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Chico DeBarge
Chico at B.B. King's House of Blues club in New York
Background information
Birth name	Jonathan Arthur DeBarge
Born	(1966-06-23) June 23, 1966 (age 46) Detroit, Michigan
Genres	Pop, R&B, soul, neo soul, hip hop soul
Instruments	Keyboards, piano, vocals
Years active	1986-present
Labels	Motown, Kedar
Associated acts	El DeBarge, Joe

Jonathan Arthur "Chico" DeBarge (born June 23, 1966, Detroit, Michigan) is an American R&B singer and a younger brother of the members of the Motown family act DeBarge. Unlike the rest of his DeBarge siblings, Chico is the only male DeBarge that does not sing in the falsetto range that is well known in his family; he sings tenor.

Biography[link]

Recording career[link]

He began a musical career of his own with Motown in the mid-1980s. His debut self-titled album featured the hit single "Talk To Me." He released a second album with Motown, Kiss Serious, but was imprisoned for drug charges not long after and served time in prison for drug trafficking.^{[citation needed]} After his release in the mid-1990s, DeBarge returned to Motown to continue his musical career under the auspices of Kedar Massenberg and his neo-soul pioneering label imprint Kedar Entertainment.

He later moved to the independent record label, Koch Records, where he released 2003's Free. DeBarge also contributed a song to the Beauty Shop movie soundtrack courtesy of Alove Entertainment. His most recent album Addiction was released July 14, 2009 under Kedar Entertainment Group.^[1]

On October 2, 2010, DeBarge performed with Glenn Jones, Lenny Williams and Regina Belle at the Performing Arts Center in Tampa, Florida.

Personal life[link]

He has five children (Cheyanne DeBarge, Chicoco DeBarge, Manny DeBarge, Abrielle DeBarge, Dontae DeBarge) and is in the process of divorcing Andrea Bordenave, who filed for divorce from him in mid 2009. He is also the ex-beau of singer/actress Nona Gaye.^[2]

In 2008, Chico DeBarge appeared in the video for Joe's single, "We're Family" off the Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins soundtrack.

In the fall of 2003, Chico DeBarge was stabbed outside a Philadelphia nightclub, by the South Philadelphia Italian mafioso named John "Johnny Gongs" Casasanto, after the two engaged in an argument, in which Casasanto called DeBarge a "titsune", the Italian equivalent to the word "coon."^[3]

In 2007, DeBarge was arrested for drug possession in California and later went to rehab. In 2009, he admitted to addictions to heroin, cocaine and prescription medication and based his album, aptly titled Addiction, on his drug struggles.

Discography[link]

Chico DeBarge in Concert in New York

Albums[link]

• 1986: Chico DeBarge
• 1988: Kiss Serious
• 1997: Long Time No See
• 1999: The Game
• 2003: Free
• 2009: Addiction

Singles[link]

• 1986: "Talk to Me" (US #21, R&B #7, UK #88)
• 1987: "The Girl Next Door"
• 1987: "Rainy Night" (R&B #18)
• 1997: "Iggin' Me" (UK #50)^[4]
• 1997: "Love Still Good"
• 1998: "No Guarantee" (featuring Joe)
• 1998: "Virgin" (R&B #97)
• 1999: "Soopaman Lover" (R&B #55)
• 1999: "Give You What You Want (Fa Sure)" (US #71, R&B #11)
• 1999: "Give You What You Want (South Central Remix)" (featuring Trina)
• 2000: "Listen to Your Man" (featuring Joe) (R&B #41)
• 2000: "Playa Hater"
• 2003: "Home Alone"
• 2009: "Oh No" (R&B #76)

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2011)

Erick Sermon (born November 25, 1967, Bay Shore, New York, United States)^[1] is an American rapper, musician, and producer.

Sermon is best known as half of late-1980s–1990s hip hop group EPMD^[2] and for production work. He currently resides in Islandia, New York.

Career[link]

The Green-Eyed Bandit also made multiple solo recordings and albums. He began recording solo albums for Def Jam in 1993; in 1997, he rejoined EPMD. The following year, Sermon, Murray and Redman recorded a cover version of "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang, the first hit hip hop record. EPMD disbanded a second time in 1999.

In 2000, Sermon moved over to J Records, and released the album Music the following year. The title track (a Top 40 pop hit that also made it to #2 on the US Billboard R&B chart), featured guest vocals from Marvin Gaye, culled from unreleased recordings which Sermon reportedly found in a small record shop in London.

Sermon continued working on an album. React was released in 2002. The title track became a major hit song, though the album still had disappointing sales. In 2003, J Records dropped Sermon due to poor record sales. However, he still went on to establish his Def Squad imprint with Motown Records. At this time, he recorded an album, Chilltown, N.Y., which was released a year later in 2004. The album was powered by the single "Feel It" (which contained a sample of reggae/R&B singer Sean Paul), a song which became a success in the United States.

In an interview, he stated that he was going to step aside and try to get upcoming artists in the spotlight. However, Sermon has not stopped in the music industry, as he produced the song "Goldmine" on Busta Rhymes' album, The Big Bang in 2006. Soon after, Sermon has recorded "Don't Make No Sense" with Def Squad. He also collaborated with Redman and produced a few songs on the album Red Gone Wild while also making an appearance with Def Squad member Keith Murray.

Sermon was also heavily involved in Method Man's 2006 album 4:21... The Day After as well as the 1999 platinum Blackout! album by Method Man & Redman.

In early 2008, Sermon and EPMD started their own record label called EP Records, distributed by RBS/Universal Music Group. The seventh EPMD album, We Mean Business, came out in December 2008.

Sermon was featured in the final episode of Yo! MTV Raps in a freestyle session featuring artists such as Rakim, KRS-One, Chubb Rock, MC Serch and Craig Mack.

On November 12, 2011, Sermon suffered a heart attack from which he recovered.^[3]

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Erick Sermon at the Internet Movie Database
• Erick Sermon on Myspace

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.