El DeBarge has always been known for his signature high pitched voice ever since he dominated the airwaves with his siblings in the ’80s.

Unfortunately, El also became known for his admittedly 22-year crack and heroine addiction. After El served 2 years in prison on drug related charges, he came back out in 2010 like a new man — clean, sober, with a new album, and a voice that was just as flawless as it was back in the day. Then, things took a turn for the worse and two celebs whom many would least expect actually stepped in and saved El from a crack and heroine relapse in 2012.

50 CENT & BABYFACE RESCUED EL DEBARGE FROM DRUG RELAPSE

El DeBarge spoke to V103, in Atlanta, a while back and revealed the time he almost relapsed in 2012, but was literally saved by rapper/actor, 50 Cent; and R&B legend, Babyface. El devised his own intervention, and here’s what he said 50 and Babyface did next:

“I had my own intervention, I felt like I was about to go and pick up some drugs again. I could almost feel the taste in my mouth. When I was busy, when I was on the road doing things, I just didn’t have that taste…didn’t have that sensation. Once you sit down and you get some time with yourself, then you know who you REALLY are.

So I called 50 Cent up and I called Babyface up and I said ‘You guys gotta help me man.’ And 50 came to my rescue, he took me over to Babyface, who met me over at Interscope and they sent me to a place called the Harbor House in Jackson, MS. They said get out of L.A. I was there for 6 weeks. […] That’s another reason why you didn’t hear from me, I was in a treatment center.”

El deserves a round of applause for recognizing his triggers and having enough will to seek help.

UNFORTUNATELY EL DEBARGE WAS ALSO ARRESTED IN 2012, HERE’S WHY…

El’s call for help from 50 Cent and Babyface probably came after he was arrested in L.A. in 2012.

Undercover police officers saw El talking to a man on the street and thought a suspicious sale was going down.They searched El, but didn’t find anything on him, but they did find a small bag of crack cocaine underneath a nearby car. The dude El was talking to, claimed that he was buying the crack from El, so police booked El and he bailed out of jail the same night for $30,000. The charges were eventually dropped because there was not “enough sufficient evidence.”

Wow…so glad to see that El DeBarge has made it through. Wishing the brotha much continued success with his sobriety.

The post El DeBarge Explained How Two Music Legends Saved Him From A Drug Relapse appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

As y’all have likely heard by now…Anita Baker has been out her cuttin’ UP in the social media streets, calling out her now-former tour buddy, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, in a dispute about her tour. Well, not only have fans been draggin’ the “Sweet Love” legend over it…singer, Tank, and the legendary DJ Kid Capri, did a lil’ calling out of their own about Anita.

Anita Baker’s Beef With Babyface Began Bubbling Months Ago

In case you missed the unfortunate fiasco that went down on Twitter recently, Anita Baker is apparently fed up with Babyface…and his fans — whom she dubbed as “Kenny’s creepy crazies” — after it was revealed that she has supposedly been pissed with Babyface ever since a May 10th tour performance.

Though the tour had been running ever since February 2023, it was in May when tensions between the legends apparently arose, after reported technical issues caused a two-hour delay for Babyface’s scheduled set. At that time, Babyface apologized to their fans, via social media, and announced that Anita decided to skip his performance altogether that night:

“I am truly sorry to my fans who have been waiting for us to hit the stage this evening at the Prudential Center,” Babyface wrote at the time. “I was asked not to perform in order to give Ms. Baker her space and time to perform her show in its entirety. My band an I are extremely saddened we didn’t get to perform for y’all tonight.” – Babyface

Fast forward to this past weekend, up through Monday (6/13/23), and it has now been confirmed – per Anita’s tweets – that the bad blood she has toward Babyface has seemingly never slacked up ever since it began.

In a series of tweets, Anita made it hella clear that Babyface was her ‘opening act,’ and not her co-headliner. Translation: She is in charge and therefore, couldn’t care less about what y’all think about it. Peep her days-long tweets below:

“Dearest one. You are Not, privy to *The Contracts*. Yes, Babyface is Special Guest/Support Act, on My Tour,” she tweeted. “This False Narrative, of A Co-headliner is creating Unrealistic Expectations & Aggression, from his fans towards me. He should tell you guys, the Truth.”

