We all remember when the late, great Rick James released his girl group, Mary Jane Girls. They were dominating the music game with hits like, “In My House,” “All Night Long,” and “Candy Man.”

Well over the past 3 decades since their release, a few of them have been very vocal about their once tarnished relationship with Rick. One of the members, Maxi B. (circled in the photo up top), has put it ALL out there and what she said about how she felt when Rick passed away is shocking. Before we go any further, we want to point out that what she is referring to has also been confirmed by Rick himself, in his autobiography and overall it’s just really sad that the relationship turned that sour on both sides of the coin.

In an interview on Blog Talk Radio, Maxi B had this to say:

Maxi B.- He (Rick) mishandled all of our (The Mary Jane Girls) careers. He blocked us all from having prosperity in the industry. People often ask me, you know, why didn’t any of you do anything? The reason is Rick James….he held us back….he signed us to a 20 year slave contract. […]

He just didn’t let us step out of our box like Vanity and Appolonia (Prince’s artists)…all of those girls got to step out and brand and now they can do things and it still hurts us because people are looking at us and realizing that we haven’t done anything in over 30 years.

So when Rick died…it’s when I decided okay ‘That demon is off of my back. Ding dong the Wicked Witch is dead. Now I can go on and pursue…[it’s] never too late. I’m older now, but I’ll just go on and do it in another demographic.I believe that if you had talent then, you have talent now.’ And now I’m doing things that I never got to do thanks to the internet.”

Maxi also said Rick was doing everything he could to make sure they didn’t succeed and that she was crushed after Rick allegedly put out the word in the industry, that no one can do business with any of the girls, because they were in a 20 year contract with him and that he no longer wanted to make money off of them. She also said she was extremely hurt when she read Rick’s book, “Memoirs Of A Superfreak,” and saw that he said he wanted to “break the Mary Jane Girls” so that they couldn’t make money. Wow!

Rick James Told His Side…

Here’s what Rick revealed in his book about that whole situation in his true RAW style…

Rick James- “One of the most upsetting things happened when the Mary Jane Girls went behind my back to Motown saying all these lies about me. Joanne (JoJo) McDuffie, the ugly duckling, was the biggest liar of the bunch. She said the cruelest things about me to the press, things that just weren’t true.”

Joanne had married this neighborhood Buffalo trick named Robert Thunderbird who was always hanging around trying to get his slimy hands on any of the girls. Joanne, being the homeliest, was weak for him. The day they got married, I could see he was after the fame and the money.

JoJo started to change after “My House,” was released. She started to get stuck up. The Mary Jane Girls were scheduled to do a video, JoJo wanted $30,000 to do the video. I screamed, ‘What? No one, not me, not Prince gets paid to do videos. We just do them to help our careers.’ I told my brother to deal with the stupid b**ch. I think he gave her $15,000, after that, I was through with JoJo. She embarrassed me, herself and everyone by trying to come across like a f*cking superstar. And I had made her!

I had began to cut another album on the Mary Jane Girls, but after six or seven songs, I said, ‘F*ck it! They aren’t worth it. […] After all the lies and accusations, I deserted them.”

Geesh! It’s very sad that their story ended this way, but like we always say here at ILOSM: great success cannot exist without great failures. We understand that many of our favorite celebs are flawed humans, which is perfectly natural and okay. The more we understand that they are flawed, the better we understand that they are no different than the rest of us.

Source: BlogTalkRadio

The post Mary Jane Girls Singer Boldly Confessed Why She Was Relieved When Rick James Passed appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Remember when the Mary Jane Girls hit the R&B scene in the ’80s and set it on fire with their raunchy style? They were Lil’ Kim before Lil’ Kim…and they were Nicki Minaj and Meg Thee Stallion before they were even conceived. Mary Jane Girls’ hits, “In My House,” “All Night Long,” Candyman”…all classics! JoJo, Candy, Maxie, and Cherie were the sexy girl-next-door type of superstars. But just like many groups, there was major drama that caused them to crash n’ burn after just three years together.

Decades later, their lead singer, JoJo McDuffie, shared some pretty surprising claims about her former group members and their founder, Rick James, in an interview with Eurweb a few years ago. She held nothing back, see what she said below…

JOJO ON HER DISLIKE FOR RICK JAMES

JoJo McDuffie: He [Rick James] was complicated. […] I don’t hang out and I don’t party or any of that stuff. I am not fun, in that way. As a business man I just really didn’t care for him. We got along well until he was high. I could tell when he was high. It was just a whole personality change. I just preferred not to be around him when he’s like that. When we broke up in ’86, I didn’t start speaking to him again until 1996 when his musical director invited me to do his backgrounds.”

