R&B Music Forum

Great question. One thing that I think was critical for Boyz II Men was their clean image. Jodeci had the bad boy reputation that was passed on to Dru Hill and it made me feel less connected to them which in turn, made me less connected to their music.

Plus, when it comes to tracks, I always felt Jodeci's vocals were kinda bland and the chorus's sounded too repetitive. Needless to say, I always loved the Boyz II Men offerings.

What about you guys?

Great controversial question, you mean R&B Guru. I like Boyz 2 Men and they are the more talented, but, I have to go with Jodeci. When these 2 first came out I was in my early/mid twenties and I was single. Like many young single men at that age back then I frequent the clubs almost every weekend and Thursday, Ladies Night. If my memory serves me, I have never heard a Boyz 2 Men dance track or slow jam being played in the club. I do remember a lot of request to the DJ for Jodeci. This does not mean that Jodeci was the better group. However, to me, it does seem like that they had more playing time in the urban night life setting.

^^^I co-sign that mars. Proms/weddings/funerals was more of a Boyz II Men music setting, while parties/get-togethers/nightlife was more suitable for Jodeci music.

They are both great and held down R&b in the 90's, but Jodeci is my preference too (Not saying they are better exaclty better, but I would listen to them before I listen to BIIM). Their musicianship (the fact that they, well Devante, produced/wrote just about all the songs themselves, no Babyface, Jimmmy Jam/Lewis or big name producers by their side etc.) Trendsetting/Influence (baggy clothes, bad boy image that wasn't done before, that groups and even solo artist like Ginuwine followed with afterwards) their ballads (U&I, Cry For You, Good Luv etc.) and more of an urban appeal than Boyz II Men is what did it for me.

Boyz II Men did make the better overall albums, and Jodeci had the weaker uptempo songs easily (Vibin, MotownPhilly etc. are better than Get On Up, Lets Go Through The Emotions etc.), but I liked their ballads way more than BIIM's.

Devante's production was way ahead of its time, while his songwriting, multi-instrumentation and "the brain" behind Jodeci helped mold the group to be so distinctive.

Boyz II Men did have more hits/sales/awards/ and a better overall harmony, but I feel Jodeci's harmony was more rough/soulful/edgdy whatever u wanna put it, and they just had they extra "umph" in what they did. Boyz II Men was great tho. They brought back that traditional Motown 60s/70's harmony, but sometimes I feel they were a bit too clean, "mama's boy-ish/preppy" which they could of toned down a bit. I do agree with y'all when you say some Jodeci songs have the same sound, but so did Boyz II Men which became repetitive at time (I'll Make Love, End of The Road, Bended Knee etc.)


Who else other than K-Ci could get away with this adlib?

"Jojo i'm right here yes i am yaaaaay!
I will cry for you lady!....
....Sometimes my pillows get so wet with tears...
I don't have no one to call my own, I wantcha back baby!"

LOL.


As for their albums,

Cooleyhighharmony (1991) >> Forever My Lady (1991)

Diary Of A Mad Band (1993) = II (1994)

The Show, The After-Party, The Hotel (1995) >> Evolution (1997)


I prefer Jodeci, but it's close.

^^^^LOL.. That Christmas album used to get mad play at my house, so much that it broke...Oh well, still got the Mariah Carey and Luther Christmas joints. As for the youtube thing, Ive notced it too. I'd be surfing yoututbe watching old videos I grew up watching, reminiscing, and also notice comments like this....

"I love this music, my mom used to play it around the house, not that garbage on tv in todays R&B, and I'm only 16. Blah Blah Blah"

....yeah comments like that is what you mean right? I see a lot of those too. LOL. It just shows how timeless music was in the 90's. Not just the primary artists, even the cheap imitation artists.

I don't know or heard anything about Teddy coming back, but I did hear about New Edition making a coming this year (its their 25th anniversary, 1983-2008) but I doubt it. Teddy did produced some tracks for Keith Sweat newest album "Just Me". If Teddy is coming back tho, I hope its Guy, and not him as a solo artist or a Blackstreet comeback either.

Hmmm....Gerald Sweat is a good choice....maybe Johnny Gill? They had the same type of market and were popular around the same time with similar type songs?

'Rub u the right way' vs. 'i want her',
'I'll give all my love to you' vs. 'my my my'
'make you sweat' vs. 'fairweather friend'

the only thing is that Keith had more albums and was "begging/whining" more inhis songs, but johnny gill would outsing him, and just about every other male artist of the 90's. Either way, Gerald, Keith and Johnny Gill did make good music together as L.S.G. and as solo artists.

I dont know.... maybe Gerald would be a better comparison, It's hard to compare Keith to another artist. What about Guy, who would say their competitor is? After 7? Bell Biv Devoe? or maybe their 'imitation artist' Basic Black?

I not to proud to beg. LOL. You're right he does do a lot of begging.

LSG, three late 80s and 90s mega stars.

A competitor to Guy, IMO, would be R. Kelly-Public Announcement. Their first albums are similar in sound and they target the same audience.

R&B Guru thanks for the greeting and your site. Its hard to find genuine R&B music enthusiasts. I am not yet quite the 90s R&B music lover you are, but I'm getting there. The R&B/NJS music of the late 80s and early 90s brings back some fond memories when ever I hear it. I had some very good times during those years.

Now, as I've gotten older, I am 42 yrs old, I split time listening to smooth jazz and 90s/NJS R&B. My whole R&B collection is between the years 1988 to 1995, except I've have almost all of Brian Mcknights LPs. I also have a liking for the 70s to mid 80s Funk/Soul/R&B and I have a modest collection of some bands in that era...SOS Band, OneWay, Zapp, Con Funk Shun, Ohio Players, and others.

Back to the topic. When Jodeci came on the scene, I was attracted to the lyrical content of their music more so than the performance. Especially their ballads. It seemed that the lyrics matched the mood. Surely, Boyz 2 Men can put on a better show. However, I remember now that back then I was mimicing the lyrics of Jodeci a whole lot more than the lyrics of Boyz 2 Men.