Jonathon used to be a songwriter and wrote songs prior to his rise to fame for a variety of artists including After 7, Toni Braxton, Michael Jackson, Color Me Badd and others. Jon B's popularity began in the 90s, he released his debut studio album in 1995 entitled 'Bonafide' which included a huge hit in the shape of 'Someone To Love'. The single featured Grammy award winning artist Babyface and earned Jon B a nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.
The first album is now certified platinum selling in the United States for sales passing one million. He released his second studio album 'Cool Relax' in 1997 and it included a top 10 single 'They Don't Know' and two other top 20 hits, one featuring the iconic rapper Tupac Shakur. 'Cool Relax' remains the artist's most commercially and critically successful album, it is certified double platinum selling in the United States.
His third album 'Pleasures U Like' came in at #6 on the US Billboards, and it was his first release through Edmonds Record Group. He collaborates with a selection of producers on the LP including past producers Babyface, Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson who each work on a track. His chart successes began to decline after the third album although he still remains a largely respected in the R & B music scene.
Born on October 4, Case Woodward grew up in New York City, New York, US listening to R&B legends like Smokey Robinson and Luther Vandross and striving to reach the success achieved by his influential peers Babyface and Mat J. Blige. Case started his music career performing in various R&B groups like Future and Black and progressed towards an occupation as a back up singer, working for pop mainstays such as Usher, Christopher Williams, and AI B. Sure. Case’s hard work behind the scenes finally earned him the opportunity to act as a solo artist. His first single was written by soul diva Faith Evans. The track grabbed the attention of Def Jam Records, eventually leading him into a recording contract with the label.
Case was shuttled into mainstream success with some of his earliest recordings. His single “Touch Me, Tease Me”, which featured appearances by rapper Foxy Brown and singer Mary J. Blige landed on the popular soundtrack to “The Nutty Professor”. The album entered the US Billboard 200 at No. 63 and the R&B Charts at No. 4. His self-titled debut also included this single as well as the hits “More to Love” and “I Gotcha”. The album shot to No. 7 on the R&B Charts and featured material primarily written by Mary J. Blige.
His next album Personal Conversation” went platinum and contained the 3 singles “Happily Ever After” (feat. Beyonce Knowles), “Faded Pictures” (feat. Joe) and “Think of You”. 2001 marked the release of his 3rd and most successful album to date “Open Letter”. The album was his first to reach gold status, though “Personal Conversation” would eventually go on to do so as well. This release contained the R&B chart topping single “Missing You”, which acted as a major commercial boost for the album, pushing it all the way to No. 5 on the US albums chart.
2009’s “The Rose Experience” did not do as well as “Open Letter” on the US charts; however, it matched it’s success on the R&B charts peaking at No. 2. The album was produced by Case and was self-released through his personal label Indigo Blue. Wu-tang member Ghostface appeared as a guest rapper on the track “Shoulda Known Betta”. Case’s follow up album “Here, My Love” came out on 15 June 2010 through Real Talk Entertainment.
Thomas’ career catapulted whilst he was performing around New York City, singing at open mic nights. He was fortunate enough to be at a performance attended by Sean Combs, who decided to take a chance on Carl Thomas, signing him to Bad Boy Entertainment in 1997. He released the single “I Wish” on February 15th 2000. It became a number-one in the R&B single charts, spending six weeks at the top spot. It also reached number 20 in the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The single created enough buzz for his debut album, “Emotional” to take off, which was released on April 18th 2000.
The album made it to number 8 on the Billboard 200 and number 2 on the R&B chart. It was shortly after, certified Platinum, and featured more singled such as “Summer Rain” which made it to the top spot of the R&B charts and number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Let’s Talk About It”, Carl Thomas’ sophomore album released on March 23rd 2004, made it to number 4 in the Billboard 200 and number 2 in the R&B Chart, despite the singles not quite reaching the chart positions that his previous singles had. In 2006, Thomas featured alongside Hussein Fatal and Papoose on “Dumpin” on the “Pac’s Life” album. Thomas managed a Grammy Award nomination for the soundtrack category with the song “Everyday (Family Reunion)”.
