Although his body was failing him at the time, his mind and his conscience were not. Kenny spoke with a great deal of clarity about who he is and what he wanted the world to know about him before he died. He also seemed to have a clear vision of how he wanted his legacy- not just as a music artist, but as a human being- to be remembered.

SEE THE SURPRISING TRUTHS HE KENNY REVEALED ABOUT HIMSELF

In October of 2001 Kenny passed away from complications due to the AIDS virus. [FYI: The ‘dark truth’ we’re referring to in the headline is in regards to Kenny sadly having to live and die from the AIDS virus]. In his interview with S2S about a month prior to his death, he made a few even more shocking revelations. We wanted to share this info with you all because although it’s been 16 years since Kenny Greene passed away, the lifestyle he lived and who he really was as a man outside of the bright lights of the music industry, is something that is still a very relevant topic today. Kenny Greene revealed that he has same sex attractions.  See what he said on his death bed to S2S Magazine:

S2S: Hi Kenny. You sound good.
Kenny: Yeah, you know I have AIDS?
S2S: I know. How long have you been in the hospital?
Kenny: It’s been a long time.
S2S: How long have you known you had AIDS?
Kenny: I’ve known for a long time, but it’s just….I sprained my ankle and this ball came under my foot like a bruise and it just swelled up to the size of a tennis ball. It’s called Kaposi’s sarcoma. It’s an AIDS related disease.
S2S: So after the ball came up under your foot, what happened?
Kenny: I was walking around on it and I should’ve got help from the VA Hospital.
S2S: From the Veterans hospital? Why? Are you an ex-soldier?
Kenny: Yeah. I’m not active now but I was in for three years. I was in the Army.
S2S: You’re kidding?! Well, how old were you when you just kept walking around on it?
Kenny: Yeah, I should’ve went to the VA Hospital and got it taken care of, but I didn’t know what it was.
S2S: Well, didn’t it scare you?
Kenny: Yeah.
S2S: It did, huh? Well how did you get the AIDS? Was it intravenously or are you homosexual?
Kenny: Yeah, I’m homosexual…Well, I’m bisexual. I had two girlfriends.
S2S: Do you still like girls?
Kenny: Yeah.
S2S: How did you get AIDS? Do you know the guy who gave it to you?
Kenny: Yeah.
S2S: Is he still alive?
Kenny: Yeah.
S2S: What do you want to tell people out there about the condition that you’re in now?
Kenny: Keep protecting yourself with condoms and don’t have unprotected sex.
S2S: Was this guy that you were with a constant partner?
Kenny: Yeah.
S2S: Is he in the hospital?
Kenny: No.
S2S: He’s okay?
Kenny: Yeah. He’s a carrier.

Today we still live in a society that so often judges a person base on their sexuality, rather than the content of their character. The truth is that if Kenny Greene would have come out as an openly bisexual man, the R&B songs he was killing it on with his soulful sound, would have probably plummeted because folks would have been confused about whether or not he was singing to a man or a woman, but instead of Kenny being placed inside of a box, maybe society should work harder to remove the boxes altogether. Of course that’s a lot easier said than done, but the more topics like this are publicly discussed, the more we will all have a better understanding of one another- regardless of if you are straight, bisexual, gay, or try-sexual.

We salute Kenny Greene for putting himself second, and the awareness to help others first, as he laid on his death bed and bravely shared this info about himself in that interview. He knew he was dying and he could have taken his secrets to his grave to allow his legacy to live on untainted, but he chose to be a bigger man than that. May Kenny continue to rest well.

The post Intro Group Member Revealed His Bold Heart Wrenching Truth On His Death Bed appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Remember Zhane? They were part of Queen Latifah’s Flavor Unit collective and they had everybody rockin’ to their hit, “Groove Thang” back in ’93. If that still doesn’t ring a bell for you, the lyrics went something like, “We’re moving on keeping strong, don’t you let them stir you wrong, it’s a groove thang/ We’re gonna give you what you want just as long as you’re around it’s a groove thang…” Now you remember, don’t you? Thought so. They also had hits like “Hey Mr. DJ,” “Sending My Love,” and “Shame.”

Jean now performs with she and her husband’s band, The Baylor Project. Her husband is jazz drummer, Marcus Baylor their band’s style of music is a fusion of jazz and soul, and it is off the hook!  In addition to performing with the band, Jean and Marcus have a blast enjoying the marriage life, this year (2016) they will hit their 14th year of wedded bliss. Give it up for REAL love!

