Jodeci - Forever My Lady [35th Anniversary Edition]

Released in May 1991 on Andre Harrell's Uptown Records, Forever My Lady arrived at the exact moment new jack swing was hardening into something rougher and more sexual. Two sets of brothers out of Charlotte, K-Ci and JoJo Hailey up front and DeVante Swing and Mr. Dalvin handling the boards, made a debut that went triple platinum and rewrote what an R&B group was allowed to look and sound like.

DeVante produced nearly all of it, and his instincts were sharper than anyone gave him credit for at the time. "Stay," "Forever My Lady," and "Come & Talk To Me" all went to number one on the R&B chart, and K-Ci's lead vocal on the title track is still the reference point for church-trained soul singing pushed to the edge of collapse. "Gotta Love" and "Play Thang" bring the swing, while the interludes and skits give the record a loose, hanging-out quality that most of its contemporaries were too polished to attempt.

Sean Combs was the A&R on this, early in his run at Uptown, and the fingerprints of everything that came after are already here. Boyz II Men had the harmonies; Jodeci had the danger.

This 35th anniversary 2LP adds five bonus tracks, including the hip hop version of "Cherish," the Swing Mob radio mix of "I'm Still Waiting," a previously unreleased a cappella "Stay," and "Forever My Lady" live from MTV Unplugged. Uptown Records and Motown.