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Delicious Vinyl is an American independent record label founded by Matt Dike and Michael Ross in 1987 and based in Los Angeles. Throughout its history, the label has had distribution deals with Island Records/PolyGram, Warner Music Group, EMI, Red Ant, Rhino and Universal Music Group.^[1]

History[link]

Early years[link]

UCLA student Michael Ross met New York City transplant Matt Dike while Dike was DJing at a Hollywood club called Rhythm Lounge in the mid 1980s. The pair discovered they were both members of Impact Record Pool, a service that provided new 12" records to club DJs, and that they shared a taste in soul, funk, and hip-hop. Soon Dike became the top DJ at the legendary downtown Los Angeles club Power Tools and Ross followed suit. In 1987 they founded their own independent record label Delicious Vinyl. Almost immediately the label was a success. Delicious Vinyl's first release was the "On Fire"/"Cheeba Cheeba" 12" by Tone Loc (real name: Anthony Smith), a Los Angeles gang member with an endearingly deep voice. "Cheeba Cheeba" got played on L.A.'s legendary rap radio station KDAY, setting the stage for Tone Loc's "Wild Thing" single which sold three million copies, helped immeasurably by the low-budget but memorable video (a parody of Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love") directed by Tamra Davis (later to direct CB4 and marry Beastie Boy Mike D). Tone Loc's follow-up smash "Funky Cold Medina," an ode to an aphrodisiac beverage, sampled Foreigner and Kiss, and cemented the Dike/Ross approach of recasting rock riffs into hit rap songs. Meanwhile the pair had discovered clean-cut, brainy USC student Marvin Young, who, dubbed Young MC recorded his own million selling hit single "Bust a Move." These were arguably the first truly credible rap songs to hit the upper reaches of the pop charts, and gave the label a lasting place in hip-hop history. Def Jef (real name: Jeffrey Fortson) was the most lyrical rapper in the label's early years, and although his two albums Just a Poet with Soul (1989) and Soul Food (1991) never achieved the crossover success of Tone Loc and Young MC, they are rated highly by hip-hop connoisseurs based on Def Jef's sociopolitical rhymes and an allegiance to classic funk sounds a la James Brown. The label's third release was a single by Mellow Man Ace that is one of the earliest instances of recorded rap in Spanish. But the label was not strictly a rap label, as they signed London-based rare-groove group The Brand New Heavies, who with lead vocalist N'Dea Davenport recorded the 1991 hit single "Never Stop." And it's worth noting that in 1991 Delicious Vinyl reissued the self-titled stoner-rock pioneers Masters of Reality (originally released on Def American in 1988), an album now acknowledged as a direct influence on Queens of the Stone Age.

Second Phase[link]

As the 1990s dawned, Delicious Vinyl signed The Pharcyde, the group who changed the way west coast hip-hop was perceived. The quartet of Bootie Brown, Imani Wilcox, Slimkid Tre and Fatlip neatly subverted the gangsta rap archetype that then dominated the west coast. Their first single, 1991's "Ya Mama," highlighted the group's sense of humor via mama-centric snaps ("Ya mama's got a glass eye with a fish in it," etc.) and their debut album Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde (1992) featured the hit single about getting dissed by girls, "Passing Me By." Produced by J-Swift, the album's music featured jazzy loops and head-bobbing beats, and sold half a million copies. Friction between the group and J-Swift led to the producer's departure before the Pharcyde's 1995 album Labcabincalifornia, a sprawling testament to disillusionment that represented an about-face akin to De La Soul Is Dead. However, Labcabincalifornia did spawn the hit single "Runnin'," about facing up to personal problems produced by Jay Dee (before he became known as J Dilla). All-time great New York rapper (and Juice Crew veteran) Masta Ace joined the label delivering two strong albums, 1993's Slaughterhouse and 1995's Sittin' on Chrome (under the group moniker Masta Ace Incorporated) which, in addition to the title track, included the notable singles "The I.N.C. Ride" and "Born to Roll" (the latter of which was the remix version of the 1993 single "Jeep Ass N****" from the Slaughterhouse LP, specifically tailored for the West Coast audience, which Ace was attempting to tap into during the height of early-90s "gangsta rap" popularity). Other significant acts on the label in the mid '90s included pop-friendly dancehall reggae act Born Jamericans (a duo consisting of the smooth-voiced Mr. Notch and rough ragga rapper Edley Shine), whose two albums Kids from Foreign (1994) and Yardcore (1995) spawned the hit singles "Boom Shak-A-Tak" and "Send My Love," respectively. The Whoridas were the most hardcore rap group the label had signed to date, and their 1997 album Whoridin' spawned three minor but memorable hit singles, "Talkin' Bout Bank", "Shot Callin', Big Ballin'" and "Taxin'."

