Jeff Redd Delivers Sol Music

In the R&B industry, there is a small group of men who have helped define the course of R&B. When thinking of those who might fall into this category, people might quickly say Babyface, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and countless others. One man, who's name most certainly belongs on this list, but may at times get overlooked, is Jeff Redd.

Jeff made his mark on the industry in 1990 with his debut album, Quiet Storm. The album was laced with gems like "I Found Lovin" and "Love High," which was a top 20 hit on the R&B charts.

However, more than anything else, Jeff Redd has defined the industry in his work with other artists. Before Jeff even put out an album, he helped launch the career of Mary J Blige, who's sold over 40 million records. As if that weren't enough, Jeff acted as executive producer for K-Ci & Jojo and helped bring Guy back together.

Having had a major hand in establishing the R&B industry's sound in the 1990s, Jeff Redd is back at it again. Jeff has formed his own label, Sol Real Records, LLC, which already has three acts to its name. Coming back with a fire, 2008 will likely be the year of Jeff Redd as he puts out his own album and helps to bring his labelmates to the forefront.

Jeff recently blessed us with a bit of his time and filled us in on his career, past, present and future. To keep in touch with Jeff, you can check out his MySpace or visit Sol Real Records home page.

Interview With Jeff Redd

Hey Jeff, first of all, I wanted to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us here at R&B Haven. It's always a great pleasure of ours to catch up with the artists that populate our site, especially when they've been involved in so many different aspects of the industry.

To start things off, I thought we'd go back to the start of your solo career. How did you end up meeting Andre Harrell and launching your career as a solo artist?

I started out performing with a local group called the Sophisticated Gents. We did shows all over the NY area. I decided to leave the group and go on as a solo act. I then started going to every single open mic that there was in NY and began developing a name for myself. I was introduced to Andre Harrell by a gentlemen by the name of, Kurt 'Juice' Woodley, who worked at Uptown Records at the time. I was performing all over the tri-state area and Kurt heard about me and Andre eventually came to a club in New Rochelle, NY called, "The Palace" and I got my deal from there.

Jeff Redd's debut album, Quiet Storm, featured classic tracks like "I Found Lovin" and "Love High."

I understand you played an instrumental part in bringing Mary J Blige into the music industry. Can you tell us a little about this experience? What was it about Blige that really impressed you?

Before I got my deal at Uptown records I worked on the assembly line at General Motors in Tarrytown, NY. I was doing my shows at the time and Lil Jimmy (Mary J. Blige's step-father) said that his step daughter could sing. I told him to bring me a cassette (remember we're going back to 1988 before CD's hahahahahah) and he brought me a cassette of Mary singing Anita Baker's, "Caught Up In the Rapture of Love" and what I heard was the pain of a young girl who had been thru a lot. It compelled me enough to pass it on to Andre Harrell and she got her deal from there.

While you had some solid success with your debut album, Quiet Storm, I've heard that you recorded a second album, Down Low. Whatever happened to the album and why didn't it see wide release?

After finishing the recording of the Down Low album we released the 1st single, "Show You" and shot the video and all of a sudden EMI got rid of the entire black music dept. and dropped several artist, including myself. There were only 1000 CD's in print and they're going for $1000 a cd and I don't have one hahahahahah.