''Cool Relax'' is the second studio album by

Jon B Jonathan David Buck (born November 11, 1974) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. His debut album, '' Bonafide'' (1995), went platinum. Early life Born in Providence, Rhode Island, United States and raised in Altadena, ...

. It was released by Tracey Edmonds' label Yab Yum Records and distributed by Epic Records subsidiary

550 Music 550 Music (originally known as Sony 550 Music) was a unit of Sony Music Entertainment, which operated through Sony Music's Epic Records division while in activity. Launched in 1992, the "550" name was inspired by the address of the Sony building ...

on September 16, 1997.

Background and recording

''Cool Relax'' was the follow-up to his 1995 debut ''Bonafide''. Jon assumed the role of having more creative control on his second album. On his debut, he was given leeway to write and produce, but Edmonds and her then-husband Babyface were heavily involved in the making of ''Bonafide''. Jon was confident in the material for his new album, but fought with Edmonds and Babyface over certain songs to keep on the project. Aside from his work, Jon sought outside production from Tim & Bob, Johnny J, David Foster and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip

, among others. The song that became the first single "Don't Say", was written by former

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Natha ...

and

Az Yet Az Yet is an American R&B group from Philadelphia, best known for their songs " Last Night" and the cover " Hard to Say I'm Sorry" originally performed by Chicago. Formation Formed in 1989 initially as a duo with Shawn Rivera and Dion Allen, t ...

member Marc Nelson. Jon overheard Nelson playing the song in the record company's parking lot and asked to record it for his album. The music video for the single featured a then-unknown

Sanaa Lathan Sanaa McCoy Lathan (born September 19, 1971) is an American actress. She is the daughter of actress Eleanor McCoy and film director Stan Lathan. Her career began after she appeared in the shows ''In the House'', '' Family Matters'', '' NYPD Bl ...

as the female love interest. "They Don't Know" was released as the next single, with a music video directed by Christopher Erskin. The song's B-side "

Are U Still Down "Are U Still Down" is a song co-written and performed by American contemporary R&B singer Jon B, issued as a single from his second studio album '' Cool Relax''. It was commissioned as a double single with " They Don't Know" in some markets, i ...

" was also issued despite objections from the record company, as it featured vocals from the then-deceased Tupac Shakur who died when Jon started recording the album. Jon received assistance from Shakur's mother Afeni Shakur, who gave Jon permission to clear his vocals for the song. He would record a sequel to "Are U Still Down" called "Part 2" with a posthumous appearance by Shakur on his 2004 album '' Stronger Everyday''. The next single was the song "I Do (Whatcha Say Boo)". The song originally appeared on his demo tape prior to recording ''Bonafide''- as did the album track "Can We Get Down". The final single was the title track, which had a remix that featured

Guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...

from the hip hop group

Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American hip hop duo, consisting of Texas record producer DJ Premier and Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: ...

. The song was produced by Ali Shaheed Muhammad, who Jon sought out due to being a longtime fan of A Tribe Called Quest. "Pride & Joy" was originally recorded by

Toni Braxton Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1967) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won ...

for her sophomore album ''

Secrets Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controvers ...

'', but the song never made the final track listing. Jon later recorded the song for himself, while giving her the song "In the Late of Night" for her album. The last song on ''Cool Relax''- "Tu Amor"- was penned by songwriter Diane Warren. Jon felt the song didn't fit in with the rest of the album and was done at the request of Epic Records in seeing the potential of the song becoming a huge hit. Almost a decade later, the song would be covered by Mexican pop group

RBD RBD is a Mexican Latin pop group that gained popularity from Televisa's telenovela '' Rebelde''. The group achieved international success from 2004 until their separation in 2009 and sold over 15 million records worldwide, making them one ...

for their English language album '' Rebels''. One song that didn't make the track list was "Paradise in U". A little over a decade later, he included the song on his 2008 album '' Helpless Romantic''.

Track listing

Credits adapted from liner notesJon B. - Cool Relax. Yab Yum Records/550 Music. BK 67805 and

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes and Allmusic. *Ali Almo – backing vocals *Keith Andes – keyboards, producer, vocal arrangement *Atlass – backing vocals *Jon B. – backing vocals, producer, Vocoder, vocal arrangement, mixing *Agnes Baddoo – stylist *Tom Bender – mixing assistant *Kyle Bess – mixing assistant *

Paul Boutin Paul Boutin (born December 11, 1961 in Lewiston, Maine) is an American magazine writer and editor who writes about technology in a pop-culture context. Boutin, who began writing for ''Wired'' in 1997, wrote for ''The New York Times'' from 200 ...