Current[link]

Although co-founder Matt Dike left the label in 1992, Michael Ross has retained ownership of Delicious Vinyl, making it one of the longest-running independent labels in hip-hop history. In 2005, Fatlip from The Pharcyde released his solo album The Loneliest Punk (which he had been working on for close to a decade), including the memorable lead single "What's Up Fatlip" (a documentary on Fatlip by Spike Jonze came packaged as a DVD along with the album CD), the follow-up single "Today's Your Day" (featuring Charlie 2na from Jurassic 5), as well as the song "Writer's Block," which artfully explained the delay in finishing the album. In 2007 the label kicked off its 20th anniversary celebration with the release of a high-profile reunion album Get Used to It from Brand New Heavies, featuring original lead vocalist N'Dea Davenport (the group toured, opening for Macy Gray). Summer 2007 saw the long-awaited release of the previously shelved 1993 album by The Wascals, a four member J-Swift-produced rap group that was to be the label's successors to The Pharcyde. (Instead, the group folded before the album's original release date). Meanwhile, dancehall artist Mr. Vegas watched his new album Hot It Up spawn two hit singles, the lascivious "Hot Wuk" and "Tek Weh Yuh Self." In addition, an ambitious remix project, Delicious Rmxxology, was curated by DV's Rick Ross with some of today's electronic and hip-hop artists (including Peaches, Breakbot, Mr. Flash, Cory Nitta, Aaron LaCrate & Samir, Hot Chip, Don Rimini, Diplo & Philippians), reworking classics from the Delicious Vinyl catalog; the first single from the remix project was Peaches' version of Tone Loc's "Wild Thing," celebrated by a performance by both artists at the Avalon in Hollywood on November 4, 2007. In 2008, Michael Ross executive-produced the debut album by Illa J, with beats produced by Jay Dee, aka J.Dilla. The album "Yancey Boys" featured previously unheard instrumentals created by J.Dilla while working on earlier projects for The Pharcyde and The Brand New Heavies in the 90's for Delicious Vinyl.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 1999: Waxing Off: The First Decade^[2]
• 2000: Delicious Vinyl Presents...Prime Cuts Vol. 1^[3]
• 2007: Jay Deelicious: The Delicious Vinyl Years
• 2008: RMXXOLOGY

Notable Singles[link]

Includes Billboard Hot 100 peaks.

• Tone Loc: "Wild Thing" (#2)
• Tone Loc: "Funky Cold Medina" (#3)
• Young MC: "Bust a Move" (#7)
• The Pharcyde: "Passin' Me By"
• The Pharcyde: "Drop"
• The Pharcyde: "She Said"
• Masta Ace: "Sittin' on Chrome" (#84)

Artists[link]

• Born Jamericans
• Brand New Heavies
• Bucwheed
• Def Jef
• Duce Duce
• Fatlip
• Frank Nitt
• The Pharcyde
• J Dilla Aka Jay Dee
• Jesse Jaymes
• Tone Loc
• Masta Ace
• Young MC
• Mr Vegas
• Mellow Man Ace
• The Wascals
• Machel Montano
• The ZZYZZX (Mellow Man Ace and his son, Cazal Organism)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Delicious Vinyl Official Website
• Delicious Vinyl Records on Myspace

Young MC
Young MC at the 1990 Grammy Awards.
Background information
Birth name	Marvin Young
Also known as	Mr. MC, The Young MC Man
Born	(1967-05-10) May 10, 1967 (age 45)
Origin	South Wimbledon, London, England Queens, New York, USA
Genres	Hip Hop, Pop Rap
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, Producer, Actor
Years active	1986–present
Labels	Delicious Vinyl, Capital Records, Overall Records, Young Man Moving Records
Associated acts	Def Jef, Tone-Loc, MC Hammer

Marvin Young (born May 10, 1967), better known by his stage name Young MC, is an English-born American singer, rapper and actor. He is best known for his 1989 hit "Bust a Move". His debut album Stone Cold Rhymin' found international acclaim however subsequent albums have not reached the same level of success. Young has also appeared in film in acting roles and cameo appearances, and has appeared in several television programs. His family left England and moved to Queens, New York when he was eight years old.

