Somethin' for the People was a

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythm ...

group from

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, who scored several hits in the US in the late 1990s.

History

The group was founded in 1990 by Curtis "Sauce" Wilson and Jeff "Fuzzy" Young, both from

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, along with Los Angeles native Rochad "Cat Daddy" Holiday. The group recorded demos and shopped them around Los Angeles, and signed with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

, who released their debut in 1993. The song 'Take it Easy', which was first written for

SWV SWV (Sisters with Voices) is an American R&B vocal trio from New York City whose members are Cheryl (Coko) Gamble, Tamara (Taj) Johnson, and Leanne (Lelee) Lyons. Formed in 1988 as a gospel group, SWV became one of the most successful R&B g ...

was covered by R&B singer Joyce Wrice 20 years later. As songwriters, they wrote tunes for

Samuelle Samuelle Prater, known simply as Samuelle, is an American R&B singer who is a former member of the R&B group Club Nouveau.Wynn, RonClub Nouveau Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 2011-07-17 He was the lead singer on Club Nouveau's #1 Pop and Dance a ...

En Vogue En Vogue is an American vocal girl group whose original lineup consisted of singers Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones. Formed in Oakland, California, in 1989, En Vogue reached No. 2 on the US Hot 100 with the single "Hol ...

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

, and

U.N.V. U.N.V. (or Universal Nubian Voices) was an R&B group based out of Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of brothers John Powe and Shawn Powe, and members John Clay and Demetrius Peete. They are best known for their 1993 summer hit single, "Somet ...

Biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

Allmusic.com. Switching to

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

, they re-released their debut album in 1996. Their second album, '' This Time It's Personal'', spawned a major hit in the US and Canada, the

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

-selling " My Love Is the Shhh!", which reached #4 in the US and #7 in Canada, and the group did further work as songwriters in the wake of the tune's success, penning tracks for

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his Will Smith filmography, acting career starring as Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), a ...

and Adina Howard. A third LP, ''Issues'', followed in July 2000. Band member Jeff “Fuzzy” Young died on March 4, 2011 from an apparent

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

Discography

Singles

References

{{Authority control Musical groups from Los Angeles American rhythm and blues musical groups Musical groups established in 1990