Anita continued:

“After Silently, Enduring Cyber [Bullying]/Verbal Abuse & Threats of Violence from the Fan Base, or Our Special Guest/Support Act. In the interest of Personal Safety. I will continue, The Songstress Tour, alone. Appropriate refunds will be made. Blessings.”

Babyface’s Class-Act Reply To Anita’s Diss

Following Anita’s announcement, Babyface yet again had to address his fans regarding this matter:

“I’m saddened by the news that Anita has decided to remove me from ‘The Songstress Tour.’ It’s unfortunate and disheartening to see how things have played out via social media. While I was looking forward to the rest of the dates, I have nothing but love & respect for Anita and I wish her the best for the remainder of her tour.” – Babyface

What Kid Capri And Tank Had To Say About Anita Baker

Once Kid Capri and Tank heard about this, they called out Anita in a not-so-Babyface-like-way, and fans loved it.

Kid Capri replied to Babyface’s announcement with this:

“I did this man’s wedding to Tracy years ago, and recently seen him, he’s a great man, and no disrespect, but this is not the first time I heard something like this coming from the Anita.”

Tank ultimately made a whole video message (video below) to shut down Anita Baker – respectfully of course – in honor of his mentor and friend. He captioned his video with this:

“Just can’t stand by and not talk about the truth of it all. My apologies @babyface but i’m not as meek and mild mannered as you are. It is a flaw of mine but somebody has to say something!”

Peep what else Tank had to say in the video below…

Not The First Time

Welp…just like Kid Capri stated…this isn’t the first time we’ve heard something like this about Anita Baker either. As we previously reported a while back…Anita Baker allegedly had issues in the past with Luther Vandross; Jill Scott; and even the mother of actress, China McClain — who once took to social media to go off on the R&B songstress over that situation. We’ll leave that for another day though.

At any rate…although we love us some Anita Baker ’round here — just as we do Babyface– we still gotta to call a spade a spade. And right now, Ms. Baker has seemingly taken her Babyface-issues to petty levels…just ask Beyonce’ (and if need-be, re-read Anita’s tweets above to see what we mean).

There is an upside to all of this…maybe the online draggin’ that Ms. Baker is now getting a whiff of, from fans and celebs alike, is just what she needs to truly grasp that it’s a new day and age in the world of social media, and that everyone — including legends — can get called out when/if they’re presumably wrong.

Nevertheless, we still rock with Anita Baker’s timeless music all day, errday, and twice on Sundays. And when it comes to Babyface…of course we dig his music, as well as his personality, because he’s genuinely a nice dude. Wishing both legends all the best going forward.

The post Tank And DJ Kid Capri Call Out Anita Baker After She Abruptly Kicks Babyface Off Tour appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Usher dropped a few unknown tidbits of old school facts about his personal life and his career, which seemed to kinda all be intertwined together. In a previous interview with The Roots’ drummer, Questlove, on his Pandora radio show, Questlove Supreme, Usher chopped it up about everything, from how he got caught up in music legends, Antonio ‘L.A.’ Reid’s and Kenny ‘Babyface’ Edmond’s beef back in the day, to how Tevin Campbell ended up getting work that was originally meant for him; to issues with his ex-wife/mother of his two kids, Tameka Raymond, and also his mother/ex-manager, Jonetta.

