LittleBLUECorvette said:

Timmy84 said:

Here's something that is never discussed: some of y'all been going on with how great a songwriter Face was but what was L.A.'s contribution? The lyrics or the music? Same with Face. There's also Daryl Simmons to tend with.

His debut is underrated. I heard it recently.

I agree. Especially the ballads.

Ready Or Not--After 7; Diggin On You--TLC; I'll Make Love To You--Boys 2 Men; Not Gon Cry--Mary J; Shoop Shoop--Whitney; My, My, My--Johnny Gill; Another Sad Love Song--Toni Braxton; Red Light Special--TLC; Rock Wit'cha--Bobby Brown; Always In My Heart--Tevin Campbell; End Of The Road--Boys 2 Men; Change The World--Eric Clapton; Sittin Up In My Room--Brandy; Take A Bow--Madonna; Slow Jam--Midnight Star; Why--3T; Hurts Like Hell--Aretha; Water Runs Dry--Boys...

So many more. He did better than Prince in the 90s--he owned the 90s. Wake up. Fuck MJ, he's the king of pop.

2freaky4church1 said:

Ready Or Not--After 7; Diggin On You--TLC; I'll Make Love To You--Boys 2 Men; Not Gon Cry--Mary J; Shoop Shoop--Whitney; My, My, My--Johnny Gill; Another Sad Love Song--Toni Braxton; Red Light Special--TLC; Rock Wit'cha--Bobby Brown; Always In My Heart--Tevin Campbell; End Of The Road--Boys 2 Men; Change The World--Eric Clapton; Sittin Up In My Room--Brandy; Take A Bow--Madonna; Slow Jam--Midnight Star; Why--3T; Hurts Like Hell--Aretha; Water Runs Dry--Boys...

So many more. He did better than Prince in the 90s--he owned the 90s. Wake up. Fuck MJ, he's the king of pop.

He didn't write "Change The World" for Eric Clapton. He just produced it.

Timmy84 said:

Here's something that is never discussed: some of y'all been going on with how great a songwriter Face was but what was L.A.'s contribution?

If you've heard Face's side of the story, both partners did not contribute equally. He said L.A. played drums, while he himself handled instrumentation, arrangements and lyrics.

I dig his singing and song writing but this guy is way over hyped.

If u listen 2 his material with a strong ear...............90% of his material is the same basic song over and over...........and over again.

Whenever i here someone attach the word "genius" 2 his name I cringe.

Face is a prolific song craftsman rather than a genius-level musician à la Stevie Wonder or Prince.

Singer: Above Average = B-

Songwriter: A

He has written or co-written for TLC, Boyz II Men, Toni Braxton, Karyn White, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Tevon Campbell. The Whispers, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Usher, Johnny Gill. After 7, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knith, Mary J. Blige, Patti LaBelle, Faith Evans, Midnight Star, Shalamar, plus upcoming projects on Barbara Streisand, Alicia Keys and Aretha...the records speak for themselves.

Someone mentioned L.A Reid - yeah right. The partnership was more or less like Lennon-McCartney; Jagger-Richards and Jam-Lewis. The printed credits were not always reflective of reality (i.e. Kenny "Babyface' Edmond was the real writer there).

[Edited 5/3/12 18:39pm]

Graycap23 said:

I dig his singing and song writing but this guy is way over hyped.

If u listen 2 his material with a strong ear...............90% of his material is the same basic song over and over...........and over again.

Whenever i here someone attach the word "genius" 2 his name I cringe.

Yeah, that 's true.

When I first heard "No Deposit, No Return" from Sheena Easton, I was immediately reminded of "Family Man" on Karyn White's debut album. Almost identical in chord structure.

He is a great singer and songwriter!

I saw him live a few years ago at a jazz festival and he was amazing! He sang all his hits and man they sounded so good.

[Edited 5/3/12 18:41pm]

vainandy said:

He should have stayed in The Deele and the other bandmembers shouldn't have let him do anything other than sing and play the songs that they wrote.

Identity said:

Timmy84 said:

Here's something that is never discussed: some of y'all been going on with how great a songwriter Face was but what was L.A.'s contribution?

