Jeff Redd is an American singer who performed

new jack swing New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle, new jack swing was mos ...

-style R&B music in the late 1980s - Early 1990s

Career

A New York native, Redd began singing with the short-lived group, The Sophisticated Gents, at the age of 17 in the mid-1980s. Redd has also appeared on ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

'' to sing a song demonstrating “between”. Redd signed a deal with

Uptown Records Uptown Records is an American record label, based in New York City, founded in 1986 by onetime rapper Andre Harrell. From the late 1980s into the early 1990s, it was a leader in R&B and hip hop. During the 1990s, aided by its A&R worker Sean ...

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

after André Harrell saw him perform as a solo artist. Uptown/MCA produced his 1990 debut album ''

A Quiet Storm ''A Quiet Storm'' is the 1975 third solo album by American soul music, soul singer, songwriter, and producer Smokey Robinson. The album received generally positive reviews, and spawned the hit single "Baby That's Backatcha", which spent one week ...

''. It included the uptempo

tracks "

I Found Lovin' "I Found Lovin'" is a song first released by the Fatback Band in 1983 by Master Mix Records and was included on their album ''With Love''. The song reached number 49 on the UK Singles Charts in 1984. The song was re-recorded and released by Impo ...

" and "Come and Get Your Lovin'," and the ballad "Love High." Two of the album's singles found their way onto the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' R&B chart: "What Goes Around Comes Around" reached #53, and "Love High" reached #16. The album ''A Quiet Storm'' had major producers such as

Devante Swing Donald Earle DeGrate Jr. (born September 29, 1969), better known by his stage name DeVanté Swing, is an American record producer, singer, rapper and songwriter. He is the older brother of fellow Jodeci member Dalvin DeGrate. Career In his ea ...

from

Jodeci Jodeci ( ) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B quartet consisting of members DeVanté Swing, Dalvin DeGrate, Mr. Dalvin, K-Ci (singer), K-Ci, and K-Ci and JoJo, JoJo. Formed in 1989 in Charlotte, North Carolina, Jodeci's members began their mu ...

and Timmy Allen as well as The Untouchables Dave "Jam" Hall and Eddie F. It had a strong underground following in the UK, where it fared well by being played on Black radio stations. Remixes were played on Westwood's Capital Rap Show New Jack Swing segment. He released a song entitled "You Called and Told Me" from the '' Strictly Business'' soundtrack in 1991. The song samples 'Catch The Beat' by T-Ski Valley. Redd played a large part in getting then-unknown singer

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

her start in the music industry. While working on the assembly line at General Motors, Redd met Blige's stepfather, who gave Redd a tape that featured Blige performing

Anita Baker Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. She is one of the most popular singers of soulful ballads, especially renowned for her work during the height of the quiet storm period in the 1980s. Starting her career ...

's "Caught Up in the Rapture." After hearing the tape, Redd helped her get signed to Uptown Records. Blige then toured with Redd as one of his backup singers. In 1993, Redd recorded a second album, ''Down Low''. However, before the album could see release,

EMI America EMI America Records was started in 1978 by EMI as a second US label next to Capitol Records. It absorbed Liberty Records in 1984. In the late 1980s, EMI America was consolidated with Manhattan Records to form EMI Manhattan Records, which lat ...

shuttered their entire black music department. As a result, only 1000 copies ever circulated, and the album is very hard to find. Some of the album was produced by rapper Lord Finesse. Jeff Redd then went on to work as an A&R executive at MCA Records. While at MCA, Redd worked with artists like Regina Belle and K-Ci & JoJo. When MCA closed their doors in 2003, Redd established his own independent label, Sol Real Records, LLC. Under this banner, Redd currently works with artists Akili, Blaq Rose and Forever, among others. In 2007, Redd released an album entitled ''Jeff Redd Presents: The Essence of Soul'', a sampler which features tracks from each of these artists. In April 2010, Redd released "Take You Higher".

External links

Jeff Redd InterviewJeff Redd Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Redd, Jeff 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers 20th-century African-American male singers American contemporary R&B singers Living people Singers from New York (state) Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century African-American male singers