L.A. Reid & Babyface Drama Led To Tevin Campbell Taking Usher’s Songs

It turns out “Can We Talk” was originally Usher’s song…until Babyface gave it away to Tevin Campbell in order to spite LA Reid at that time, according to Usher:

Usher: “When I first signed to LaFace Records, I wanted to do an album with Babyface and LA Reid, right? I signed specifically for that reason. So LA Reid wanted Babyface to work on me…and they were going through, you know, a lot of drama at the time. They were kinda severing their ties. He [Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds] got mad…and he built an entire album for me, and he gave the whole album to somebody else…Tevin Campbell! ‘Can We Talk’…was my song…”

https://youtu.be/3SoYkCAzMBk

“Can We Talk” ended up being the biggest song of Tevin’s career. It stayed at #1 on the R&B charts for weeks and the entire album, I.m Ready, sold 2 million+ albums. By the way, I dig Usher and Tevin, but I gotta admit that after the way Tevin killed it on “Can We Talk,” I couldn’t imagine ANY other singer recording that song…not even Usher.

Issues With His Momager vs. His Mother

Usher’s mother was his manager for years, until he fired her. But he acknowledges his gratitude for her…

Usher: “I’m a grown man in theory because I’ve always been the man of the house…I’ve elected to be the provider of the family even though my mother is the protector…she crippled me a little bit for a minute because my focus wasn’t, had nothing to do with business. Had everything to do with art and I thank her for that because I wouldn’t of established the focus that I have now…if I was always kind of trying to figure out who’s trying to take the money, where the money’s coming from, I would’ve been petty…I would have lost sight of what the goal was…”

Biggest Regret? Denying A Young Chris Brown

Usher: “So there’s one thing in my career that I definitely regret, one thing. And to this day I battle with it which is why I always show support of this artist whenever he asks…So his manager comes in…They show him to me…I was working on an album at this time, they wanted him to perform on this album…I was like okay cool…Then I went to my team and they was like ‘I don’t think you should work with this artist’…Then he left…Chris Brown.”

Ex-Wife, Tameka Raymond & Why He Stayed So Long

There were rumors that Usher fired his mother because she didn’t approve of him marrying Tameka and that caused tension in their professional life. Usher didn’t specify if the firing rumor was was true, but he did acknowledge that his Mom tried to warn him about marrying Tameka…

Usher: “That marriage and that relationship was gonna come to an end…but it served a purpose in my life…And no matter what my mother was attempting to tell me, and a lot of people were trying to tell me about that, I think a lot of it had to do with my lack thereof a father…I did not want to be a person who would just roll out…”

And there ya’ have it ILOSM fam.’

The post Usher Tells How LA Reid, Babyface Did Him Dirty…And What Tevin Campbell ‘Took’ From Him appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

ILOSM family, here’s a newsflash: There is such a thing as in beef amongst ‘blue-eyed soul’ singers. That is what’s just been confirmed by 90s singer, Jon B., in a brutally honest confession he’s made in recent years. Turns out, his fellow Caucasian R&B competitor, Robin Thicke, tapped a nerve for Jon B, when he later came onto the scene and ‘stole’ his shine, so to speak. To this day, Jon B. is still dealing with the affects that had on his career and seemingly has yet to move past it.

Jon B On What He Felt When Mentor Babyface Signed Robin Thicke…

As most of us Old Schoolers know, legendary producer/singer, Babyface, signed Jon B. back in the day and they pumped out several hits, such as “Someone To Love.” Well, in a new interview with Vlad TV, Jon B admitted that when Babyface and music legend, Andre Harrell, inked a deal with Robin Thicke years later, he became hella salty over it:

“To not have that same energy with my career and watch it happen for someone else was definitely a challenge for me,” said Jon B. “It was humbling to watch another guy come into the scene and everyone’s asking, ‘What do you think about Robin Thicke?’ in every interview I ever did.”

Jon B. Felt “Threatened” By Robin Thicke…

Embed from Getty Images

Soon, the public started comparing Jon B to Robin Thicke and that was a nightmare for Jon B:

“From the very beginning I felt threatened because that was sort of my neck of the woods, the Babyface thing, and I felt kind of like, okay this guy kind of came in and stole some of my wind,” Jon B said. “It really was apparent for me early on and I let it kind of get to me a little bit, and I think I kind of fed into it a bit. That was a challenge and I definitely had to adjust to the whole scene of it not being a new thing to be a white guy in R&B, that there were other guys that were in this thing, too, that were doing this thing. You were going to have to deal with being compared to them and vice versa.”

