Songoftheday 10/28/17 - "Excuse me where have I seen you?" they tend to ask me, a humble answer I give them as we start to get closer...
from the album Mo' Ritmo (1991)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #16 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 6
Today's song of the day comes from the Ecuadorian/American rapper Gerardo, who had landed a top ten pop hit with his comedic novelty rap "Rico Suave" in the spring of 1991. He followed it up with "We Want The Funk", a rework of the classic R&B song from Parliament "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)". The original reached #15 in the summer of 1976, and was the highest-charting pop hit for the George Clinton-fronted act...
Gerardo uses the chorus from that record to frame his rap verses, and in his music video, even has Clinton in for a cameo, though it's kind of funny that he can't get Gerardo's name right...
"We Want The Funk" became Gerardo's second and final top-40 pop hit in June of 1991. A third single released from the album, "When The Lights Go Out", had a more new jack swing vibe matching the hits of the time, but the song slipped on to the pop chart at #98.
In the fall of 1992, Gerardo released his second album, Dos, but neither the record or any of the singles from it got any attention. Further releases did the same, but he smartly used his education to become a hugely successful music industry executive in the 90s and 00s. He also had a moderate club hit in 2002 when "Americana" climbed to #15 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart. He currently is a pastor, while his daughter Nadia became Miss California in 2016. He also had a short-lived reality show, Suave Says, in 2014.
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Here's Gerardo performing on the Arsenio Hall show promoting the single...
And lastly, in concert performing the track...
Up tomorrow: Soul singer possibly needs a Tylenol.
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