Album Review: Chico DeBarge’s Addiction

in Music by tigger500 — September 13, 2009 at 9:00 am | 0 comments

The DeBarge family has largely been seen as a talented family that never quite reached the commercial and artistic relevance of the Jacksons, with whom they are frequently compared (due, in no small part, to their discovery by Motown impresario Berry Gordy, who told anyone who would listen that they were going to the next Jacksons, but bigger).

This view is not necessarily true or fair.

In many ways, the DeBarges’ ‘80s hits have been more durable than even the great Jacksons trilogy (Destiny, Victory, Triumph). Their hit “All This Love” has been covered numerous times, “I Like It” is one of the most sampled songs of its era, and you can still hear “Rhythm of the Night” on the few remaining black radio stations in the country.

And ironically, Chico DeBarge emerged in the late 1990s as one of the great artists of the contemporary soul movement (along with D’Angelo, Maxwell, and Erykah Badu) at precisely the time that Janet and Michael began their slow fall from popular grace. But Chico—like his family before him—has never been properly respected for his consistently accomplished work, despite his small, rabid fan base.

Go read the rest at Popmatters.

Tags: 80s addiction album review berry gordy chico debarge contemporary soul d'angelo debarge debarge family destiny erykah badu janet jackson maxwell Michael Jackson motown neo-soul triumph victory

Author: Tyler

I am treacherous, imperial, impermanent, impetuous. I rock like an archeologist, draw a picture like a forensic artist, perform like a dramatist. I'm fabulously wicked, miraculous, rustic, majestic, ridiculous.