All of the members grew up in religious families and performed in gospel groups. In a 1991 Entertainment Weekly album review, critic Arion Berger described the project as “sophisticated beyond the band members’ years,” “lush,” and “propelled by a brash energy.” The Charlotte, North Carolina quartet consisted of two pairs of brothers: Cedric “K-Ci” Hailey, Joel “JoJo” Hailey, Donald “DeVante Swing” DeGrate and Dalvin “Mr. What Jodeci brought to the table was a brand of R&B that was unapologetically sexual, brazen and groundbreaking. By this time, there was plenty of room at the table for different music stylings to prosper. As they transitioned into adulthood, Bobby Brown was infamously pegged as the band’s bad boy and his subsequent solo career capitalized on his trademark raunchiness. However, their youthfulness-along with the pressure Black artists face to appease societal and industry expectations-meant that pushing the envelope came with restrictions.
The ultimate prototype for Black male music groups, New Edition, set the tone for what it meant to have dimensionality both artistically and lyrically.
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