It wasn’t until recently that Jon actually met Robin, when they did a show together in Baton Rouge, LA. That’s when Jon took a moment to get a few things off his chest to the “Blurred Lines” singer:

“‘I’ve had to talk about you for many many years,’” Jon B told Robin. “He said, ‘That’s got to suck,’ and I said, ‘Absolutely, it kind of does.’ Nevertheless, I did it and I’ve tried to be as respectful as possible because I think people want to pose [us] almost like fighters against each other.”

The good thing is that Robin seemed understanding of where Jon was coming from and now, the two may end up working together in the future, if Jon B. has it his way:

“I would love to do a song together and leave it at that and that would be a dope collaboration.”

Friendly Reminder To Jon B. AND Robin Thicke:

We have nothing but love for Jon B. and Robin Thicke…but hopefully they’ll remember to ‘put some respeck’ on the names of the other Caucasian soulful singers who did it before them. They can start with singers like Michael McDonald, Bobby Caldwell, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Michael Bolton, and The Average White Band, to name a few…just sayin.’

Nevertheless,  much respect to Jon B. for being brutally honest about something that had to sting like hell at that time.

The post Jon B Admits “Humbling” Jealousy Against Robin Thicke & Felt Betrayed When Babyface Over Him appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Usher dropped a few unknown tidbits of old school facts about his personal life and his career, which seemed to kinda all be intertwined together. In a previous interview with The Roots’ drummer, Questlove, on his Pandora radio show, Questlove Supreme, Usher chopped it up about everything, from how he got caught up in music legends, Antonio ‘L.A.’ Reid’s and Kenny ‘Babyface’ Edmond’s beef back in the day, to how Tevin Campbell ended up getting work that was originally meant for him; to issues with his ex-wife/mother of his two kids, Tameka Raymond, and also his mother/ex-manager, Jonetta.

L.A. Reid & Babyface Drama Led To Tevin Campbell Taking Usher’s Songs

It turns out “Can We Talk” was originally Usher’s song, until…

Usher: “When I first signed to LaFace Records, I wanted to do an album with Babyface and LA Reid, right? I signed specifically for that reason. So LA Reid wanted Babyface to work on me and they were going through, you know, a lot of drama at the time. They were kinda severing their ties…he got mad…And he built an entire album for me, and he gave the whole album to somebody else…Tevin Campbell! ‘Can We Talk’…was my song…”

https://youtu.be/3SoYkCAzMBk

“Can We Talk” ended up being the biggest song of Tevin’s career. It stayed at #1 on the R&B charts for weeks and the entire album, I.m Ready, sold 2 million+ albums. By the way, I dig Usher and Tevin, but I gotta admit that after the way Tevin killed it on “Can We Talk,” I couldn’t imagine ANY other singer recording that song…not even Usher.

Issues With His Momager vs. His Mother

Usher’s mother was his manager for years, until he fired her. But he acknowledges his gratitude for her…

Usher: “I’m a grown man in theory because I’ve always been the man of the house…I’ve elected to be the provider of the family even though my mother is the protector…she crippled me a little bit for a minute because my focus wasn’t, had nothing to do with business. Had everything to do with art and I thank her for that because I wouldn’t of established the focus that I have now…if I was always kind of trying to figure out who’s trying to take the money, where the money’s coming from, I would’ve been petty…I would have lost sight of what the goal was…”

Biggest Regret? Denying A Young Chris Brown

Usher: “So there’s one thing in my career that I definitely regret, one thing. And to this day I battle with it which is why I always show support of this artist whenever he asks…So his manager comes in…They show him to me…I was working on an album at this time, they wanted him to perform on this album…I was like okay cool…Then I went to my team and they was like ‘I don’t think you should work with this artist’…Then he left…Chris Brown.”

