The label/managers REALLY dropped the BALL with Ralph Tresvant

[Taadow]

It fit his persona. The girls/women who grew up on New Edition wouldn't have bought a bad boy Ralph.

This.
Ralph killed himself.

The “soft chit” worked. But

1. He waited too long to come back because he got married.
2. He listened to niccas like OP and tried to come back as a Bad Boy
after establishing himself as not that.
3. He (word to BBD) thought it was him instead of The Formula,
and wanted to do everything himself.

I didn’t get it either until I saw the N.E. Miniseries...Ralph is the kinda dude who don’t bend.

 

[prime]

when it comes to NE ralph looked like he was in his element but as a solo star he looked lost like look at the first few seconds of this performance he just looked lost as a solo act

 

[Hacksaw Jim Thuggin]

I mean who thought it was a good idea to be on that soft man shyt in that climate?

Sensitivity
Stone Cold Gentleman

Women get tired of that sensitive shyt at a certain age. It's like breh regressed from NE Heartbreak..Basically same type.of subject matter.. meanwhile his contemporaries are talm bout smashing hoes,grinding bytches on stage, fukking all night long,making bishes cry during sex

how old are you?

 

[Mowgli]

He was for the ladies not the fellas.

 

[Doin2Much Williams]

Agreed. His own desire to stay in New Editon and do what's best for the group screwed him. By the time he went solo, Bobby and BBD were already huge using the hip hop bad boy/pop fused image, Johnny Gill had the Luther Vandross lane covered, so there was no where for Ralph to fit unless he mirrored Bobby & BBD. Had he went solo 2 or 3 years before, his career may have turned out different.

Plus by the time Ralph album dropped, you had so much talent in single artist R&B land. Tevin Campbell was starting to make noise. Al B Sure was at his peak, Keith Sweat had the nice guy/begging lane locked up, Babyface had the simp lane locked up. You needed to have an 'A' song to break through. Ralph only had B or B+ songs.

Lol at beggin lane. Thats not a good perception. Haha.


But worths its for whats, Senstivity and Do What I Gotta Do were low A, high B tier songs.


.

 

[010101]

"money can't buy you love
can't buy you happiness
true love can bring
oh no money can't buy you love
can buy you diamond rings
but money can't buy you love"



that's a classic on the underkey on the low low low

& wasn't he helping bobb with his solo shyte as well

cheers to him

*

 

[Splakavellie504]

His lead single was essentially a throw away Janet Jackson quiet storm beat by Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis....then is tone imitated old Michael Jackson who was even going bad boy with his Dangerous album...

That nice guy routine just wasn't exciting enough to anyone...

Driving thru the hood knocking "Sensitivity"???? When you had "Poison", "Don't Be Cruel", plus Jodeci that took that whole bad boy w/smooth voice lane....

Ralph didn t have nothing....

Do you know how many Ballas I shot while listening to Sensitivity

 

[R.B.J1]

I think being the last one to release a solo project also hurt him. His uptempo/dance songs were also kind of blah. Bobby Brown has "my perogative", BBD has "poison"...Ralph has "stone cold gentleman"...which featured Bobby Brown. I think he needed better material.

 

[RubioTheCruel]

"money can't buy you love
can't buy you happiness
true love can bring
oh no money can't buy you love
can buy you diamond rings
but money can't buy you love"



that's a classic on the underkey on the low low low

& wasn't he helping bobb with his solo shyte as well

cheers to him

*

That whole Mo Money soundtrack was laced with classics

 

[Mike the Executioner]

You guys really don't think "Sensitivity" is a classic?

Timing is everything, especially back then when every genre of music was a bloodsport. Ralph was clearly meant to be the breakout star of New Edition, the next Michael Jackson. His album would have been a big hit if it came out in 1986/1987 like it was supposed to. Remember, Bobby's debut wasn't Don't Be Cruel. It came out around that same time and it flopped.

But then the label delayed it and Ralph decided to stay with New Edition. And we know what happened next. By the time Ralph came out with his debut, the R&B genre had changed completely and there was no window for him to be the star he could have been. There was too much competition, his own group mates were killing it with their music. It just wasn't going to work.

The same thing happened to Bobby. Don't Be Cruel was a monster album, and his follow-up could have been huge also, but it came out five years later. Sometimes, it even happened to artists who just had success. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince had a multi-platinum, Grammy-winning album. A year later, they couldn't even book shows anymore and were going broke because their next album barely sold anything. Staying hot back then wasn't easy at all.

 

[Spiritual Stratocaster]

Not for nothing but I fukked with Sensitivity

Same

 

[FeverPitch2]

The problem was more the music than the persona.
He basically did a NE album without the fellas.
Jam and Lewis just got done producing N.E. Heartbreak. so having them as the primary producers was a mistake.
Jam and Lewis gave Johnny a different sound but Johnny could also sing like Teddy Pendergrass.
As far as persona, Ralph should have gone Hardcore Loverman, like a singing Big Daddy Kane.
Like "I'll love you, but bytch I'm swagged the fukk out."
You know what song would have fit Ralph like a charm?


EDIT: I just noticed young Tyra Banks in this video.

 

[Cereal_Bowl_Assassin]

This entire thread

 

[Doctor Wily]

Sorry but his debut album was wack & really didn't have a steady flow to it.

 

[Peak]

"money can't buy you love
can't buy you happiness
true love can bring
oh no money can't buy you love
can buy you diamond rings
but money can't buy you love"



that's a classic on the underkey on the low low low

& wasn't he helping bobb with his solo shyte as well

cheers to him

*

shyt. I forgot about this as well