Thomas’ third installment, “So Much Better”, released on May 30th 2007 made it to number 25 on the Billboard 200. It also reached number 2 in the R&B chart.
In 2011, he released an album called “Conquer” that reached number 21 in the R&B charts.
I’m a lover of the English language and am a firm believer of using correct words most of the time when I’m engaged in conversation. What I’m trying to say is, I’m not a huge fan of slang. I don’t keep up with the most recent vernacular (especially in hip hop) and am usually the one in the group asking what skeet, skeet means. Yes, I’m often that clueless person in the group. If there is a slang word I happen to like, I tend to use it way more than I probably should. My favorite of the moment is HAM, as in “hot ass mess” (or, if you are a fan of Kanye West and Jay Z, it also means hard as a muth*****). HAM is the best way for me to describe the Jon B. show I witnessed Aug. 26, 2012. I won’t even discuss the venue (The Roxy Theatre in Denver, CO). I should have known this was going to be HAM when I received a raffle ticket as my entry to the concert. Complete HAM on that, especially since I save all my concert stubs and they had the nerve to charge a service fee! My second indication this would not be an ordinary show? The opening act. Dre Lane threw out T-shirts throughout the course of his set, but I wonder if it was to distract from his lack of originality and talent. I won’t knock him for trying, but you have to have more unique content than a song about haters, or doing a song originally sung by Tyrese and then asking the audience if they were feeling it. I would if Tyrese was up there. When Jon B. finally emerged, there was a keyboard on stage, so I’m thinking, okay, he’ll play the keys and sing. He played the keys alright, just at the wrong time. I didn’t mind that he sang along to the instrumental tracks because he sounded damn good, but what I didn’t understand was why he was responsible for starting and stopping each track. Isn’t this what you pay a DJ for? Jon B. would jump on the keys at the end of some songs, problem was, his playing didn't match up well with the still running track. It became sort of a distraction, as did the random people who walked on stage during his performance. HAM all the way around! I must disclose that my sister is more of a Jon B. fan than I am; therefore she knew the songs he sang, whereas there were three I recognized – Don’t Talk, They Don’t Know and Are You Still Down?. I really was there to keep her company.
Message to anyone born in the early 90’s; no matter what music you might be mainly into, chances are that you love early 2000’s R&B more than you think you do. Definitely more others would ever admit to at the very least. It’s extremely difficult not to, especially when one takes into account the nostalgia factor; for many this was their first exposure to pop music that was truly their own, and it would take someone truly churlish to give anyone stick for that. I suppose many would have moved on by now but looking back there are more than a few total classics that history doesn’t recall as well as Usher, R. Kelly and the like. Chief among them is New York City born crooner Case, also known as Case Woodard to his mum. Classic tracks of his like Happily Ever After, Missing You and Touch Me, Tease Me still hold up to this day, but are especially spectacular in a live setting, if only to see just how much legitimate passion Case can still bring with only his voice after nearly two decades of performing. He finds the sweet spot between histrionic and honest better than most of today’s top R&B singers and at this point, a show of his would be an intimate master class in performance. A true discovery for anyone who wrote the genre off before, and no doubt a treat for fans as well.
So apparently, open mic nights aren’t just for aspiring poets and milquetoast singer songwriters anymore. Well, it’s rich to say they’re not like that anymore, since Aurora, Illinoise native Carl Thomas was signed to Sean Combs’ record label after being spotted at an open mic night way back in 1997. While he might not have been the commercial smash that P Diddy saw (only one of his singles went into the top forty, although he did far better with his album sales), Thomas is stilk writing, recording and especially performing to this day. For many, he’ll be a revelation, an artist with far more to offer than history seems to say and the best way to experience this is in his live show. Even if one was only going to hear Summer Rain and his other early classics they’ll be pleased to hear that he can still sing like an angel thirteen years after his time in the spotlight. Special mention must also go to his surprisingly large backing band, the brass section especially giving his shows a delectable touch of class. The truth is that however an artist is discovered, you don’t work with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Diddy and Jay Z and you don’t feature on a posthumous record from Tupac godamn Shakur without being some measure of the real deal. Want to be sure that he is though? Check him out live as soon as possible.