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BABYFACE
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Kenneth Edmonds, 10 April 1959, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Babyface's achievements as a songwriter and producer throughout the late 80s and 90s, especially with L.A. Reid, sometimes overshadowed his own efforts as a performer, which go back to the mid-70s with the funk outfit Manchild. His early solo efforts showed a sophisticated, adult-orientated strain of urban soul, going against the current grain of rap-influenced explicitness and raunchy swingbeat; wisely, perhaps, as his light, pleasant voice could not really compare to earthier singers such as R Kelly. It was not until 1995, when the single "When Can I See You" won a Grammy, that he could claim the commercial success that had been heaped on his own prot‚g‚s such as Boyz II Men (Edmonds wrote and produced the massive US chart-topper, "End Of The Road'), Bobby Brown and Toni Braxton. In fact, since the split with Reid, Babyface's main success has been as a producer and writer of movie soundtracks, with The Bodyguard and Waiting To Exhale both going multi-platinum. Expectations were high for his 1996 solo album, which should have sealed his claim to be taken seriously as a contemporary soul performer. Unfortunately, The Day turned out to be something of a back-slappers" showcase; guest spots by the likes of Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, LL Cool J, Mariah Carey and even Shalamar could not obscure the fact that the songs Babyface kept for himself were simply not as strong as those he provided for other members of the R&B royalty. Following an unplugged MTV set and a seasonal release, Babyface signed a new recording contract with Arista Records. His debut for the label featured collaborations with Snoop Dogg and the Neptunes.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE : there you can listen to many of his songs
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LAST NEWS about BABYFACE: 2.13.2002: It's show time for Shaggy. Not only is his own Big Yard record label releasing the soundtrack to the movie "Showtime" - an upcoming comedy starring Robert De Niro and Eddie Murphy as LAPD detectives and unlikely partners - but Mr. Lover Lover himself is featured on three of the album's tracks. Shaggy teams up with Alias Project for a song called "Caramel" and joins forces with Babyface for the film's title track, according to Universal Music, Big Yard's distributor. The album, set to drop March 19, includes such collaborations as Rik Rok with Brian and Tony Gold, Kardinal Offishall with Sean Paul and Jully Black, and a song called "Murderer" by Snoop Dogg and reggae star Barringon Levy. "Showtime," which also features rapper Mos Def, opens March 15. "Showtime"
soundtrack track listing, according to Universal: _____________________________________
8.15.2001: You've seen him in the video for his Neptunes-produced "There She Goes." That new Babyface is some sort of character, isn't he? Obviously, he can no longer be called a pretty boy at 42, and his low-cut beard shields some of that prettiness. Instead, with his woolly afro replacing that half-flattop-half-process hairdo and his new rock-star threads (witness the pearly-white tank top), Face - or Kenneth Edmonds, as he signs his tax returns - has transformed his image with new-millennium cool. On September 11, when his new LP, Face 2 Face, drops, fans will get to hear a little of his vintage sounds as well as music to match his image facelift - chock-full-o' curses and Ebonics. "After all the sh-- he put you through, why wouldn't you want to leave?" he asks on "Lover and a Friend," co-produced by Babyface and Buckwild of Black Rob's "Whoa!" fame. "Girl, I got mad love for you, why can't you be with me?" he continues in a high-pitched voice reminiscent of Curtis Mayfield. Meanwhile, Buckwild provides a funky soundscape filled with horns and bottom-heavy bass, similar to a '70s midtempo soul groove. "What If" is one of those big, heartbroken-lover-man ballads we're more accustomed to hearing from Babyface. Here, he wishes he could turn back the hands of time after bumping into his ex-girlfriend. "What if we were wrong about each other?" he pines. "What if that was s'posed to be my house that you go home to every day? How can you be sure that things are better?" The Neptunes' second production offering, "Stressed Out," is another party anthem, with the duo's Pharrell Williams adding his pimpish, high-pitched voice in the mix and helping Face on the hook: "It will happen/ If it's meant to be/ So don't stress out/ Things could work out, baby." Babyface turns O.G. to give knowledge to a hotheaded youngster on "Baby's Mama," featuring Snoop Dogg and produced by the Megahertz (Three The ... 's "Bad Boy for Life"). Later in the album, the multimedia renaissance man continues his schooling, giving a naïve girlfriend advice on the jazzy "How Can U Be Down." Face gets caught up in an attraction that's not quite fatal, but unhealthy nonetheless, on the track, as his lover's best friend falls for him. "I told the girl no, no, no, but she still came knockin' at my door," he sings. "I told her to go, go home, but that made her even want me more." It's the tank top, Face - no one can resist. The
"Face 2 Face" track list, according to Arista Records: _____________________________________
07.31.2001: NEW YORK - Former President Bill Clinton and pop hitmaker Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds will team up to fight AIDS in Africa and other areas with a wide-ranging campaign that will include two concerts and a benefit album, they announced Tuesday (July 31). The International AIDS Trust (IAT) campaign will help people get treatment and medicine in the areas hardest hit by the pandemic, spread awareness to the public and policy makers and mobilize leaders to continue to fight the disease. Edmonds equated the AIDS problem to helping a neighbor remedy an unsightly lawn while lawns a few blocks away were just as unkempt. "That's human nature," Edmonds explained. "We normally only care about what's in our backyard - what's next to us and what affects us. That's why we're here today. What's happening in someone else's backyard ultimately affects us all. We have to rise above our human nature and start caring about other people's backyards." Edmonds will organize benefit concerts in New York and South Africa, and oversee production of a compilation album whose proceeds will benefit IAT programs. Though no dates have been set for either the concerts or the album, Edmonds said he would ask his music-industry friends for assistance and already claimed the support of Antonio "L.A." Reid, president and CEO of Arista Records. Reid's label is likely to distribute the LP. "Musicians reach people in a way no one else can; and no one does that better than Kenny 'Babyface' Edmonds," said IAT president Sandra Thurman of the organization's involvement with the 10-time Grammy Award winner. Edmonds will also serve with President Clinton on the IAT advisory board. The initiative's scope is global but will target Africa, where between 20 and 33 percent of adults in sub-Saharan countries are already HIV-infected. In fact, an estimated half of all 15-year-olds will die of AIDS in South Africa, a ratio that jumps to two out of three in Botswana. Other regions plagued by the problem include India, the Caribbean, Russia and other countries in the former Soviet Union. Edmonds will embark on a fact-finding mission in late November or early December during which he will visit organizations supported by IAT programs. These include Rwanda's Family Care and Support Project, which helps HIV-positive mothers deliver HIV-negative babies. Clinton, who chairs the IAT advisory board, stressed that AIDS is just as preventable as it is incurable. He cited Brazil, which halved its AIDS fatality rate in three years by increasing availability of medicines and spreading awareness, and Uganda, which halved its fatality in five years through education alone. "Though AIDS in America has gone down - it has a roughly half-percent infection rate - 36 to 40 million people worldwide are living with AIDS," Clinton said. "I promise that if after five years 100 million AIDS cases are reported worldwide, the rate in America will not still be going down. It is in our backyard." When asked if he'll contribute some sax to the benefit album, the 42nd president laughed and doubted it, saying he couldn't meet Babyface's standards. Clinton claimed to have jammed with the producer the last time he was over at Edmonds' house, however. |