Like we said, The Baylor Project’s music is beautiful. Watch their videos below to see what we mean and Jean’s voice is as flawless as it ever was…

“We were in college at the time, and I used to play lacrosse. It was hard to keep my hair right. I remember telling Renee, ‘you know what? I need a change. I gotta do something to this hair.’ But it was too expensive to get it done. She came up with the bright idea of me chopping all my hair off. I was like, are you crazy! But we ended up doing it anyway. I remember she took me to [NYC] for the weekend to a well known natural hair care place, and they cut all my hair off. Renee got the S-curl because it was coming into style back then. When it was time to get our image together we were like, we don’t really have an image. We look totally different. She’s tall, I’m short and we’re different complexions. We just decided maybe we should keep our hair short. Low and behold, it became this big trend. We had no intentions of doing that. But it worked out to our advantage.” -Jean [singersroom]

They may not have their signature low cuts anymore, but they still have those smooth signature voices no doubt.

We don’t know about y’all, but I think these ladies both deserve their props. They are the kind of artists who are continuing to hone their skills and deserve to be heard by the masses. We’re very happy to see Renee and Jean still going strong and although they’re not together anymore, it would be great to see a reunion just for old time’s sake. Anyways, can’t wait to see what the future has in store for them and in the meantime, these youngins in the music industry need to take notes!

The post Have You Seen The 90’s Group Zhane Lately? What They’re Doing Now Is Beautiful appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Remember when Cicely Tyson gave birth to baby “Kunta Kinte” in Roots? Well we had NO idea he was a member of a popular 80’s R&B group that was flooding the airwaves and had several #1 hits back in the day! Flip the page to see who he is.

Baby “Kunta Kinte” was played by Tajh Abdulsamad, from the 80’s R&B group, The Boys! Remember them? They were 4 brothers (literally) who were singing “Dial My Heart” and had all of the pre-teen girls going crazy over them. Tahj (the one one circled in the above photo) is the third born among his brothers and he was born in ’76, a year before Roots was released.

So Tajh has been in front of the camera ever since he stepped out of the womb…literally! Now this was news to all of us over here at ILOSM, but just like the old school saying goes- “We learn something new everyday.”

By the way, have you seen and heard Tajh lately? Him all grown up nah! Check him out below, his music is off the hook too.

Tajh now goes by the name of Crown and the brotha’s music is solid. He’s 39 years old now. I’ve gotta admit that at first glance, it was difficult NOT to see Tajh as that lil’ chubby faced dude in the videos from back in the day. If it’s like that for you too, don’t sweat it, after a couple seconds your eyes get adjusted to the grown up Tajh.

Check out a couple of his songs below…you might be pleasantly surprised. It’s ALL the way different from The Boys music.

Crown (Tahj)- Comfortable

Tajh explained to I LOVE OLD SCHOOL MUSIC how he and his brothers ended up living in the Motherland:

“We stepped away from the limelight in the mid nineties because we wanted to grow spiritually and discover the true meaning of life and our purpose in it, as well as to explore and experience “normal life” because we had been working in show business ever since we were small boys and we yearned to develop normal genuine relationships that weren’t based on our fame and success.

Around 1998 a friend named Olimatta Taal (who was one of the lead organizers of “The Roots Homecoming Festival” which is held in Gambia every other year) invited us to come perform at the festival. We were looking forward to this trip because at the time we were already culturally conscious, and we had been having conversations while working with Akon at our home studio in Atlanta about how nice Africa was, and he would tell us about some of the lesser-known aspects of Africa, and we were intrigued.

They flew us over and we performed at the festival. Afterwards, we sat in the hotel discussing how nice it was in Gambia, and sometime during that conversation we decide to stay in the country, so we called home to our parents and informed them of our decision to stay in Africa and not use our return plane tickets. We requested that they ship all of our studio equipment, clothes, and other items over to us, so that we could set up a studio in Africa and begin producing local talent. Our parents supported us in our decission and my father flew over with our gear and other important items.
We rented a beautiful compound for a year and opened our studio and began working with the locals. We stayed for four years producing and developing music, studying and immersing ourselves in the culture, and connecting with the people. After four years, we came back to the states. Myself [Tajh] and Bilal settled back in Atlanta, Khiry in L.A., and after staying in L.A. for a little while Hakim returned to Gambia to live. We purchased a family home there and re-opened “Sunland (Studio) Africa” where Hakim continues to live and work from to this day. All four brothers consider Africa home, as well as Atlanta, and Los Angeles. We are all still involved in writing and producing music and other media content.- Tahj”

The Boys new name is Suns of Light and they’ve dropped 4 albums, which they sell independently. Hakim dropped a solo project and Tajh released two of his own.

It would be good to get to see these cats still grinding and releasing grown folks music now, but y’all know how we do ILOSM fam,’ we love to go back and reminisce, so for old times sake, let’s check out a couple Old School videos from The Boys…

The Boys- Dial My Heart

For more info on Tahj and his music check him out on Instagram.

The post What?!! THIS 80’s Singer Played The Newborn “Kunta Kinte” In “Roots!” appeared first on I Love Old School Music.