Dr. Dre's 'The Chronic' album revolutionized urban contemporary music
As 1992 began, the music industry was changing dramatically. The Nirvana-led alternative/grunge movement now included Seattle’s other musical heavyweight, Pearl Jam. Suburban youth who used to do the “running man” to BBD now rejected Pop/R&B music, questioning its integrity and flocking to what they considered “real music”, the sounds of neo-punk angst. That spelled doom for solidly crossover acts such as Paula Abdul, Color Me Badd, the C&C Music Factory, and especially, MC Hammer, who by that time had dropped the MC to reinvent himself.
A new crop of urban acts were emerging: 2Pac, Shanice, Mint Condition, TLC, Naughty By Nature, Cypress Hill, and R. Kelly just to name a few. The two most promising R&B groups during this time were Boyz II Men, and Jodeci. While Boyz II Men had arrived with a lot of fanfare during the summer of 1991, Jodeci seemed to creep in through a side door. Although their debut album ‘Forever My Lady’ was also released in ‘91, it wasn’t until that fall that the LP’s title track put Jodeci in the spotlight. Jodeci would continue their singles winning streak with “Stay”, and “Come And Talk To Me”, remixed by an up-and-coming producer/label exec by the name of Sean “Puffy” Combs…
At the movies, Kid’N’Play’s “House Party 2” didn’t really live up to the original. However, another movie directed by Spike Lee’s former cinematographer Ernest Dickerson made a huge impact on urban moviegoers everywhere, and that film was “Juice”. Featuring unforgettable performances by Omar Epps and Tupac Shakur (whose debut album ‘2Pacalypse Now’ would be released two months later), the “Juice” film seemed to herald the start of the characteristically bleaker nature of post-New Jack Swing urban culture. The Juice soundtrack featured Big Daddy Kane’s last hit “Know The Legde”, Naughty By Nature’s “Uptown Anthem”, and Teddy Riley’s “Is It Good To You” featuring Tammy Lucas – one of the last (and best) New Jack hits of 1992.
Spurred primarily by a marked decline in ratings, it was decided that the Cosby Show would air for the last time on Thursday, April 30th, 1992. Meanwhile on April 29th, the four LAPD officers videotaped and accused of beating Black motorist Rodney King were acquitted by an all-White jury. In direct response to the acquittal, riots erupted across the city of Los Angeles, and continued to occur over the next several nights. Then in a truly sad and ironic twist of fate, the planned April 30th broadcast of the Cosby Show’s final episode was tarnished by live news coverage of the Los Angeles riots for millions of West Coast viewers that Thursday night. When the Cosby Show ended (the 1980s most popular sitcom), it symbolized the end of an era in racial progress. The L.A. riots (and the direct cause of it) on the other hand, symbolized the birth of a new era hinted at by suburban America’s sudden backlash against Pop/R&B music: the re-solidification of racial divisions in the U.S.
As things slowly returned to normal after the riots, Atlanta-based “urban” music came to the forefront thanks to the production efforts of Jermaine Dupri, Dallas Austin, and LaFace records. The two biggest southern acts to emerge during this period were Kris Kross and TLC. Both of these acts took cues from BBD in that they incorporated a distinct look into their campaigns. With Kris Kross, it was wearing their clothes backwards, while with TLC it was bright, over-sized tomboy clothing. Both Kris Kross and TLC went on to enjoy phenomenal success in 1992 and 1993; and for TLC it was only just the beginning…