…Annnd as HipHopSoulWeek continues on DanjLovesThe90s…
They always talk about those definitive R&B albums of the ’90s. You know-12 Play, 411, Motownphilly, Brown Sugar, My Life, CrazySexyCool, etc. And no doubt, they all did a lot to shape the sound as those years went on. But recently, when asked to name some of my favorite ’90s R&B albums, one of the first that popped in my head was one that rarely ever gets mentioned. It’s a personal classic of mine, and definitely one that represents the Hip-Hop Soul era to the fullest- the self-titled debut album by the “bad girls of Bad Boy“, Total.
In ’95, as I mentioned the other day, “Can’t You See” was a huge deal. I still remember seeing the video on BET for the first time, during a random day off from school. That James Brown “Payback” sample and Biggie guest verse had me on a dash to get that record as soon as it was available. As part of the New Jersey Drive soundtrack, it was a proper introduction to Bad Boy’s first R&B act. It rocked for a good part of the year, but once it faded out, everything went pretty much back to normal. I don’t recall there being a huge buzz for more Total material once “Can’t You See” was over.
But then… around the end of ’95, there was this new joint that started getting played on the radio mixshows heavy. It sampled the classic Boogie Down Productions “South Bronx” beat, and I had no idea who it was. It could’ve been one of what was then many random girl groups that were out there, but hell if I knew which one. A couple weeks later, the video for “No One Else” dropped, and Total was back on the scene. Heading into ’96, Bad Boy was still on its hot streak, and it continued with the promo rolling for the Total album.
I took a while to get around to hearing the whole thing, but somethin’ happened around early-’96: I got on thought-I-was-in-love mode kinda hard, even to the point of listenin’ to the slow jam show every night. I was callin’ in and doin’ the dedications and all that ol’ silly shit. So in the process of listening to all these love songs, they played “Kissing You”. Now of course, I liked “Can’t You See”, “No One Else”, and Keisha’s thighs their remixes as well… but that one was the shit that made me check out the tape. And for the last 15 years, it’s been one of my favorite albums, period.
I gotta be real about it, tho’- Total wasn’t exactly the best group of female vocalists in the world. Keisha, Kima, and Pam weren’t offensively terrible, but they weren’t givin’ En Vogue any trouble on any day of the week. Yet still, in the same Bad Boy fashion that had made two of the least photogenic rappers ever into mainstream successes, these not-so-great singers were given some great material and production to make a hot album. With Puffy, Chucky Thompson, Trackmasters, Raphael Saadiq handling most of the music, it woulda been hard for them to lose. I coulda done without a skit of Puff learnin’ to eat coochie and gettin’ spanked by Keisha, but the rest of this shit was dead-on.
All the singles from the album were thorough, as were the remixes of those singles (particularly the “Kissing You” remix from my beloved summer of ’96), but the album-only cuts weren’t lackin’ either. If Puff had decided to go single-droppin’ crazy, there were definitely more potential hits on there. From the opening track “Do You Know” to the early Neptunes production “When Boy Meets Girl”, Total sure-as-shit weren’t at a shortage when it came to the bangers. It may not have been as vocally strong as say, Faith Evans‘ album was, but it was a pure Bad Boy classic from top to bottom.
Total is what’s often described as an “underrated gem”- an album that’s just as good as the others that get all the love, but for whatever reason tends to be under-acknowledged. Like any great Hip-Hop Soul-era album, they had tracks smooth enough to hit radio, but with beats that knocked enough to make it to the mixtapes too. While they only lasted for one more joint before breaking up and droppin’ off the map, Total brought the heat all through ’96. I don’t know that they necessarily influenced the era, but with this album, they epitomized it.
“Can’t You See” (feat. The Notorious B.I.G.)
-D!
Yeah….I can’t front; I believe that Keisha’s unbelievably thick thighs were the impetus to me giving them a glance, and definitely didn’t hurt in their contribution to my becoming a fan. Their beats were hot, and kind of made up for the overly-nasal singing that they were notorious for (as always pun fully intended). Thanks for dropping these gems.
Mannnnnn… Keisha’s thighs >>>>> eyyyy’thing
But yeah, they were nasal and flat like mad, but hell if they weren’t rockin’. One thing I will say, they had some slick-ass harmony parts on those songs. Hard to be mad at ‘em…
-D!
I am officially disturbed by the skit now. My mouth was hanging open the entire time, as it dragged on for damn near 3 mins. What. The fuck. LOL
I did dig on this girls for a minute. In addition to the singles you mentioned, I also liked “Trippin’ feat. Missy Elliott” and the “Loungin’” joint they did with LL.
On a SN, was the only one that noticed that Pam and Marques Houston (during his permed hair phase) could’ve gone for twins? No? Oh.
Yeah… that skit was some ol’ other sh*t… I’d prob’ly go in on Keisha myself, but still… wild… lol.
But yeah, Total were doin’ it- that ‘Loungin’ remix was hot too… summer ’96 shit for real.
LMAO @ the Marques Houston shit- reminds me of when ya man was rockin’ a bob hairstyle, hahahaha… if not twins, they def. coulda been sister and brother whose hair the sister was doin’… HA!
-D!
kima, keisha… and pam! loved this group. loved. i grew up during the bad boy era, when puffy was making steady hits.
total was a great group, in terms of having iconic hits and great production. if you ever go to a 90s jam, you will hear total songs. “kissing you” was the first song i played on my acoustic guitar.
i even liked their last album, it wasn’t like their second one but i digress…
that song they had on the soul food soundtrack was fire too!
Yeah, it’s almost sad to see what Bad Boy is today… but I guess Puff’s gettin’ paid, so fukkit, right? Ha! But they were really doin’ it in the prime of that label… like crazy!
But yeah, Total was a prime example of the fact that an act with quality production and direction can make great music no matter what. The only thing that separated them from say, Sa-Deuce or Pure Soul or any other group… was they had their shit together- from music to image to everything… shit was on-point.
-D!
[...] The Total Package by Danj! [...]
yea total was that sh*t. i dont see how theyre overlooked tho. they get their props all the time, unless youre saying that they should get swv/tlc type recognition?
but yea, i was a fan when they came out. i wasnt feeling the stuff they did with timbaland tho. whats the story behind that? were they still with bad boy?
I think this album is overlooked tho’… they def. got love for their singles. I don’t even know if they shoulda got that SWV/TLC recognition overall, but this album? Right up there with the best, IMO.
-D!
“Sitting Home” off the 2nd album is a great song too. Why did they stop making music? They always went at least gold I think.
^^^True… that’s about their last single, if I’m not mistaken. The second album was cool too, but not as put-together as the 1st. It was like they were trying to do half-Bad Boy, half-Timbaland/Missy, but it didn’t work.
-D!
DEAD@that skit, thats the first time me hearing that lmao puff always liked ass play huh, had to favorite that shit…
ive never heard this whole cd either so youre right about them being sorta overlooked….
Puff was crazy as shit for that… the nigga said ‘it huuurrrttttssss’… SMH
-D!
I love them girls. Im still hoping for a comeback. I can do without Kima’s ass. Just give me Kisha and Pam. They were my girls.
I remember doing Cant You See for a talent show in school. You couldnt tell me and my girls werent the shit. LOL The album is absolutely classic and so is the second one. I just wish we could have gotten one more before they broke up.