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July 5, 2000
Music
Focus
S U P P L E M E N T
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E d ito r in C hief,
P u b lish er
C h a rles H . W ashington
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L a rry J . Ja c k so n , Sr.
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J o y R am os
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G a ry A n n T aylor
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S haw n S tra h a n
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p u rc h a se d th e co m p o sitio n of
1999
The Portland Observer
T he P ortland O bserver
O r
Stye
^ o rtla n b
th e ad.
Jagged Edge haven ’ t changed m uch
from the four teenagers w ho sang in
separate singing groups at church
youth rallies. N othing but fate could
have led all four to A tlanta. A fter
relocating to the southeast’s m ost
flourishing m usic tow n from then-
native Hartford, C onnecticut, Brian
and Brandon quickly connected with
the local church com m unity, w here
they instantly aligned them selves
w ith the local vocalists. A fter a
chance m eeting w ith K yle, then a
m em ber o f another group, Brian
and B randon team ed up w ith K yle
and tw o other vocalists, doing w hat
they now refer to as a “R& B/hip-
hop/ T ake 6 king o f thing.” A fter a
s lig h t lin e -u p c h a n g e , B ria n ,
Brandon, K yle and a fourth m em ber
form ed T w in AK, a group w hich
caught the attention o f star-m aking
M ichael Bivens an dhisB iv lOlabel.
W h en m u sic in d u stry red tap e
threatened to slow the pace o f their
recording career, the g ro u p ’s fourth
m e m b er o p te d out, ju s t as the
CQMRIBLTED STORV
for
A
Jagged Edge and no time to waste
T his m illennium ’s com ing to an
end and Jagged Edge, So So D e f s
prem ier m ale vocal quartet, are
acting as if they have no tim e to
waste. Black music is enjoying more
m ainstream acceptance than ever
and Brian, B randon, Richard, and
K yle are taking w hat’s rightfully
theirs, gracing us w ith som e o f
R & B ’s w arm est m om ents o f late,
all the while remaining true to w hat ’ s
in their hearts and souls on their
em otion ally -ch arg ed sophom ore
disc, JE H eartbreak.
W hile paying hom age to one o f
Black m usic’s m ost notorious m ale
groups is ju st a sm all part o f their
choice o f title, th ere’s also a much
m ore personal significance to it.
“T he other reason w hy w e nam ed
this album JE H eartbreak,” Brian
reasons, “ is the fact that in this past
year, we felt a lot o f heartbreak -
individually and collectively. It was
som ething that w e felt w e should
talk about, so w e decided to w rite
about it,” “T here is a personal life
aw ay from the business,” K yle adds.
“A lot o f people d o n ’t realize that.”
Instead, w hat m usic lovers d id
realize was that So So Def, already
an urban leader in breaking formerly
unknow n acts (K ris Kross, D a Brat,
X scape), had scored big-tim e w ith
the best best o f ‘ em - as was evident
on their disc single, “T he W ay That
Y ou T alk” (featuring JD and Da
Brat) - it’s no suiprise that their
w ay w ith a sultry groove is w hat
ultimately clicked with music lovers.
Indeed, the sensitive “G otta B e”
w ent on to becom e w hat som e m ay
re fe r to as “T h e p e o p le ’s h it.”
“E verything w e got w as from the
p e o p le ,’ B ran d o n (a.k.a. “ C ase
D inero”) suggests. “ ‘G otta B e ’was
a hit record, it w as one o f the m ost
requested songs o f the year.” “The
fans validated us,” his identical twin
brother, B rian (a.k.a. “ B rasco ”)
concludes; “they w ere reaching out
to us.”
JE H eartbreak is a m ostly self-
w ritten collection o f songs running
the gam ut from straight-up street
h e a d - n o d d e r s to th o s e h e a rt-
w renching soul ballads w e’ve com e
to expect from them. Indeed, many
o f their experiences over the past
year have resulted in an em otional
w ell o f p e rso n a liz e d m a teria l.
Though they’re quick to tell you
that not every scenario is necessarily
autobiographical. Brian explains,
“ju st like on A Jagged E ra, w e did a
lot o f w riting. Even though each
song is not necessarily a direct
situation that one o f us has been
(Please see Ja g g ed p a g e 3)
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