Immature (later known as IMx) is an American
R&B boy band, managed by record producer
Chris Stokes. Its members include
Marques "Batman" Houston (born August 4, 1981),
Jerome "Romeo" Jones (born October 25, 1981), and Kelton "LDB" Kessee (born January 2, 1981), all natives of Los Angeles, where the group was formed. The group released four albums under the Immature moniker: ''
On Our Worst Behavior'' (1992; the only album to include original member Don "Half Pint" Santos, later replaced by Kessee), ''
Playtyme Is Over'' (1994), ''
We Got It'' (1995) and ''
The Journey'' (1997).
In 1999, the group changed its name to IMx, marking ten years of being a group and released two studio albums ''
Introducing IMx'' and ''
IMx'', as well as a ''
Greatest Hits'' album in 2001.
The group also branched out into film (such as ''
House Party 3'' and ''
House Party 4: Down to the Last Minute'') and television (such as ''
A Different World'', ''
Sister, Sister'', ''
Family Matters'', ''
Soul Train'' and ''
All That'') before disbanding in 2002.
On November 6, 2013, Immature performed their first show since reuniting at
Club Nokia in Los Angeles with
Next
NeXT, Inc. (later NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXT Software, Inc.) was an American technology company headquartered in Redwood City, California that specialized in computer workstations for higher education and business markets, and later develope ...
and
Dru Hill. In September 2019, Immature announced their ''#TBTour'' with special guests
Ray J,
B5 and
J. Holiday.
Biography
Immature was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1991 by
Marques "Batman" Houston,
Jerome "Romeo" Jones and Don "Half-Pint" Santos. Kelton "LDB" Kessee (the group's drummer) joined the group full-time in 1994, replacing Santos due to his parents pulling him from the group after they starred together in ''
House Party 3''. In 1999, the group would change their name to IMx, feeling Immature no longer reflected the band.
After IMx
In 2002, the group disbanded. Houston and Jones (under the name Young Rome) began pursuing solo careers, while Kessee continued his work as a
record producer
A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
. Houston became the first former member to release a solo album, ''
MH'', in 2003. Jones followed suit with the release of his debut solo album, titled ''
Food for Thought'', in 2004. Houston later released five additional albums: ''
Naked'' (2005), ''
Veteran
A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field.
A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces.
A topic o ...
'' (2007), ''
Mr. Houston'' (2009), ''
Mattress Music'' (2010) and ''
Famous'' (2013).
Houston and Jones have also pursued acting careers, with both starring in the dance film, ''
You Got Served'' (2004). Houston co-starred in ''
Fat Albert'' (2004) and landed a lead role in
UPN's comedy sitcom ''
Cuts''. In 2007, he starred in the horror film ''
Somebody Help Me''. He also appeared as Roger on the show ''
Sister, Sister'' (1994–1998).
Music career
Immature
''On Our Worst Behavior''
In 1992, Immature released their debut album, ''
On Our Worst Behavior'', on September 22. The album featured singles "Da Munchies", "I Wanna Know U That Way", "Be My Girl" and "Tear It Up (On Our Worst Behavior)" which also appeared on the soundtrack for the animated film ''
Bebe's Kids'', in which Houston provided his voice for the character Khalil.
Although the album failed to make it onto any of ''
Billboard's'' charts, their song "Tear It Up (On Our Worst Behavior)" managed to make it onto ''Billboard''s
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
, peaking at number 29.
''Playtyme Is Over''
Immature released their second album, ''
Playtyme Is Over'', on August 2, 1994, after signing a deal with
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...
. The album featured singles "
Never Lie" (their biggest hit), "
Constantly" and "I Don't Mind".
In the United States, ''Playtyme Is Over'' peaked at number 88 on the ''Billboard''
200 and peaked at number 26 on ''Billboard''s
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...
.
''We Got It''
In 1995, Immature released their third album, ''
We Got It''. The album featured singles "We Got It", "Lover's Groove" and "Please Don't Go".
In the United States, ''We Got It'' peaked at number 76 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and peaked at number 14 on ''Billboard''s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
''The Journey''
In 1997, Immature released their fourth album, ''
The Journey'', which was their last under the name Immature. The album featured singles "
I'm Not a Fool", "Give Up The Ghost" (featuring
Bizzy Bone) and "Extra, Extra" (written by and featuring
Keith Sweat
Keith Sweat (born July 22, 1961) is an American singer, producer and songwriter. An early figure in the new jack swing musical movement, he is known for his collection of hits including "I Want Her," "Make It Last Forever (song), Make It Last For ...
).
In the United States, ''The Journey'' peaked at number 92 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and peaked at number 20 on ''Billboard''s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
The track "Tamika" appeared on the sitcom ''
Sister, Sister'' episode "A Friend in Deed", which first aired on October 29, 1997. In this episode, the group performed as themselves at the school fundraiser.
''Introducing IMx''
In 1999, Immature changed their name to IMx and released their fifth album, ''
Introducing IMx''. The album featured singles "
Stay the Night", "Keep It On the Low" and "In & Out of Love". It was the group's last album with MCA Records.
In the United States, ''Introducing IMx'' peaked at number 101 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and peaked at number 31 on ''Billboard''s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
''IMx''
On August 21, 2001, IMx released their sixth album, ''
IMx'', after signing a deal with TUG Entertainment and
New Line Records (now WaterTower Music). The album featured singles "First Time", "Beautiful (You Are)", "Clap Your Hands Pt. 1" and "Ain't No Need" (which also appeared on the
soundtrack
A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
for the film ''
The Adventures of Pluto Nash'').
In the United States, ''IMx'' peaked at number 126 on the ''Billboard'' 200, being their lowest charting Billboard spot. and peaked at number 26 on ''Billboard''s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
''Remember''
In early 2015, the band reunited to release a comeback
EP titled ''Remember'', and changed their name back to Immature. The album featured mature-sounding remakes of their classic hits "
Never Lie" and "
Please Don't Go" along with six newly released songs such as "Let Me Find Out", "Oh My" and "Best Sex".
Other works
On February 27, 2001, IMx released their ''
Greatest Hits'' album which featured all of the popular singles that Immature/IMx had released in the past nine years. It also included several remixes of the original versions and songs, on which they had made guest appearances (such as R&B singer
Monteco's song "
Is It Me?").
The group's song "Keep it on the Low" was used as the theme song for the film ''
House Party 4: Down to the Last Minute,'' of which they also are the stars.
Immature collaborated with comedy actor
Kel Mitchell on the hit song "Watch Me Do My Thing", which was featured on the soundtrack of the
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
sketch comedy, ''
All That''.
Members
Current lineup
*
Marques "Batman" Houston – lead vocals (1991–present)
*Kelton "LDB" Kessee – background vocals (1993–present)
*
Jerome "Romeo" Jones – main rapper, background vocals (1991–present)
Former members
*Don "Half Pint" Santos – background vocals, rapper (1991-1993)
Discography
*''
On Our Worst Behavior'' (1992)
*''
Playtyme Is Over'' (1994)
*''
We Got It'' (1995)
*''
The Journey'' (1997)
*''
Introducing IMx'' (1999)
*''
IMx'' (2001)
*''Remember EP'' (2015)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imx
American contemporary R&B musical groups
African-American musical trios
American boy bands
MCA Records artists