-
-
Artists
Get your tour dates seen by one billion fans: Sign up as an artist
Concert in your area for Funk & Soul, R&B, Pop, and Jazz.
Find out more about Pop.
Born the fifth of six children, Edmonds began his musical excursions playing in local R&B bands around Indianapolis. During a stint in Bootsy Collins’ backing band, the singer earned the nickname “Babyface” for his childlike looks, however left soon after in 1977 to join the funk band Manchild who went on to release three albums together.
Around this time Edmonds met Antonio “L.A.” Reid and formed the urban funk outfit the Deele. The pair charted with a number of singles, however made more of a mark for their writing and producing for other artists with their label LaFace. The Deele split up in 1988 following the released of their third album, although continued to earn success with a string of hits with other artists including Bobby Brown’s “Every Little Step”, Sheena Easton’s “The Lover in Me” and Karyn White’s “The Way You Love Me”.
In an under-the-radar release, Edmonds issued his debut album “Lovers” in 1986, however it was his sophomore album “Tender Lover” where the singer’s solo success came to the fore. The album went double platinum and spawned the No. 1 single “It’s No Crime” and No. 2 single “Whip Appeal”. Edmonds subsequently worked and collaborated with some of the biggest artists around including Johnny Gill, Whitney Houston, Madonna, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Aretha Franklin with his biggest chart success coming from Boyz II Men. Around this time Edmonds’ and Reid’s label LaFace had become synonymous with lucrative and up-and-coming artists such as OutKast, TLC and Usher.
With such esteem and critical acclaim Edmonds took a step back from his solo work in the early ‘90s, with his next album arriving in 1993 with the name “For the Cool in You” and proved an even bigger hit than “Tender Love”, going triple platinum and earning Babyface his first top-five pop hit with “When Can I see You Again” which also earned the singer his first performing Grammy for Best Male R&B vocal.
In the run-up to the new millennium Edmonds' success well and truly blossomed with his scoring and producing of the “Waiting to Exhale” soundtrack, his 1996 album “The Day”, and his production on Eric Clapton’s “Change the World”, which he won his third successive Grammy as Producer of the Year for.
With the success of “Waiting to Exhale” Edmond focussed his attention of films and created his own film production company with wife Tracey Edmonds, subsequently making their film production debut with “Soul Food” in 1997. Babyface’s next musical releases came in the form of the seasonal “Christmas with Babyface” and the compilation “A Collection of His Greatest Hits” – marking his move to Arista Records, where L.A. Reid was an executive.
Edmonds' subsequent releases and collaborations have included the albums “Face2Face” (2001) and “Grown & Sexy” (2005), as well as the soundtrack for the film “Josie & the Pussycats”, and work with the likes of Lil Wayne, Vanessa Willaims and Anthony Hamilton. All in all making Edmonds one of the most highly respected and flexible musicians and producers of the R&B genre.
Hearing about a rapper initially making a name for himself by handing out t-shirts at his gigs, giving free CD’s to passers-by and kicking up a fuss by starting his own record label instantly gives me respect for Mike Jones. It’s not that easy any more for little-known acts to hold the attention of an audience, but I feel so directly tangled in the atmosphere that it’s almost as if I could be back stage by mistake. Gliding onto the stage with a cool ease, the music reminds me of my more preferred genre of old school 90’s rap – the era of Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube. Mike J is in control from the minute the beat drops. The room thunders with the vibration of dancing feet while Mike reaches out to the crowd and asks, “Who is Mike Jones?” Fists are pumping the air around the room and a dance-off takes place somewhere amongst the chaos while a sudden rush of backing dancers invade the stage. The flash of a hundred smart phones, the butt of the girl to my left ‘shaking what her momma gave her’ & each thrown back ‘WHO?!’ proves how much M.J’s game has been raised since leaving Souf Folk back in 2001. It’s not a minute in and the room already feels like a late night lock-in in downtown NYC. The air rapidly becomes hot with desire, making even the DJ’s sunglasses steam up. The walls glow red from the reflection of cheap light bulbs and the roof drips onto my shoulders like a scene from a surrealist painting. Starting the night off with newest track ‘Still Tippin’, M.J leads the night into an inferno of wild hand gestures. I’ve not made it to the bar before being forced back into the room by the tide. Everything around me crushes inward, each person desperate to get a glimpse of Lil Wayne, who’s rumoured to turn up tonight. It didn’t take me long to realise that Mike Jones is a respected artist who seems to know exactly what he’s doing when it comes to showmanship. Though the fact that each person on stage is wearing dark glasses reveals what I believe to be a hint of egotism, the general mood throughout the show doesn’t fail to get even the most unlikely of people on their toes. I continue to feel the pulse of hips around me as I leave the room. As I move to the back of the venue with my hands by my sides and eyes to myself I realise that it’s the audience who’ve taken control of the night. Mike is a droplet of water on the tree that is his audience – they shout and wail and move to each beat with a beautiful precision that seems more fascinating to me than the music itself. I highly suggest that future audiences take a step back and really listen to what the man has to say – even if it is just to call him on his Motorola and ask him what his name is.
bemekid
Log in to your account