Biography[link]

Young attended Hunter College High School in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He went on to earn a degree in economics from the University of Southern California (USC).^[1] At USC he met Michael Ross and Matt Dike from the record company Delicious Vinyl.^[1] Young rapped over the phone for Ross and Dike, who ended up delivering a record contract to his USC dorm room. In 1989, Young collaborated with Tone Lōc on the songs "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina".^[1] Young gained fame with the release of his single "Bust a Move", which reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance. The single helped Young's debut album, Stone Cold Rhymin', to reach No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and attain platinum status in the US. The follow-up single, "Principal's Office", reached No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100^[2] and was nominated for Best Rap Video at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards.

Following Young's success, he left Delicious Vinyl, citing restrictions on his work and unwanted changes to his album. The label sued him for breach of contract and the two parties eventually settled out of court.^[1] Young signed with Capitol Records and released his second album, Brainstorm, in 1991. It reached No. 66 on the Billboard 200. Despite the absence of any strong single, the album achieved gold status in the US.^[3] However his third album, What's the Flavor?, released in 1993, was a commercial failure, with both the album and its singles failing to chart. It was his second and final album on Capital Records. In 1997 Young released his fourth album, Return of the 1 Hit Wonder, on the independent label Overall Records. The album produced two singles, "Madame Buttafly" and "On & Poppin" which charted at No. 25 and No. 23 respectively on the Hot Rap Songs chart.^[2]

In 2000, Young released his fifth album, Ain't Goin' Out Like That, on his own record label Young Man Moving Records. The album was Young's first to chart since Brainstorm, peaking at No. 85 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.^[4] In 2002, he released his sixth album, Engage the Enzyme.

In 2002, Young appeared as a contestant on Weakest Link – Rap Stars Edition. He was joined by Run of Run-D.M.C., DJ Quik, Jermaine Dupri, Da Brat, B-Real of Cypress Hill, Xzibit, and Nate Dogg. Young went on to win the celebrity contest, outlasting Xzibit in the finals. All of the proceeds from his winning performance were donated to the Humane Society.

In December 2004 Young traveled to Vancouver to commence shooting for the film The Zero Sum. As an actor Young played Mr. Henderson, a publishing company executive. Film director Raphael Assaf and screenwriter Armen Evrensel asked Young to help create the film, for which he is a co-executive producer. Young also teamed up with Baltimore rapper KNOXX to create "Brotherly Love", the films theme song.

In September 2005, Young was cast in the VH1 reality show Celebrity Fit Club 3. Joining Young was Kelly LeBrock, Bruce Vilanch, Tempestt Bledsoe, Countess Vaughn, Chastity Bono, Jeff Conaway, Gunnar Nelson, and Rapper Bizarre of D12. Young won the competition, losing more weight than anybody else.

Young also made an appearance in a special episode of The Best Damn Sports Show Period which featured "The Top 50 Sports Moments of the 80's". Young crafted lyrics and performed a sports-themed rap song alongside KRS-One and Kool Moe Dee.

After 20 years of living in Los Angeles, Young relocated to Scottsdale, AZ in 2006. He spent 2007 creating his seventh album, Adrenaline Flow, which was released in 2008. Immediately following Adrenaline Flow, Young released an online-only album, B-Sides, Demos and Remixes, compiled from unreleased, remixed and re-recorded tracks.

In 2009, Young released his eighth album, Relentless. Later that year, Young also landed a cameo role in the breakout Jason Reitman film Up in the Air starring George Clooney. Young played himself, performing at a software convention which was crashed by Clooney’s character and his two female co-stars, Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Young MC biography". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/young-mc-p140446/biography. Retrieved December 27, 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Young MC Billboard Singles". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/young-mc-p140446/charts-awards/billboard-singles. Retrieved December 27, 2011. 
3. ^ "RIAA – Gold and Platinum". RIAA. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH. Retrieved January 2, 2011.  Search for "Brainstorm"
4. ^ ^{a b} "Young MC Billboard Albums". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/young-mc-p140446/charts-awards. Retrieved December 27, 2011. 

External links[link]

• Young MC profile at NNDB
• Marvin Young at the Internet Movie Database
• Young MC interview on Jammer Direct

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2010)

The Brand New Heavies are an acid jazz and funk group formed in 1985 in Ealing, a suburb of London, England.

