BOBBY BROWN
As a member and co-frontman of Boston R&B group New Edition, Bobby Brown had already enjoyed a flurry of success at an early age before the 1980s were even half over. The teen pop quintet scored several smash hits from 1982 to 1986, when Bobby Brown departed from the group due to issues with the New Edition's management. (Allegedly Brown had also grown jealous of the attention received by the group's unofficial lead singer Ralph Tresvant.) Immediately upon his exit, Brown signed with New Edition's label MCA, and set to work on his first solo release.
The album, 1986's King Of Stage, produced the #1 R&B hit "Girlfriend", but otherwise was tepidly received by commercial audiences. Brown left the public eye for over a year to produce a follow-up, coming into collaboration with top R&B producers and songwriters such as L.A. Reid, Babyface, and others. The final product was released in 1989, and would ultimately become Brown's most successful album.
Don't Be Cruel was released to much fanfare and acclaim both critically and commercially, hailed as a more aggressive approach to Brown's music, in contrast to his bubblegum roots with New Edition. In addition to going multi-platinum selling more than 7 million copies, Don't Be Cruel was an early pioneer in the development of New Jack Swing, then in its infancy, and was considered the most successful release of the sub-genre for a time. The album contained 5 songs released as singles, all 5 of which became Billboard Top 40 successes, including the #1 hit "My Prerogative", which has gone on to be covered and sampled by artists as varied from Britney Spears to Beenie Man to The Pharcyde to the cast of the FOX TV show Glee.
While Bobby Brown would experience other album successes throughout his career, (As well as several reunions with his former comrades in New Edition) none reached the lofty heights of mainstream success of Don't Be Cruel. In recognition of this important R&B album, the fellow Bostonians at Get On Down have produced a sterling reissue of the album, back on vinyl for the first time in nearly 25 years. Now shipping from Traffic Entertainment Group.
PRESS FOR DON'T BE CRUEL
"Don't Be Cruel was to Bobby Brown what Control was to Janet Jackson — a tougher, more aggressive project that shed his "bubblegum" image altogether and brought him to a new artistic and commercial plateau…Much of Cruel was produced by the ubiquitous production/songwriting duo L.A. Reid and Babyface, who've often been accused (and rightly so) of taking a formulaic, cookie-cutter approach to R&B. But here, their work is never less than inspired."
"New Jack Swing’s relentless, thundering beat just hasn’t aged well. But the songs on Don’t Be Cruel are great, and this was premium R&B delivered with all the swagger, sincerity and braggadocio commensurate with Brown’s notoriety."
– BBC
"The album’s two production teams created a series of songs that played well off the tough but tender quality of Brown’s voice as well as his brass-balls attitude. The result was a synergistic work that got played equally in urban and suburban markets."
– Popdose
“Don’t Be Cruel became a genre defining album, selling in excess of 5 million units by the close of 1989. No longer did Black artists have to play it safe or make songs like Lionel Richie’s “Hello,” Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called To Say I Love You” or Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy” to reach the top of the charts. Bobby Brown did it with Teddy Riley at 120 BPM while giving everyone the middle finger."
"With the glamour, the hooks and the hard groove, Don’t Be Cruel helped lay the foundation for the future of R&B. That’s what’s so beautiful about this album: It’s the kind of masterwork that just seems to float in the pop ether, informing people in ways they don’t even realize"
