Songoftheday 9/24/18 - Ayo sweetie you're lookin' kinda pretty, what's a girl like you doin' in this rough city?
from the album The Skills Dat Pay da Bills (1992)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #14 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 14
Today's song of the day comes from rapper Positive K, aka Daryl Gibson from the Bronx, who after flowing with different local groups, struck out solo in the mid-80s. In 1989, he collaborated with female rap legend MC Lyte on "I'm Not Havin' It", which hit Billboard's Rap Singles chart at #16. With that exposure and guest nods on other hip-hop records, Gibson changed over to Island Records, where he recorded his debut album, The Skills Dat Pay da Bills. The lead single, "I Got A Man", was like a more uptempo version of "I'm Not Havin' It", with a female counterpart blowing off a persistent suitor. Now the story is that they wanted Lyte on this track, but her record label said no go. So Positive K supposedly recorded both parts and sped up the female verses to change his voice. I dunno, the inflection is too uncanny for me not to think this is a cover for MC Lyte really being on the record on the down low. Either way, the hilarious plotline (which reminds me of Young MC's work), and the infectious sample of "Rescue Me" from Grammy-winning disco duo A Taste Of Honey, and mainstream radio was all over this...
"I Got A Man" became Positive K's first and only pop hit, climbing into the top-20 in March of 1993. The single made it to #10 on Billboard's R&B chart as well. Internationally, the record reached #12 in the Netherlands, and was a minor hit in the UK (#43) and New Zealand (#41). Another track from the album, "Ain't No Crime", missed the pop and R&B chart, but landed on Billboard's Rap Singles chart at #16.
The following year, Gibson was a featured guest on fellow Bronx vocal group Motif's single "You Told Me", which popped in on the R&B chart at #90. But despite the success of "I Got A Man", it took the rapper a full five years to follow it up, with one-off single "Black Cinderella" that slipped on to the R&B chart at #92 even with the help of new jack swing king Teddy Riley. He has since sporadically released music since them; his most recent album was a collab with Greg Nice from the duo Nice & Smooth titled Gr8te Mindz in 2017.
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
The "B-Side" of the single for "I Got A Man", "Night Shift", almost hit the pop Hot 100, "Bubbling under" at #101, while having a week charting on the R&B list, and went to #17 on the Rap Singles chart...
Next up is Positive K on Soul Train....
In 1999, R&B singer Chante' Moore interpolated the rap nugget to become a ballad "Chante's Got A Man", which went to #10 on the pop chart and #2 R&B...
And finally, the rapper live on MTV...
Up tomorrow: Heavy metal hitters have some flowery furniture.
Comments