If you've heard Face's side of the story, both partners did not contribute equally. He said L.A. played drums, while he himself handled instrumentation, arrangements and lyrics.

I see...

Singer- Very good..

Songwriter--GReatttt!

Smoothest cat since Luther when he stepped on the scene...

I loved that whole L.A and Babyface sound circa 87-90.....

Rock Steady

Don't be Cruel

Roni

Rock wit cha

I Love You Babe

Games

Circumstantial Evidence

Tell me

Dial my Heart

Lucky Charm

A Little Romance

On our Own

The way you Love me

Love Saw It

Secret Rendezvous

The Lover in Me

Roses are Red

Feels so much better

Shoot em up Movies

Girlfriend

Nothin Compares 2 u

Heat of the Moment

Lovers

Whip Appeal

so on and so on........The list flows on

singer: average, but his voice is convenient/adequate for the kind of songs he usually sings

songwriter: one of the best songwriters/producers of his generation,; his peak ended a long time ago though...

funkdoctorrock said:

Singer- Very good..

Songwriter--GReatttt!

Smoothest cat since Luther when he stepped on the scene...

I loved that whole L.A and Babyface sound circa 87-90.....

Rock Steady

Don't be Cruel

Roni

Rock wit cha

I Love You Babe

Games

Circumstantial Evidence

Tell me

Dial my Heart

Lucky Charm

A Little Romance

On our Own

The way you Love me

Love Saw It

Secret Rendezvous

The Lover in Me

Roses are Red

Feels so much better

Shoot em up Movies

Girlfriend

Nothin Compares 2 u

Heat of the Moment

Lovers

Whip Appeal

so on and so on........The list flows on

Face is an excellent song writer and singer. He's one of the rare artist that we will never see again. Some of his songs are classics like Two Occasions with the Deele and Soon As I Get Home.

Never Keeping Secrets is just beautiful.

The live version of Two Occasions is beautiful too

Check em out on Soul Train

[Edited 5/5/12 16:03pm]

Face wrote After 7's Ready or Not

I think he has written some of the prettiest songs ever created.

I used to really love these. He didn't write "Do Me Right" for Pebbles or "Games" for Shalamar but he did remix and produce them.

[Edited 5/6/12 7:27am]

^ Face is one of the best in the business-all these great songs he's written are a testament to that.

nursev said:

^ Face is one of the best in the business-all these great songs he's written are a testament to that.

As a singer/songwriter I think he is very good. As the orger said, the 90's was his decade.

As for the collab with Pharell it was kind of comical. I remember VIBE magazine ripped that song and video apart. They said; "Watching a man wearing a muscle shirt (with no muscle) going through a midlife crisis should never be on film".

He's a balladeer and I always thought he was great in that area. Has he done an all acoustic CD yet?

SPYZFAN1 said:

As a singer/songwriter I think he is very good. As the orger said, the 90's was his decade.

As for the collab with Pharell it was kind of comical. I remember VIBE magazine ripped that song and video apart. They said; "Watching a man wearing a muscle shirt (with no muscle) going through a midlife crisis should never be on film".

He's a balladeer and I always thought he was great in that area. Has he done an all acoustic CD yet?

mjscarousal said:

Singer: Above average

Songwriter: Excellent

missfee said:

Singer:

Songwriter: 1/2

Although I would give him 3 and 1/2 stars for songwriter. I would not put him in the same boat as Prince or Stevie Wonder when it comes to writing great songs.

He is not a bad singer-just your typical singer.

He was a very good songwriter, and an average/above average singer. However, he has very little versatility! Reminds me of Brian McKnight in that sense, except B McKnight is a far better singer.

In all fairness, some of you orgers who are 18, 19 20 yrs old were probably conceived to a Babyface song that's how good he is.

ISF said:

He was a very good songwriter, and an average/above average singer. However, he has very little versatility! Reminds me of Brian McKnight in that sense, except B McKnight is a far better singer.

Babyface is a far better songwriter than Brian McKnight and that chasm is much greater than Brian's vocal edge IMO.