SEX & DRUGS WITH RICK JAMES?

JoJo also insinuated that other members either had sex with Rick or did drugs with him:

JM: We [Mary Jane Girls] were extremely popular. We were on the verge of a Destiny’s Child type thing. […] I started asking for my money at that point. He [Rick James] suspended me for asking for what I am supposed to have. Unfortunately, because I didn’t get high and go for the okie-doke, he thought I was uncontrollable. I didn’t sit up and get high and sleep with him, so he had no dirt on me. It just started to fall apart from there because, not only was I unhappy, everybody was out of control. It was a time in the 80s when everybody was snorting cocaine.”

TWO MARY JANE GIRLS WERE WORKING IN A STRIP CLUB, SAYS JOJO

JoJo also said the Mary Jane Girls project was supposed to be a solo project for her, but that Rick had to add the other ladies at the last minute because Motown wanted a girl group. She alleges that two members were either strippers, or worked at a strip club in some capacity, when they joined the group:

“He wanted a million dollars at the time. So, Motown gave him the money and asked for pictures of the rest of the girls. There were no girls. It was just me. So, he went and found Candy and Maxie at a strip club, from what I found out later on. I didn’t know this then. Within the last ten years I found that out.”

“He just threw us in a room and said ‘Y’all get along’ and I’m completely the opposite of the other women. We had completely nothing in common. I had a family I was trying to take care of. And we were all around the same age, but they didn’t have any children to take care of. I did. We were recording from ’82 to ’86.

THE GROUP PULLED A MILLI VANILLI ON US?

According to JoJo McDuffie, the other group members pulled a ‘Milli Vanilli’ on their fans, because she says they didn’t sing on most of Mary Jane Girls’ records, except for two small parts:

JM: “He [Rick James] would use them in the studio, but I would have to come back and re-record their parts. I don’t know if they knew that or not. The Water Sisters did the background on both albums, I did the background with them. I would sing everything on top so when you hear it all, you pretty much– all you hear is me.”

I tell ya,’ the things we learn when we do a lil’ diggin.’ JoJo McDuffie said a mouthful!

Where The Mary Jane Girls Are Now

It’s a shame The Mary Jane Girls didn’t get to soar further back then. But nowadays the ladies still perform from time to time. Decades later, JoJo released a solo album, as well. She also married Rick James’ friend…and for many years she said she’d given up singing and lived a quiet mother/wife lifestyle.

Rick James’s Family Filed Lawsuit Against Mary Jane Girls

Rick James’s family also had a pending lawsuit against the group a few years ago. Apparently, the Mary Jane Girls don’t own the name, but were still performing under the name. James’ estate owns the name and was suing to block them from using it. Not sure if the ‘suit was ever settled…but in the meantime, we wish JoJo and the rest of The Mary Jane Girls all the best with their future endeavors.

Source1, Source2, Source3

The post Strippers? Drugs? Mary Jane Girls Singer Spilled Secrets On Group Members And Rick James appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

We all remember when the late, great Rick James released his girl group, Mary Jane Girls. They were dominating the music game with hits like, “In My House,” “All Night Long,” and “Candy Man.”

Well over the past 3 decades since their release, a few of them have been very vocal about their once tarnished relationship with Rick. One of the members, Maxi B., has recently put it ALL out there and what she said about how she felt when Rick passed away is shocking. Before we go any further, we want to point out that what she is referring to has also been confirmed by Rick himself, in his autobiography and overall it’s just really sad that the relationship turned that sour on both sides of the coin.

In an interview on Blog Talk Radio, Maxi B (circled in above photo) had this to say:

Maxi B.- He (Rick) mishandled all of our (The Mary Jane Girls) careers. He blocked us all from having prosperity in the industry. People often ask me, you know, why didn’t any of you do anything? The reason is Rick James….he held us back….he signed us to a 20 year slave contract. […]

He just didn’t let us step out of our box like Vanity and Appolonia (Prince’s artists)…all of those girls got to step out and brand and now they can do things and it still hurts us because people are looking at us and realizing that we haven’t done anything in over 30 years.

So when Rick died…it’s when I decided okay ‘That demon is off of my back. Ding dong the Wicked Witch is dead. Now I can go on and pursue…[it’s] never too late. I’m older now, but I’ll just go on and do it in another demographic.I believe that if you had talent then, you have talent now.’ And now I’m doing things that I never got to do thanks to the internet.”

