Ah yes… so as I prep for next week’s Strictly Hip-Hop Dirty 30, I been on R&B mode a lil’ bit as of late. In fact, the other day, I was asked if I was in love TWICE because I was rockin’ with some old smooth shit. I may have been kinda checkin’ for someone lately, and it is cuffin’ season, but it’s nothin’ to do with my mellow moods and whatnot… haha!
Anyway, in the process of playing my (MASSIVE) ’90s R&B playlist, I was prompted to drop the fourth installment of “One Hitta Quittas”. Three of these artists came out with a bang and dropped off the planet just as fast, while one took a minute to score a hit before returning to his hitless state. Whatever way it went down, these four tracks all made quite an impression back in the day, even as the artists themselves failed to.
UNV “Somethin’s Goin’ On” (1993): By ’93, R&B was packed with four- and five-man groups, many of whom were finding their most success with ballads. One standout slow jam from that year was by UNV (which stood for Universal Nubian Voices), who were signed to Madonna‘s Maverick label. “Something’s Goin’ On” was a strong debut single for the group, but it seemed to end there. Their follow-up singles from their debut album didn’t do nearly as well, and their second album from ’95… well, let’s just say I didn’t know it existed until I Wiki‘d them. Still, “Something’s…” is one of those examples of how the right group of singers with the right song can strike a chord at least once.
Adina Howard “Freak Like Me” (1995): In the year that was 1995, no one got my lil’ 15-year-old hormones jumpin’ like Adina Howard. When “Freak Like Me” became a hit early that year, it set off a bit of controversy as well. This was prior to Lil’ Kim, and there weren’t too many Black female singers who were coming off this sexual in their image and music at the time, so Adina was kinda pushin’ the envelope for that time in which she came out. Most females I knew either loved the song or thought she was the biggest slore out there. As for myself, I just wanted to hump her. Once the platinum success of “Freak…” passed, Adina dropped some more freaky shit, but none of ‘em did it quite like this one.
Subway feat. 702 “This Lil’ Game We Play” (1995): Speaking of 15-year-old hormones… while most teenage groups stayed away from the sexual themes in their music, Michael Bivins debuted two new groups that jumped on into it. One was a male quartet named Subway, and their first single featured four females by the name of 702. This slow joint about teenagers doin’ the grown-up became a hit, with its back-and-forth dialogue between the boys and girls about what they were gonna do with their pubescent private parts. Incidentally, “This Lil’ Game…” was just the beginning of a nice run for 702 that continued through the late-’90s, but it was just about it for Subway.
Jesse Powell “You” (1998): Jesse Powell was one of those midrange R&B acts throughout the late-’90s, who never scored a hit, but would at least get some decent airplay on BET. He had dropped quite a few singles and two albums before finally scoring with “You” in early-’99. The wild thing about “You” is that it was actually on both his self-titled debut album in ’96 and his second album ‘Bout It from ’98. Who knows why or how that happened, but I guess he was so confident in the song, he had to drop it again. Turns out he was right about it, because it went to #2 on the R&B chart and #10 on the Hot 100. After hitting a lick with “You”, Jesse went back to lukewarm, and hasn’t been seen in a hot minute.
So uhhh… yeah! There’s four more hits fo’ ya, hope you enjoyed ‘em. Maybe there’s a chance you heard some other songs by these folks… but odds are you prob’ly forgot ‘em. ‘Til next time, Lovers, be good- and if you can’t be good, be good at it.
-D!
Yahz! Adina and Jesse! Remember those well.
I liked Jesse before he popped off with “You” and every chick was on his tip. It was at that time I started to not like him anymore. Go figure. *shrug*
check that sh*t out… so you were rockin’ with “I Wasn’t With It” and all that, eh? HAHA, you a ol’ BET-watchin’ animal.
-D!
I was! *tilts halo* lol
Former UNV member, J.Poww has a new album, Journey of a Man, available on all major online outlets. Check it out on http://www.reverbnation.com/jpowwofunv. You won’t be disappointed!
Man Danj!…you brought me back w/this one. I thought I was the only person alive who still remembered UNV’s ‘Something’s Going On’! I LOVED that song, and used to try to warble it out to chicks I was ‘courtin’. LOL! As far as Adina, I LOVED that chick, but I really flipped when one her the dancers in the Freak Like Me video started attending my school. She was almost a celebrity…at least she wa in my mind, and she was fine as hell. Man…I tried like hell to get at her, but it wasn’t happening. Thanks for the memories…and the hot ol’ skool joints.
Maaan… that UNV joint was a thorough ass song there. Not sure what happened after that, but a good way to come out the box.
Maaannnn… I’da prob. been tryin’ to cuff the Adina dancer too. The damn ‘Up & Down’ video alone woulda been enough to have me on that, yessirrrr.
-D!
“You” –definitely one one the videos I’d constantly flip to BET hoping to see.
And they def. played it enough, haha… every 45 minutes it seemed like, Jesse and his tiny neck were on the screen.
-D!
Subway had a song called “Fire” that was pretty good too. I was never a fan of Jessie Powell or that song!
I do remember “Fire”, vaguely…
-D!
That UNV song always is strangely in my head, I know all the lyrics verbatim. *shrug*, lol
Not a bad song to remember tho’… “she left me cryinnnnnnnnn’!” HAHA- it’s one of those songs I appreciate more now, too. I was still in my strictly hip-hop mode then, whereas now, I’m all R&B’ed out during the cold months, lol
-D!
I know this has nothing to do with this post but can you please do a review of J Cole’s new mixtape “Friday Night Lights”, I think its a classic
DanJ you’re my favorite blogger’s favorite blogger! I am totally feeling that you included Subway on this in one of your posts! I had their tape back in the day “Good Times,” & I liked the song “Fire” even more than I liked “This Lil’ Game We Play,” & that was my jam. *sigh* I knew all about UNV, Adina Howard & Jesse Powell’s singles because I am now & have always been a BET head. I don’t know if you ever mentioned this on any of your other posts, but Jesse Powell’s sisters (i think) had that one hit wonder “My Love is the Shhh” with Somethin’ for the People…..
[...] One Hitta Quittas, Vol. 4 by Danj! [...]
UNV – never heard that song, kinda mediocre
freak like me – my SHIT! wasnt tupac in the vid? and danj t-shirt and my panties on was grammy material…how dare you leave that out
this lil game – i recall bein soooo uncomfortable when hearing this song lol i was so young but knew what they were implying…
You – all i remembered was those tommy hilfiger draws smh but going back to watch the vid, that main girl has been around for a MINUTE lmao