90s R&B

Hey R&B Fans

After seemingly having bad news every week, we've got the potential for some bright light this week. A lot of acts seem to be gearing up for new releases, with Blaque and SWV getting back together and starting work on new albums. In addition, En Vogue was seen working in Canada with Dawn Robinson back in the group. So keep your fingers crossed, there might be more news from En Vogue in the future. To make it even better, Brandy's working with Epic Records to put out another album. So I hope your wallets are ready, because it looks like we might be getting some chances to buy new albums soon. Blaque's also got a reality TV show coming called "Blaque in the House." Not really my thing, but I've included the promo at the end of the post.

In other news, I reviewed Gerald LeVert's The G Spot and Gerald's World over the past few days. Unfortunately, I wasn't too impressed with either effort. I'm not sure if I'm just burned out on Gerald LeVert or he just really fell off as his career went on. Regardless, I'm gonna switch and start reviewing other artists for a while before getting back to his stuff.

As a last word, we've got a new R&B song of the week. This week, Babyface and Stevie Wonder team up to deliver "How Come, How Long." Both cats are R&B legends and the track is great. It's a sad number about spousal abuse and the video's real artsy too. So check it out!

That's it for this week. As always, keep coming back for your latest in R&B.

Hey all you R&B fans out there. Another week has come and another update has found its way onto R&B Haven.

Starting things off on a downer, this week saw the death of Orish Grinstead. I talked a lot about it in my last post so I won't spend more time on it, but it's a real shame the way so many people affiliated with R&B have been dying lately.

In more uplifting news, we've added the biography for The Force MDs to the site. The group was biggest during the 1980s with their hit "Tender Love" and they seem like really cool guys. I highly recommend the interview clip with them in the music video section as they seem very genuine.

This past week also saw the review of another Gerald Levert album. I reviewed his fourth album, G, which I found pretty disappointing. Love & Consequences and Groove On seemed to be filled with solid tracks, but G seems limited to only a few standouts. Most of the album is simply average, however, it can still be a fun listen.

Finally, another week means there was a new R&B song of the week. To keep diversifying our list, this week is 4PM with their remake of the Japanese hit, "Sukiyaki." Some people might not be fans of the group's occasional boy bandish style, but overall, I think they're a solid group. As always, check out the song!

That's it for the week. Hope you guys have another great week and keep checking back at R&B Haven for the latest in R&B.

I'm sad to report that Orish Grinstead, founding member of the group 702, passed away on Sunday, April 20th. Orish died of kidney failure and had also been suffering from cancer which she had yet to begin receiving treatments for. My condolences go out to the Grinstead family as they make it through these rough times.

Orish had founded the group 702 with her twin sister Irish and her other sister LeMisha. The girls sang outside of boxing matches in their hometown of Las Vegas where they were spotted by Sinbad who helped them get their career started. While Orish left the group early on to start a solo career, the group continued on to release hits like "Steelo," "Where My Girls At?" and "Get It Together."

R&B cats, it's been another busy week at R&B Haven, but I think it's one you'll enjoy the results.

First on the list, and something you might have noticed earlier in the week, we've added an interview with Marc Dorsey. Seen on the features page (or by clicking the top banner), he's a great, deep thinker. Marc worked a lot with Spike Lee during the 90s and had a lot of insight into working as a musician and the effects that the experience can have. It's well worth a read and I recommend everyone check it out!

In the spirit of Marc Dorsey's work, the title track from his debut album, Crave, is this week's song of the week. It's always been one of my favorite tracks of the 90s and is handled well. If you've never heard the song, or even if you listen to it every day, go to the song of the week page and enjoy a listen.

We've also continued to expand our album reviews section, this time reviewing Gerald LeVert's third album, Love & Consequences. I have to say, I was a little disappointed with it at first as its opening tracks are a little off the mark. However, around track 8, the album goes into full gear and is hit after hit. Overall, it's a great album that only further adds to the tragedy of Gerald's loss.

Unfortunately, tragedy will be a concluding theme with this news post as it recently came to my attention that Luther Vandross's mother died this past week. At the forever young age of 82, Mary Ida Vandross died of natural causes, and she tragically had to live through the death's of her husband, her four children and her only grandson. It must have been tough to live through so much death and I hope everyone will take a moment out to pray for her.

That's it for the week. A lot has been going on and so, I recommend everyone to keep checking back as there's always new stuff being added. Have a good week!

Hey R&B fans. I'm proud to say that we worked pretty hard and got a lot of additional content on the site.

First off, we've added six new artist bios in an effort to document every 90s R&B artist. We added Ready For The World, Ray J, Voices Of Theory, Kelly Price, Damage and Nicole Wray. All (most) of the artists have music videos on their pages so be sure to check them all out and get a feel for their sound. And as always, if we're forgetting any 90s R&B artists that you'd like to see added to the site, email me at rnbguru[at]rnbhaven[dot]com and I'll add them ASAP!

We also added another album review this week, doing Gerald LeVert's debut album, Private Line. The album is unfortunately, a bit of a let down after reviewing Gerald's Groove On last week, which I still highly recommend. Despite this, everyone should check out the track "School Me" as it's a great number.

As a final order of business, we've added a new R&B song of the week. I was surprised to see I haven't done an After 7 song in a real long time so I felt obligated to put something up. As such, check out "Til You Do Me Right" from their often overlooked (yet really good) album, Reflections. It's a great number and a pleasant listen.

That's it for the week, as always, feel free to email me with any questions, comments or suggestions. And to end the news post, I figured I'd put up a music video from the OTHER style of After 7's. So click below to watch the great "Dont Cha Think."