When Mimi, Maxee, and Nicci, aka Brownstone, got the news that they were to audition for the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, they freaked. According to New Orleans native Mimi, it was overwhelming: “We had a week to prepare, so we just went crazy,” she says. “We rehearsed, cried, stressed and went shopping.”
They auditioned at Sony Studios in Los Angeles; after Jackson heard them sing one song acapella, he signed them to his MJJ Record Label, distributed by Epic Records. They signed in October, and within a month were in the studio recording their debut album and on the road for their first promotional tour. Last month, they stopped in New Orleans for an appearance at a radio programming convention and to promote their single “If You Love Me” and their upcoming album From the Bottom Up, which is due out the second week of January. The album is a mixture of R&B, jazz, dance and gospel.
“It’s really solid,” says Mimi. “People have told us it’s like a classic—it’s got a classic sound. They compare us to The Emotions, The Clark Sisters and Perri with our harmonies. From the Bottom Up represents real singing from the diaphragm, from way deep down.”
It also represents the group’s individual and collective struggles. Guyana-born Maxee remembers the days when she didn’t have enough to eat. For Mimi and Nicci, the title is a constant reminder of the day-to-day struggles they face in a competitive business where, as Nicci says, you “can never settle at the top.”
Looking ahead to 1995, the group is planning a national tour and striving for multi-platinum success. They’d also like to work with some other female talents on a special project. “We have a goal to write and produce a song with all the female acts and do a great video and just blow the guys out,” says Mimi.
Local rapper Ricky B. was never a big fan of bounce music. In fact, when he first started rapping in 1986, his lyrics were straight-up hardcore gangsta rap. But when he heard DJ Jimi’s version of “Where They At”, he decided to drop the gangsta image and promote non-violent music with a New Orleans bounce sound that kids could dance to. His debut EP on Mobo Records, called Ricky B. For Bouncin’, includes “Ya’ll Holla” and “Shake Fo Ya Hood”—bounce raps with a positive message.
“I try to reach out to the kids and show them that you don’t have to listen to violent songs,” says Ricky. “You can listen to positive music and realize that the city surroundings you live in might be bad, but you don’t have to get into that violent lifestyle.”
This month look for new releases from Ricky B., Final Approach, and MC Spud and Da Mob on Mobo Records.
Rap group E.R.C.—Lavelis Fountain (the rapper), Craig Bazile (the DJ), and Willi Lebeau, III (the dancer)—will release their new single “Visitation to Blackland” this month. It’s the latest release from their Handling Business and Then Some CD on E.R.C. Records.