Maxi also said Rick was doing everything he could to make sure they didn’t succeed and that she was crushed after Rick allegedly put out the word in the industry, that no one can do business with any of the girls, because they were in a 20 year contract with him and that he no longer wanted to make money off of them. She also said she was extremely hurt when she read Rick’s book, “Memoirs Of A Superfreak,” and saw that he said he wanted to “break the Mary Jane Girls” so that they couldn’t make money. Wow!

Rick James Told His Side…

Here’s what Rick revealed in his book about that whole situation in his true RAW style…

Rick James- “One of the most upsetting things happened when the Mary Jane Girls went behind my back to Motown saying all these lies about me. Joanne (JoJo) McDuffie, the ugly duckling, was the biggest liar of the bunch. She said the cruelest things about me to the press, things that just weren’t true.”

Joanne had married this neighborhood Buffalo trick named Robert Thunderbird who was always hanging around trying to get his slimy hands on any of the girls. Joanne, being the homeliest, was weak for him. The day they got married, I could see he was after the fame and the money.

JoJo started to change after “My House,” was released. She started to get stuck up. The Mary Jane Girls were scheduled to do a video, JoJo wanted $30,000 to do the video. I screamed, ‘What? No one, not me, not Prince gets paid to do videos. We just do them to help our careers.’ I told my brother to deal with the stupid b**ch. I think he gave her $15,000, after that, I was through with JoJo. She embarrassed me, herself and everyone by trying to come across like a f*cking superstar. And I had made her!

I had began to cut another album on the Mary Jane Girls, but after six or seven songs, I said, ‘F*ck it! They aren’t worth it. […] After all the lies and accusations, I deserted them.”

Geesh! It’s very sad that their story ended this way, but like we always say here at ILOSM: great success cannot exist without great failures. We understand that many of our favorite celebs are flawed humans, which is perfectly natural and okay. The more we understand that they are flawed, the better we understand that they are no different than the rest of us.

Source: BlogTalkRadio

The post Mary Jane Girls Singer Boldly Confessed Why She Was Relieved When Rick James Passed appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Remember when The Mary Jane Girls hit the R&B scene in the 80’s and set it on fire with their raunchy style? They were Lil’ Kim before Lil’ Kim and they were Nicki Minaj before she was even concieved. Their hits, “In My House,” “All Night Long,” Candyman”…all classics! JoJo, Candy, Maxie, and Cherie were the sexy girl-next-door type of superstars. But just like many groups, there was major drama that caused them to crash and burn after just three years together.

Decades later, their lead singer, JoJo McDuffie, shared some pretty surprising claims and revelations about her group member and their founder, Rick James in an interview with Eurweb a few years ago. She held nothing back, see what she said below:

JOJO ON HER DISLIKE FOR RICK JAMES

He [Rick James] was complicated. […] I don’t hang out and I don’t party or any of that stuff. I am not fun, in that way. As a business man I just really didn’t care for him. We got along well until he was high. I could tell when he was high. It was just a whole personality change. I just preferred not to be around him when he’s like that. When we broke up in 86, I didn’t start speaking to him again until 1996 when his musical director invited me to do his backgrounds.”

SEX & DRUGS WITH RICK JAMES?

JoJo also insinuated that other members either had sex with Rick or did drugs with him:

“We [Mary Jane Girls] were extremely popular. We were on the verge of a Destiny’s Child type thing. […] I started asking for my money at that point. He [Rick James] suspended me for asking for what I am supposed to have. Unfortunately, because I didn’t get high and go for the okie doke, he thought I was uncontrollable. I didn’t sit up and get high and sleep with him, so he had no dirt on me. It just started to fall apart from there because, not only was I unhappy, everybody was out of control. It was a time in the 80s when everybody was snorting cocaine.”

BUT U WON’T BELIEVE WHAT SHE SAID TWO OF THE MARY JANES GIRL DID BEFORE JOINING THE GROUP

The post MaryJane Girls Singer Spills Shocking Secrets On Her Group Members &Rick James appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Our beloved Denise “Vanity” Matthews met the iconic Prince at the American Music Awards and was blown away by him, but what many don’t know is that she went there with his then musical rival, the legendary Rick James and reportedly ended up leaving with Prince instead. Interesting, right?

Well, word on the Old School curb is that our girl Vanity was originally never supposed to be in Vanity 6, but the reason it all happened was because when she was with Rick James that night at the AMA’s, he was in the process of prepping her to be the lead singer of The Mary Jane Girls. After bailing out with Prince, Vanity obviously threw Rick’s whole Mary Jane Girls idea out of the window.

