Old heads, why did Boyz 2 Men have more commercial success than Jodeci

[African Peasant]

r-kelly moved away from public announcement and kept making non-R&B commercial hits (many times backed by R&B/hip hop remixes)

Kellz 2nd and 3rd album were still Rnb, before his pop escapade and still sold twice what Jodeci were selling.

Jodeci was very successful but not THAT successful.

 

[FukkaPaidEmail]

I wasn’t around back then but just going back to the music Boys 2 Men just were better

I can see the corny shyt and all that but that music and talent is undeniable..

 

[dblive]

Waiting to Exhale or Toni Btaxton first album were not for black people?

A lot of you are wilding.

Also the boomerang soundtrack.

 

[Amare's Right Hook]

Both had the same message, stay out of Harlem.

 

[Ziploc]

White people.

 

[Lootha VanDraws]

I was a fan of both, but B2M had four dudes who could sing, vs. Jodeci which had 2 dudes who could sing.
B2M had whole albums full of good songs, while Jodeci had a mix of great songs and filler on each album.
I guess image was an issue as well, who knows?

 

[CarltonJunior]

My people didn't listen to jodeci like that when I was coming up even though they know all of their songs, B2M was playing constantly

It wasn't really til I start getting on the internet where I saw how highly regarded jodeci was

 

[NobodyReally]

Personally, I never understood it. Jodeci was superior to me. But I will admit coming up that Boys II Men had more pop appeal with their clean image and lack of vulgarity. Their songs were not overtly sexual. The kind of stuff you could play in the office and elevator, so of course they got more airplay and exposure. K-Ci always had his shirt off and Devante and Mr. Dalvin were always singing about fukking and cursing on a track. Still prefer Jodeci though.

 

[lurker emeritus]

devante said babyface was his favorite writer (:12)

along with prince

and andre harrell/al b sure told him/showed him how to produce like babyface (11:42)


but babyface just knew how to connect better with more listeners (which boyz ii men capitalized on starting with end of the road)
it's very telling that k-ci and jojo finally got boyz ii men like commercial success after they (musically) broke away from devante
All My Life (K-Ci & JoJo song)

 

[ExodusNirvana]

Because Boyz II Men made songs about love

Jodeci made songs about fukkIN

 

[LadyJ2]

Jodeci is great but they can’t hold a candle to Boyz II Men.

And as has been said in other posts Babyface can’t be touched as a songwriter. Just incredible.

 

[Taadow]

That's Motown running things right there. We took their cultural grounding for granted back then.

Yes. And this about sums up this particular situation.

People say “Motown” and folk automatically think of the 60s/70s era, but they sleep on the fact
that Motown was still popping in the 80s and 90s.

In the 80s they had the twilight of Diana Ross and Smokey, plus Stevie, Lionel Richie, and Rick James
(and Rick James gang). But shoutout to @semicko when New Edition hit, they knew they had to diversify
their bonds.

They hired Jheryl Busby from MCA, who is the one who signed New Edition.
The plan after that was to have a New Generation of Motown patterned after the OG style:

The Boys = Jackson 5
The Good Girls = The Supremes
Today = The Four Tops
Marvin Gaye = Johnny Gill (after the NE fracture)

Just so happened that Mike Bivins formed Biv 10, he brought it to Motown.
Boyz II Men turned out to be The New Temptations Motown wanted, and they played
the position - they had their couple modern jams every album, but like the Temps they
knew their bread & butter was gonna be Old School Doo-Wop Ballads and they stuck
to script.

So yeah, Jodeci might’ve made better music (matter of opinion) - but they were doing
the sound damn near everybody in R&B was doing at the time. B2M was in another lane.
Sometimes the way forward is to go back.

I didn’t like B2M like that because (1) that was music for simps, and (2) they basically got
all the push Today didn’t get, and I loved Today as a group/act. B2M was parent music,
Jodeci was not.

I know a older couple and we were talking about music once. They have daughters my age,
and said they begged them to go see Jodeci when they came to town. They took them.
They said they could sing and all, and they did a good job singing Stevie Wonder’s song,
but when “The Rat-looking Boy took his shirt off and started having sex with the floor,
we took our daughters home”.

Epilogue: Forgot to finish my point on 90s Motown. So they started off with the New Generation
acts, but then they added:

Boyz II Men
702
Subway
Monifah
Horace Brown (contender for GOAT 1-album wonder IMHO)
Chico DeBarge when he got free
Erykah Badu
Heavy D and Queen Latifah on the Vet contracts

 

[Exlurkernegro]

The GOAT simp song.

 

[Matt504]

Jodeci tried to pivot towards a more hip hop sound and image.

Devante was a musical genius though.

 

[Amerikan Melanin]

Jodeci tried to pivot towards a more hip hop sound and image.

Devante was a musical genius though.

Devante had a lot of ghost producers including timbs land and Missy