboard’s R&B and pop charts for four weeks. Also, it was certified platinum and earned a Grammy® for Best R&B Performance By A Duo or Group with Vocal in 1997.
BLACKstreet downshifted into ballad mode with the creamy “Never Gonna Let You Go,” a beautiful throwback to the days of the Delfonics spotlighting the skyscraping falsetto of Mark Middleton. Radio also adored “I Can’t Get You Out of My Mind” (a tour de force for Eric Williams) and “Don’t Leave Me” (another R&B-chart topper that featured everybody singing over a groove based on Motown family group DeBarge’s “A Dream”). DeBarge played an even bigger role on “The Lord Is Real,” for which their hit “Time Will Reveal” became the basis for an album-closing ode to God. Another Level‘s last single returned them to cutting-edge funk with “Fix,” featuring Wu Tang Clan rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
At that point, BLACKstreet was so hot, steam was coming off `em! Another Level sold over 5 million copies, topped the R&B album chart for five weeks and the pop chart for three. Everybody wanted a piece of them, including Spike Lee, who commissioned the group to write and perform “Coming Home To You” for his film Get On The Bus (which documented a cross-country, cross generational trek to Washington D.C. for the Million Man March).
Teddy and his boys released two more albums, Finally (1999) and Level II (2002), before succumbing to inner conflicts.
BLACKstreet’s paved-with-platinum legacy won’t soon be matched across the highway of time. No diggity – no doubt.
Check out The Visuals/Hits from Blackstreet!