Rick also claimed in his book, “The Confessions Of Rick James: Memoirs Of A Superfreak,” that Prince jacked his entire concept of The Mary Jane Girls and created Vanity 6, after Rick confided in Prince about the idea he had of creating a multi-ethnic, all-female group that would have a super sexy appeal. Rick said he was pissed about that and made sure that he groomed The Mary Jane Girls to be better than Vanity 6. What do you think ILOSM family? Who’s group was better, Prince’s, or Rick James’?

That wasn’t the last time Vanity allegedly ditched a plan just before it was about to take off from the runway: Prince had actually written the song, “Glamorous Life” for Vanity, but she decided to leave before recording it and go to Motown Records, so Prince gave it to Sheila E. instead, which wasn’t a bad look at all by the way.

The things you learn when you do a little background checking. All in all, we’re glad that Vanity ended up being in Vanity 6 because Vanity 6 and The Mary Jane Girls had two very distinctive chemistries and changing one piece of that foundation would have probably thrown the whole vibe of the groups off. Maybe that’s why Prince’s revised group, Appolonia 6, didn’t have much life after Purple Rain. Appolonia worked well for the movie, but as a real-life group it would have been hard for us to adapt to her without our girl, Vanity, in the mix.

The post Vanity Once Ditched An Iconic Male R&B Singer To Join Prince’s Vanity 6 Instead? appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Well over the past 3 decades since their release, a few of them have been very vocal about their once tarnished relationship with Rick. One of the members, Maxi B., has recently put it ALL out there and what she said about how she felt when Rick passed away is shocking. Before we go any further, we want to point out that what she is referring to has also been confirmed by Rick himself, in his autobiography and overall it’s just really sad that the relationship turned that sour on both sides of the coin.

In an interview on Blog Talk Radio, Maxi B had this to say:

Maxi B.- He (Rick) mishandled all of our (The Mary Jane Girls) careers. He blocked us all from having prosperity in the industry. People often ask me, you know, why didn’t any of you do anything? The reason is Rick James….he held us back….he signed us to a 20 year slave contract. […] He just didn’t let us step out of our box like Vanity and Appolonia (Prince’s artists)…all of those girls got to step out and brand and now they can do things and it still hurts us because people are looking at us and realizing that we haven’t done anything in over 30 years. So when Rick died…it’s when I decided okay ‘That demon is off of my back. Ding dong the Wicked Witch is dead. Now I can go on and pursue…[it’s] never too late. I’m older now, but I’ll just go on and do it in another demographic.I believe that if you had talent then, you have talent now.’ And now I’m doing things that I never got to do thanks to the internet.”

Maxi also said Rick was doing everything he could to make sure they didn’t succeed and that she was crushed after Rick allegedly put out the word in the industry, that no one can do business with any of the girls, because they were in a 20 year contract with him and that he no longer wanted to make money off of them. She also said she was extremely hurt when she read Rick’s book, “Memoirs Of A Superfreak,” and saw that he said he wanted to “break the Mary Jane Girls” so that they couldn’t make money. Wow!

Rick James Told His Side…

Here’s what Rick revealed in his book about that whole situation in his true RAW style…

Rick James- “One of the most upsetting things happened when the Mary Jane Girls went behind my back to Motown saying all these lies about me. Joanne (JoJo) McDuffie, the ugly duckling, was the biggest liar of the bunch. She said the cruelest things about me to the press, things that just weren’t true.”

Joanne had married this neighborhood Buffalo trick named Robert Thunderbird who was always hanging around trying to get his slimy hands on any of the girls. Joanne, being the homeliest, was weak for him. The day they got married, I could see he was after the fame and the money.

JoJo started to change after “My House,” was released. She started to get stuck up. The Mary Jane Girls were scheduled to do a video, JoJo wanted $30,000 to do the video. I screamed, ‘What? No one, not me, not Prince gets paid to do videos. We just do them to help our careers.’ I told my brother to deal with the stupid b**ch. I think he gave her $15,000, after that, I was through with JoJo. She embarrassed me, herself and everyone by trying to come across like a f*cking superstar. And I had made her!

I had began to cut another album on the Mary Jane Girls, but after six or seven songs, I said, ‘F*ck it! They aren’t worth it. […] After all the lies and accusations, I deserted them.”

Geesh! It’s very sad that their story ended this way, but like we always say here at ILOSM: great success cannot exist without great failures. We understand that many of our favorite celebs are flawed humans, which is perfectly natural and okay. The more we understand that they are flawed, the better we understand that they are no different than the rest of us.

Source: BlogTalkRadio

The post Mary Jane Girls Singer Boldly Admitted Why She Was Relieved When Rick James Passed appeared first on I Love Old School Music.