Lo-Key? is an American

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

/ R&B group that formed in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

and

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. Their single, "I Got a Thang 4 Ya!" (1993), reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B Singles chart, and No. 27 on the Billboard

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

chart.

History

Lo-Key? formed in

and

, consisting of singer/trumpeter Darron "D" Story, singer/multi-instrumentalist Andre "Dre" Shepard, bassist Tyrone "T-Bone" Yarbrough, producer/keyboardist Lance Alexander and rapper/singer Tony "Prof-T" Tolbert. The group honed their skills on the Minneapolis club circuit, where Alexander and Tolbert became in-house producers for

Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. Their productions have received commercial success since the 1980s with vari ...

' Flyte Tyme Productions. The group signed with Jam & Lewis' record label,

Perspective Records Perspective Records is an American record label, launched in 1991 by the producing team Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, through a joint venture with A&M Records—which Jam & Lewis had had a prosperous working relationship with throughout the 1980s, wit ...

, and released their debut album, ''Where Dey At?'', on October 6, 1992. They scored a hit with the single "I Got A Thang 4 Ya!" in 1992, which spent a week at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B Singles chart, and reached No. 27 on the

Arthur Jafa Arthur Jafa (; born Arthur Jafa Fielder, November 30, 1960) is an American video artist and cinematographer. Early life and education Jafa was born on November 30, 1960, in Tupelo, Mississippi, and raised in Clarksdale, Mississippi, which was ...

director of photography The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

for the independent film ''

Daughters of the Dust ''Daughters of the Dust'' is a 1991 independent drama film written, directed, and produced by Julie Dash. It is the first feature film directed by an African-American woman to receive a theatrical release in the United States.Michel, Martin (No ...

'' (1991), directed the video for the single.McAdams, Janine (October 17, 1992). "Lo-Key? Well, Not really... Hi-Energy Quintet's Time Has Come". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''. Alexander and Tolbert were also successful songwriters and producers in their own right. Among the hit songs they produced for other artists were " Butta Love" by the group

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 ...

, " Love Makes No Sense" for

Alexander O'Neal Alexander O'Neal (born November 15, 1953) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter and arranger from Natchez, Mississippi. O'Neal came to prominence in the mid-1980s as a solo artist, with eleven top 40 singles on the US R&B char ...

, "I Wish" for

Shanice Shanice Lorraine Wilson-Knox (née Wilson; born May 14, 1973) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and dancer. She had the ''Billboard'' hit singles "I Love Your Smile" and "Silent Prayer" in 1991 and "Saving Forever for ...

and "

Strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit is appreciated f ...

" for Smooth. Tolbert continued to collaborate with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, contributing as a songwriter and background vocalist on albums by

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling ba ...

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

and Usher. Meanwhile, Lance Alexander went on to found his own label called Baby Honey Records and teamed up with Minneapolis producer Christopher Starr to form the group V.IP. The group released the single entitled Lil Mama How Ya Do Dat featuring Juvenile.

Discography

Albums

*''Where Dey At?'' (

, 1992) No. 121 ''Billboard'' 200, No. 18 US R&B Chart

Allmusic.com *''Back 2 Da House'' (Perspective Records, 1994) No. 64 US R&B Chart

Singles

*"Kansas City" (1992) *"I Got a Thang 4 Ya!" (No. 27 ''Billboard'' Hot 100, No. 1 US R&B Singles, 1992) Billboard Singles Allmusic.com *"Hey There Pretty Lady" (No. 56 US R&B Singles, 1993) *"Sweet on U" (No. 91 Billboard Hot 100, No. 13 US R&B Singles, 1993)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lo-Key African-American musical groups American contemporary R&B musical groups Musical groups from Minnesota Musical groups from Kansas City, Missouri Musical groups established in 1991 1991 establishments in the United States New jack swing music groups

History

Discography

Albums

Singles

See also

References