– engineer, mixing assistant *Ian Boxill – engineer, mixing *Tim Carter – hair stylist *Greg Collins – assistant engineer, mixing assistant *Matthew Cross – engineer *Kevin Crouse – mixing assistant *Dahoud Darien – keyboards, producer *Desiree Diggs – make-up * Sheila E. – percussion *

Nathan East Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass player and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts deg ...

– bass guitar *

Kevon Edmonds Kevon Edmonds (born February 25, 1958) is an American singer and actor. He is member of the R&B group After 7 and the older brother of singer, songwriter, and record producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. After 7 scored three platinum- or gold-s ...

– backing vocals *

Melvin Edmonds After 7 is an American R&B group founded in 1987 by brothers Melvin and Kevon Edmonds, and their friend Keith Mitchell. The Edmonds brothers are the older siblings of pop/R&B singer-songwriter and record producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, wh ...

– backing vocals * Tracey E. Edmonds –

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights ...

*Felipe Elgueta – engineer *Dave Elias – bass guitar *Toni Estes – backing vocals *David Foster – keyboards, producer *

Simon Franglen Simon Franglen (born Westminster, London, England) is an English composer of classical and film music. He is also a record producer and former musician. His credits include four of the list of top grossing films and six of the list of best-sell ...

– synthesizer, programming *Roy Galloway – backing vocals *Jon Gass – mixing *Jeff Griffin – mixing assistant * Reggie Griffin – bass guitar *Gene Grimaldi – mastering *

Mick Guzauski Nathan "Mick" Guzauski is an American multi-platinum mixing engineer and sound engineer. His work spans a wide range of styles, including jazz, R&B, Latin, rock, pop, easy listening, funk and hip hop. He won a 2002 Latin Grammy for Thalía ...

– mixing *Stephanie Gylden – assistant engineer *Reggie Hamilton – guitar, bass guitar *Jack Hersca – mixing assistant *Zulma Iracheta – design * Mauricio Iragorri – mixing assistant *Eric Jackson – guitar *Bernard Jacobs – illustrations, stylist *Johnny J – producer *Jon-John – keyboards, producer *Melanie Jones – mixing assistant *Tim Kelley – keyboards, producer, engineer, vocal arrangement, drum programming, mixing *Khris Kellow – backing vocals *David Kopp – guitar *Paul Lani – engineer, mixing *Ricco Lumpkins – assistant engineer *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work. Life and career ...

– engineer, mixing *

Tony Maserati Tony Maserati is an American record producer and audio engineer specializing in mixing. He was involved in the development of the New York R&B and hip-hop scene in the 1990s, working with Mary J. Blige, Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, and Que ...

– mixing *Michael McQuarn – executive producer *Ali Shaheed Muhammad – producer, engineer, mixing *Paul Naguna – assistant engineer *Natie – rap *Marc Nelson – backing vocals, producer *Bennett Novak – design *

Dean Parks Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Albums Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los Angeles to work with Sonny and Ch ...

– acoustic guitar *

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical director based in Los Angeles, California. A prolific session musician, Phillinganes has contributed the role of keyboards to numerous alb ...

– keyboards *Lance Pierre – engineer *Pluto – co-producer *Bob Powers – engineer, mixing *Dave Reitzas – engineer *Michael Rich – assistant engineer, mixing assistant *Bob Robinson – keyboards, producer, vocal arrangement *Jason Rohrbach – assistant engineer *

Thom Russo Thomas "Thom" Russo is an American record producer, composer, engineer, mixer and songwriter.Eddy Schreyer Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle *Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Linu ...

– mastering *Matt Silva – assistant engineer *Brian Smith – engineer, mixing assistant *Alvin Speights – mixing, mixing assistant *Jay Strauss – photography * Michael Thompson – guitar, electric guitar *2Pac – producer *The Ummah – producer *Steve Van Arden – engineer *Carlos Warlick – engineer

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1997 albums 550 Music albums Jon B. albums Albums produced by Tim & Bob Albums produced by David Foster Albums produced by Johnny "J"