Biography[link]

The Brand New Heavies began in the 1980s as an instrumental acid jazz group called Brother International.^[1]

The group came up with the Heavies name after signing their first record contract, borrowing from a liner note on a James Brown single declaring the artist "Minister of New Super Heavy Funk".^[2] As The Brand New Heavies they gained a cult following in the London club scene and soon signed to Cooltempo as acid jazz replaced rare groove in clubs. The band issued a debut recording for Eddie Piller's Acid Jazz label in 1990 with Jay Ella Ruth as lead singer.^[3]

A single, "Got to Give", came out on Cooltempo before the Brand New Heavies signed to Acid Jazz Records and released Brand New Heavies to critical acclaim. The band signed to a division of Chrysalis Records in the UK,^[1] and American distribution was picked up by influential label Delicious Vinyl, and N'Dea Davenport (who had signed an artist development deal with Delicious Vinyl) joined the group. A revamped version of the first album with vocals by N'Dea Davenport was then released, and the singles "Dream Come True", "Never Stop" and "Stay This Way", all with Davenport on lead vocals, became hits on both sides of the Atlantic, with the latter becoming a music video directed by Douglas Gayeton that saw heavy rotation on MTV.

The group's appearance with MC Serch (formerly of 3rd Bass) and Q-Tip (of A Tribe Called Quest) at a performance in New York City, inspired the group to incorporate elements of hip hop music. Their next album was the critically acclaimed Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1, which included collaborations with Guru of Gang Starr and The Pharcyde, among others, but lacked any female vocals.

While under management by Colin Lester's and Ian McAndrew's Wildlife Entertainment, The Brand New Heavies released Brother Sister (1994) which was the last album for a while with N'Dea Davenport, who had left to complete her solo album (which she had put on hold to join the Heavies). The album spawned more singles, though one of them, a cover of Maria Muldaur's "Midnight at the Oasis", was popular only in the UK because it was not included in the US version of the album.

Siedah Garrett joined the group for their next album, Shelter (1997). It contained the minor hit, the Carole King-penned song "You've Got a Friend" that was originally made famous by James Taylor. Again, though, this song did not appear on the US version of the album. The album also contained the hit "Sometimes". The remix of "Sometimes" included the rap vocals of Q-Tip.

The Brand New Heavies then released their greatest hits album, Trunk Funk - The Best of The Brand New Heavies (2000) with Carleen Anderson on vocals for some newly recorded songs, followed by the Japan only album We Won't Stop (2003) featuring a variety of vocalists and Allaboutthefunk (2004) featuring British singer Nicole Russo on vocals.

In April 2006, the Brand New Heavies reunited with N'Dea Davenport and former label Delicious Vinyl. A new album, Get Used to It was released on 27 June 2006 via Starbucks and more traditional music retail outlets. The album was recorded in New York and London; and the lead single "I Don't Know Why (I Love You)" was issued in early May. The single was notable for being one of very few late releases to feature the trademarked A Tom Moulton Mix, as he had been asked to contribute remixes. Later that year, their song "Jump 'N' Move" was featured on the soundtrack for the 2006 computer animated feature film, Happy Feet, and the in-game soundtrack for 2004's NBA Live 2005 and 2009's NBA 2k10. The band toured at the end of 2006.

The Brand New Heavies released a 2 CD live album in October 2009 - Live In London and worked with Lancome on an ad campaign, resulting in the 2009 single "C'est Magnifique". There was talk of a follow-up album to Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1, following the same concept of rap artists fronting the band, however nothing has materialized on that front to date.

The Heavies released a free download album called "Dunk Your Trunk" in November 2011, available through blog.pedigreecuts.com and Soundcloud. The album, recorded in only four days and described as 'funky library music' is directed at 'TV and Movie people to add to their programmes and films'. A CD was due for release on 23 April 2012, but so far only download files (mp3, wav) have appeared.