Ex-Wife, Tameka Raymond & Why He Stayed So Long

There were rumors that Usher fired his mother because she didn’t approve of him marrying Tameka and that caused tension in their professional life. Usher didn’t specify if the firing rumor was was true, but he did acknowledge that his Mom tried to warn him about marrying Tameka…

Usher: “That marriage and that relationship was gonna come to an end…but it served a purpose in my life…And no matter what my mother was attempting to tell me, and a lot of people were trying to tell me about that, I think a lot of it had to do with my lack thereof a father…I did not want to be a person who would just roll out…”

And there ya’ have it ILOSM fam.’

The post Usher Revealed How LA Reid, Babyface Did Him Dirty…And What Tevin Campbell ‘Took’ From Him appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Usher dropped a few unknown tidbits of old school facts about his personal life and his career, which seemed to kinda all be intertwined together. In a previous interview with The Roots’ drummer, Questlove, on his Pandora radio show, Questlove Supreme, Ebony Magazine reported how Usher chopped it up about everything, from how he got caught up in music legends, Antonio ‘L.A.’ Reid’s and Kenny ‘Babyface’ Edmond’s beef back in the day, to how Tevin Campbell ended up getting work that was originally meant for him; to issues with his ex-wife/mother of his two kids, Tameka Raymond, and also his mother/ex-manager, Jonetta.

L.A. Reid & Babyface Drama Led To Tevin Campbell Taking Usher’s Songs

It turns out “Can We Talk” was originally Usher’s song, until…

Usher: “When I first signed to LaFace Records, I wanted to do an album with Babyface and LA Reid, right? I signed specifically for that reason. So LA Reid wanted Babyface to work on me and they were going through, you know, a lot of drama at the time. They were kinda severing their ties…he got mad…And he built an entire album for me, and he gave the whole album to somebody else…Tevin Campbell! ‘Can We Talk’…was my song…”

“Can We Talk” ended up being the biggest song of Tevin’s career. It stayed at #1 on the R&B charts for weeks and the entire album, I.m Ready, sold 2 million+ albums. By the way, I dig Usher and Tevin, but I gotta admit that after the way Tevin killed it on “Can We Talk,” I couldn’t imagine ANY other singer recording that song…not even Usher.

Usher Also Detailed Past Issues With His Mom & His Biggest Regret>>>

The post Usher Revealed Babyface Gave Away His Whole Album To Tevin Campbell To Spite L.A. Reid appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

ILOSM family, here’s a newsflash: There is such a thing as in beef amongst ‘blue-eyed soul’ singers. That is what’s just been confirmed by 90’s singer, Jon B., in a brutally honest confession he’s recently made. Turns out, his fellow Caucasian R&B competitor, Robin Thicke, tapped a nerve for Jon B, when he later came onto the scene and ‘stole’ his shine, so to speak. To this day, Jon B. is still dealing with the affects that had on his career and seemingly has yet to move past it.

Jon B On What He Felt When Mentor Babyface Signed Robin Thicke…

As most of us Old Schoolers know, legendary producer/singer, Babyface, signed Jon B. back in the day and they pumped out several hits, such as “Someone To Love.” Well, in a new interview with Vlad TV, Jon B admitted that when Babyface and music legend, Andre Harrell, inked a deal with Robin Thicke years later, he became hella salty over it:

Embed from Getty Images

“To not have that same energy with my career and watch it happen for someone else was definitely a challenge for me,” said Jon B. “It was humbling to watch another guy come into the scene and everyone’s asking, ‘What do you think about Robin Thicke?’ in every interview I ever did.”

Then Jon B. Revealed How Things Got Worse For Him>>>

The post Jon B Confesses “Humbling” Jealousy Against Robin Thicke & Why He Blamed Babyface For It appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

We have heartbreaking news to report today ILOSM fam.’ One of the founding members of After 7, Melvin Edmonds (pictured above, left), has passed away at the age of 65. the reports have surfaced surrounding his passing, but as of yet, neither or his brothers, legendary producer, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, nor Kevon Edmonds (also of After 7) have spoken out regarding the details of how he’s passed away.

