EP113: Shana Redmond on Jodeci’s “Forever My Lady” (1991)

The Album: Jodeci’s Forever My Lady (1991)

“Don’t talk, just listen.”Jodeci announced themselves to the world on their 1991 debut album, Forever My Lady. They didn’t invent new jack swing but few R&B groups so seamlessly melded the bravado of hip-hop style with soulful pipes that could melt hearts and quicken pulses. Backed by the musical mentorship of Al B. Sure and A&R-ed by a young Uptown intern named Sean “Puffy” Combs, Jodeci all but heralded the end of ‘80s quiet storm respectability and stepped left of the youthful innocence of early New Edition and even the genteel charm of their contemporaries, Boyz II Men. K-Ci, JoJo, Mr. Dalvin and DeVanté Swing were the self-proclaimed “bad boys of R&B” and they wore that attitude on their sleeve and in their songs.

Forever My Lady was the pick of our guest, UCLA professor, Dr. Shana Redmond who studies popular music, race and politics. Her first book, from 2014, was Anthem: Social Movements and the Sound of Solidarity in the African Diaspora and she’s currently working on two new books including Everything Man about the life and legacy of singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson. She discovered Jodeci at the precocious age of 11 and along with Morgan and Oliver, they discussed how Jodeci cut a different path into R&B of the era, whether the album’s ballads or dance jams aged better, and whether or not Jodeci covering the ‘60s pop group, The Association, was a wise decision or not.