Members[link]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• 1990: The Brand New Heavies (featuring Jay Ella Ruth)
• 1991: The Brand New Heavies (featuring N'Dea Davenport)
• 1992: Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1 (featuring vocals by various hip hop groups and rappers)
• 1994: Brother Sister (featuring N'Dea Davenport)
• 1997: Shelter (featuring Siedah Garrett)
• 1997: Shibuya 357 (Japan only live album)
• 2003: We Won't Stop (Japan and Korea only release; featuring Sy Smith)
• 2004: Allaboutthefunk (featuring Nicole Russo)
• 2006: Get Used To It (featuring N'Dea Davenport)
• 2012: Dunk Your Trunk (download instrumental album) - To be released on CD 23 April 2012

Live, remix collections, compilations and soundtracks[link]

• 1992: Juice (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (incl. "People Get Ready (Remix)")
• 1994: Original Flava (album)
• 1994: Pret-A-Porter: Music From The Motion Picture (incl. "Close To You")
• 1994: Higher Learning (Music From The Motion Picture) (incl. "Higher Learning/Time For Change")
• 1995: Excursions, Remixes & Rare Grooves (album)
• 1997: Love Jones (The Music) (incl. "I Like It")
• 1998: Sliding Doors (Music From The Motion Picture) (incl. "More Love")
• 1999: Trunk Funk - The Best of The Brand New Heavies (featuring Carleen Anderson)
• 2002: Acid Jazz Years (album)
• 2006: Happy Feet (Music From The Motion Picture) (incl. "Jump N' Move")
• 2006: Platinum Collection (album)
• 2007: Elephantitis - The Funk + House Remixes (album)
• 2008: Get Used to It - The Tom Moulton Mixes (album) (featuring N'Dea Davenport)
• 2009: Elephantitis - The Funk + House Remixes 2
• 2009: Greatest Hits Live in London (featuring N'Dea Davenport)
• 2011: The Best Of 20 Years

Singles[link]

• 1988: "Got To Give"
• 1989: "People Get Ready"
• 1990: "Dream Come True"
• 1991: "Never Stop" (UK #43, US #54)
• 1991: "Stay This Way" (UK #24)
• 1992: "Dream Come True '92" (UK #24)
• 1992: "Ultimate Trunk Funk EP" (UK #19) (Never Stop/Stay This Way/Mr. Tanaka/Got To Give)
• 1992: "Don't Let It Go To Your Head" (UK #24)
• 1992: "Stay This Way" (UK #40)
• 1994: "Dream On Dreamer" (UK #15, US #51)
• 1994: "Back To Love" (UK #23)
• 1994: "Midnight At The Oasis" (UK #13)
• 1994: "Spend Some Time" (UK #26)
• 1995: "Close To You" (UK #38)
• 1995: "Mind Trips" (U.S. only)
• 1997: "Sometimes" (UK #11, US #88)
• 1997: "You Are The Universe" (UK #21)
• 1997: "You've Got A Friend" (UK #9)
• 1997: "Shelter" (UK #31)
• 1997: "You Can Do It" (U.S. only)
• 1999: "Saturday Nite" (UK #35)
• 1999: "Apparently Nothing" (UK #32)
• 2004: "Boogie" (UK #66)
• 2005: "Surrender"
• 2006: "Jump And Move" (feat. Jamalski) (download only)
• 2006: "I Don't Know Why (I Love You)"
• 2007: "Let's Do It Again"
• 2009: "C'est Magnifique" (download only)

^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Brand New Heavies official website
• The Brand New Heavies at MySpace
• Delicious Vinyl Official website
• NDeaDavenport.com - Official Site of N'Dea Davenport
• Interview 2009

Debi Nova
Background information
Birth name	Deborah Nowalski Kader
Born	San José, Costa Rica
Origin	Escazú, Costa Rica
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, Dancer
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Warner Bros. Decca Label Group
Associated acts	Britney Spears, Sérgio Mendes, Boney James, Ricky Martin
Website	www.debinova.com/

Deborah Nowalski Kader, better known by her stage name Debi Nova, is a Costa Rican singer-songwriter and dancer from Escazú, Costa Rica who resides in Los Angeles, California.

Nova has sung on various projects from jazz artist Boney James to rapper Q-Tip to Sérgio Mendes and Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. Her single CD, "One Rhythm," has an English version, Spanish version and six mixes.

Early life[link]

Debi was born in San José, Costa Rica and is of Polish Jewish descent. She started playing piano at age four, and played classical music for ten years. She moved to Los Angeles at age 17. She is a graduate of Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music, la Agencia Internacional de Mariela Centeno ha tratado de colocarla en diferentes producciones de peliculas en Los Angeles.

Career[link]

Nova started as a backing vocalist for Gandhi,^[1] with whom she had the chance to open for Deep Purple.^[2] She also has worked with Ricky Martin, with whom she recorded a Spanish version of the song "I Don't Care". Nova made background vocals for Britney Spears in her song "Lace and Leather", from her album Circus.

