Or Babyface’s own solo career, which took off with the 1989 No. Whether strumming his guitar, playing keyboards or just singing (and joined by brother Kevon on several songs), a clearly invigorated and impassioned Babyface fed off the love fest between himself and an appreciative, singalong audience.īabyface’s early career success came with Antonio “L.A.” Reid (now Island Def Jam CEO) - first as members of the Deele (“Two Occasions”) and later as co-founders of LaFace Records, home to Toni Braxton, TLC, OutKast and Usher. Gauging by the reaction when Babyface performed the single “Sorry for the Stupid Things” and the album’s title track during the BET taping, people will likely readily accept the artist’s new music. In other words, there will be no major surprises as there were on “Face2Face.” BMG North America CEO Clive Davis “wanted me to do something with a youthful, fun edge to it without people asking, ‘What are you doing?!'” Babyface says. He also stresses that while “Grown & Sexy” is contemporary, it features “classic Babyface songs tweaked with some of today’s production values so it can keep the same fans and still grab a new audience.” Things I learned about singing differently, messing around with how a song might flow differently… I wouldn’t have been able to grow without doing that record.” “It’s still a very important record in my career. “I did mixed things on that, which was good. “The actual process was amazing,” Babyface recalls of “Face2Face,” whose release date unfortunately coincided with the Sept. Despite a top 10 R&B hit with the sexy, Neptunes-produced “There She Goes,” the album has sold less than 500,000 units, much less than his previous efforts. The answer four years ago was, “Not very well.” “Face2Face” featured a falsettoed and profanity-spewing Babyface getting edgy with Snoop Dogg and others.

Which prompts the question: How will Babyface’s latest fusion of youthful sensibilities and his patented, silky R&B fare with the public? But there’s still a certain amount of youth quality to the record.” “It means being comfortable with who you are, where you are in your life,” Babyface says of the title for the July 26 J Records release. It’s also the title of the songwriter/producer’s latest album. The phrase aptly describes the audience that recently gathered for the taping of BET’s forthcoming Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds special.

Babyface face2face album