What we do know is that Melvin’s passing comes after a long battle with several issues. As we previously reported, Kevon and Melvin Edmonds, along with their friend, Keith Mitchell made up the group, After 7. While they were at the height of their late 80’s/90s success, with hits like “Can’t Stop” and “Ready or Not,” they were also in the midst of covering up a secret that could have hindered their success, had it gotten out at the time. Sadly, it was in regards to beloved Melvin Edmonds.

After 7’s, Kevon Edmonds Revealed Struggles Their Brother Battled Prior To Quitting Group
In the early 2000’s Melvin quit After 7 and his son, Jason Edmonds, replaced him in the group. It wasn’t until a few years late that babyface’s other brother, Kevon Edmonds, explained the inner struggles Melvin had been battling back then:

Kevon Edmonds- “Drugs wasn’t the reason why this or that did not happen. But my brother [Melvin Edmonds] did wrestle with drug abuse from time to time,” he revealed. -via SoulUniverse

Babyface’s Bro’ Told REAL Reason Brother Quit After 7 & Issues He Had…See Latest Photo>>>

The post R.I.P.- Babyface’s Brother, After 7 Member Melvin Edmonds, Dies After Heartbreaking Struggle appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds in one of the most historical names in R&B. But, he had his start in sixth grade! Who would’ve thought?

According to Edmonds, songwriting always came naturally. It’s easy to tell this due to his track record. But sometimes, it’s good to know origin stories. In an interview with Songwriter Universe, Babyface thought to let the world know how things happened.

“I’ve always considered myself a songwriter, first,” Edmonds mentions. “I started writing songs when I was in the sixth grade. I first played guitar and I later wrote songs on both guitar and piano. I was pretty serious about writing songs, even back then.”

Edmonds says writing songs was comforting. “It was kind of my voice,” he states to the source.

“The truth is, [when I was young] I was too shy to say something to the actual girl I was in love with, so I just wrote it in a song. I didn’t play it for her, but just to do it in a song, it felt good to do it that way.”

Cute, Right? But Here’s Where He Started Being Heard>>>

The post Kenneth ‘Babyface’ Edmonds: Back To The Beginning — How It All First Started appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

EL DEBARGE REVEALS WHO SAVED HIM FROM RELAPSING…LITERALLY…

Embed from Getty Images

El Debarge spoke to V103 in Atlanta a while back and he revealed the time he almost relapsed in 2012, but was literally saved by rapper/actor, 50 Cent, and R&B legend, Babyface. El devised his OWN intervention, and here’s what he said 50 and Babyface did next:

“I had my own intervention, I felt like I was about to go and pick up some drugs again. I could almost feel the taste in my mouth. When I was busy, when I was on the road doing things, I just didn’t have that taste…didn’t have that sensation. Once you sit down and you get some time with yourself, then you know who you REALLY are.

So I called 50 Cent up and I called Babyface up and I said ‘You guys gotta help me man.’ And 50 came to my rescue, he took me over to Babyface, who met me over at Interscope and they sent me to a place called the Harbor House in Jackson, MS. They said get out of L.A. I was there for 6 weeks. […] That’s another reason why you didn’t hear from me, I was in a treatment center.”

Embed from Getty Images

El deserves a round of applause for recognizing his triggers and having enough will to seek help. UNFORTUNATELY EL WAS ALSO ARRESTED IN 2012, HERE’S WHY…

EL DEBARGE’S 2012 ARREST

El Debarge’s call for help from 50 Cent and Babyface probably came after he was arrested in L.A. in 2012. Undercover police officers saw El talking to a man on the street and thought a suspicious sale was going down. They searched El, but didn’t find anything on him, but they did find a small bag of crack cocaine underneath a nearby car. The dude El was talking to, claimed that he was buying the crack from El, so police booked El and he bailed out of jail the same night for $30,000. The charges were eventually dropped because there was not “enough sufficient evidence.”

The post Many Surprised By What 50 Cent Did To Rescue El Debarge From A Drug Relapse appeared first on I Love Old School Music.