In 2004 she scored a #1 track on Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart with "One Rhythm".^[3] A remix of the song was featured on the soundtrack for the EA Sports video game FIFA Football 2005.

More recently, she has featured on projects by Illa J (brother of J Dilla) and Sa-Ra as well as Urban Legend (artist)'s Tropical Techniques.

On April 20, 2010, she made her US television debut on Dancing with the Stars. Nova also participated in the Colgate MaxWhite Charging Up The Music campaign.^[4]

She recently released her first studio album Luna Nueva in 2010, which features her new single "Drummer Boy".

Nova is one-third of the group "LR1" (Latinos are One) along with Jean Shepherd (of the electro-latin funk band, Navegante) and Velcro. The single "Maña y Corazón" was produced by Andres Levin and released on September 13th, 2011 to kick off Latino Heritage Month.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• 2010: Luna Nueva
• 2013: TBA

Singles[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Debi Nova on Myspace
• Debi Nova on Twitter
• Debi Nova at the Internet Movie Database
• Debi Nova at Allmusic

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Eldra Patrick "El" DeBarge ^[1] (born June 4, 1961) is an American R&B/pop singer-songwriter, known as the lead singer and co-founder of the R&B/soul music family group DeBarge throughout the early to mid-1980s. As a solo artist, he is best known for the hits "Who's Johnny" and "Love Always" and for his collaborations with Tone Loc, Quincy Jones, Fourplay and DJ Quik. DeBarge is a three-time Grammy nominee.^[2][3]

Life and career[link]

Early life[link]

A native of Detroit, Michigan, El was the sixth of ten children born to Robert Louis DeBarge, Sr. (1932–2009) and Etterlene (née Abney) DeBarge. DeBarge was already singing in his local church choir and playing piano as a child. Later after his family moved to Grand Rapids, he and the rest of his family began performing at their uncle's Pentecostal church. At thirteen, his parents divorced after a difficult and stormy marriage. El is of African American, English, French Canadian and Native American descent. Growing up, he was closest to eldest brother Bobby and began imitating his brother's vocal styling.

For several years, El spent time being in private study with music educator Ricky Callier. By 1975, El had begun to express a desire to become a performer. El became a father for the first time at fifteen. He would eventually father eleven children. In 1977, he dropped out of high school and began performing with his elder brothers in clubs and venues in Michigan. That year, Gregory Williams, a member of brother Bobby's group, Switch began mentoring El and brothers Marty and Randy, helping to record early recordings as part of the SMASH imprint. By 1979, eldest sister Bunny joined her brothers and Williams sent a demo of the siblings' recordings to Motown CEO Berry Gordy, who immediately signed the group, then known as The DeBarges, to the label.

Motown mentored them with members later working and contributing songwriting, arrangements and production to the recordings of Switch, including the 1980 albums, This Is My Dream and Reaching for Tomorrow. El DeBarge's first professional recording was as background vocalist to Switch's 1979 hit, "I Call Your Name". He later helped to arrange music for several Switch songs including "Love Over and Over Again" and "My Friend in the Sky", which he, Bunny and Bobby wrote. The song later would be sampled by the likes of Queen Pen and Raheem DeVaughn.

Music career[link]

In 1981, The DeBarges was released after the family had worked in the studio for a year recording it. The album was noted for most of its songs produced and written by all four family members including Bobby DeBarge, who helped end the album track, "Queen of My Heart" after El had led the song for most of its tenure. The following album, 1982's All This Love featured younger brother James and saw much success with the compositions, "I Like It" and the title track. El would remain the producer and arranger for all of the group's Motown albums.

In 1983, DeBarge released In a Special Way, which spawned the hits "Time Will Reveal" and "Love Me in a Special Way" and in 1984, the band became a sensation while touring for Luther Vandross on the singer's Busy Body tour. Though the group enjoyed much success and appeared to be a family unit, there was growing tensions between El and his brothers mainly because of Motown's push to have El become the only noted star of the group, repeating a pattern that began with Smokey Robinson and The Miracles. By the end of the tour, El DeBarge was mainly called to handle the production of DeBarge's next album, Rhythm of the Night, without much help from his siblings.

Rhythm of the Night became the group's best-selling album ever though some contended that El DeBarge was the only member present on the album with the exception of the title track, which became a top five hit in several countries including the US and UK becoming the group's and El's signature song. In 1986, El DeBarge left the group and began his solo career with the release of his self-titled debut album, which spawned the hits, "Who's Johnny" and "Love Always". Three years passed, however, until DeBarge released his second album, Gemini in 1989. The album was a failure and DeBarge's contract with Motown was terminated in 1990 and he signed with Warner Bros.. In the meantime, DeBarge was featured on the Quincy Jones single, "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)", alongside Al B. Sure!, James Ingram and Barry White, released in 1990.

In 1992, DeBarge released his third album, the Maurice White-produced In The Storm, which featured the Chante Moore duet, "You Know What I Like", which was Moore's first professional recording. Critics noted the album for its Marvin Gaye-styled productions, with El DeBarge later admitting that Gaye was a huge influence on his musical style. He once commented that he had initially written "All This Love" as a song he imagined Gaye doing, even imitating Gaye's ad-libs during his I Want You era near the end. That same year, he had chart success on the R&B charts with a collaboration with Fourplay on their version of Gaye's "After the Dance". DeBarge's next album, 1994's Heart, Mind and Soul, was co-produced with Babyface, yielding modest charted singles such as "Slide" and "Where is My Love" (which featured Babyface on duet vocals).

While DeBarge continued to collaborate on other artists' projects including brother Chico and rapper DJ Quik among others (the duo collaborated on Quik's hit "Hand In Hand"), he didn't release any more albums between 1994 and 2009. In 2010, he finally emerged from a sixteen-year delay with the appropriately titled Second Chance, released after a series of comeback performances and appearances including a well received performance at the 2010 BET Awards. The album yielded two singles, "Second Chance" and the Faith Evans duet "Lay With You", and later resulted in three Grammy Award nominations: Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Song,^[2] and Best R&B Album.^[3] He remains the only member of the DeBarges to have Grammy nominations outside of the group and in the family altogether.

Personal life[link]

El was raised in Detroit and Grand Rapids as a child. El's parents had a tumultuous marriage that involved domestic abuse and child abuse on the part of El's father Robert. El has remained mum on his relationship with his father and many other elements of his family life, later documented in books written by his mother Etterlene, sister Bunny and brother Tommy. In 1976, El DeBarge became a father to his first child, a daughter named Adris. He eventually went on to father eleven children altogether. He had a set of twins that died from Dallas, Texas. El was close to his siblings, particularly his brothers Bobby and Chico. Bobby DeBarge's death in 1995 had a profound effect on El, family members later saying he has never fully recovered from Bobby's death. Since Bobby's death, he has performed several of Bobby's songs with Switch onstage, sometimes with Chico DeBarge singing along. El and several DeBarge brothers reunited in 1998 performing several DeBarge classics. El currently lives in Los Angeles.

Legal problems and drug addiction[link]

In 2001 he was arrested for cocaine possession and was given probation. In 2006 he was arrested again for possession of a controlled substance and was once again given probation. In 2007 he was arrested in a domestic dispute and was held without bail. The charges were later dropped. Later that year he was arrested yet again and charged with cocaine possession and given probation again. However, he was once again arrested in 2008 for possession of crack and drug paraphernalia, breaking the terms of his probation. For this violation he was immediately sentenced to two years in federal prison in California.

El has had a history of drug abuse. He stated that his addiction started after he began receiving prescription medication for toothache pain after having a tooth pulled by a dentist. Up until then, El DeBarge had been seen as reliable, especially in comparison to his siblings, whose accounts of drug abuse started during the tenure of the group. By the mid-1990s, El had become addicted, and his addiction resulted in his career faltering after its peaks in the 1980s. Following a prison sentence in which he served two years, El declared himself born again and announced that he had found sobriety after an addiction that he said had lasted nearly 25 years, stating he had also acknowledged his problems with the law in the past.

However in February 2011, while promoting Second Chance, DeBarge's label announced that the singer was canceling all public dates and appearances as he went back to rehab following a relapse.^[4] DeBarge has since returned to work and made an appearance at the 54th Grammy Awards in February 2012. He had failed to appear at the previous Grammy Awards due to his drug relapse.

On March 20, 2012, El was arrested in Encino for possession and sale of narcotics.^[5] The singer, however, will not be charged because a Los Angeles district attorney found insufficient evidence.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Compilation albums[link]

Singles[link]

Featured singles[link]

See also[link]

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• "Heart & Soul: El DeBarge 2010 Interview". http://www.soulmusic.com/elde20in.html.