Songoftheday 5/30/21 - Don't wanna make a scene, I really don't care if people stare at us...

 

 

"Gotta Be" - Jagged Edge

from the album A Jagged Era (1997)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #23 (two weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 6

 

Today's song of the day comes from the R&B vocal group Jagged Edge, who came together in Atlanta in the mid 1990's. Twin brothers Brian (who sang on Usher's #1 hit "Nice & Slow") and Brandon Casey, along with Kyle Norman and Richard Wingo, signed on with producer/rapper Jermaine Dupri's So So Def label, where they released their debut album A Jagged Era in the fall of 1997. Lead single "The Way That You Talk", which featured Dupri in his rapper role (as "JD") and Da Brat, climbed to #65 on Billboard magazine's pop Hot 100 chart, and #34 on their R&B list. That song may have hit a little bit of resistance with mainstream stations because of the long rap intro to the record, but that wasn't the case of the second offering, "Gotta Be". Written by the Casey Brothers with Dupri and co-producer Manuel Seal, the love ballad followed in the footsteps of Boyz II Men and Color Me Badd to aim for the ladies in its earnest straightforwardness and lush harmonies. It doesn't break any new ground, but their voices and the rich production were a great fit for the radio at that time...

"Gotta Be" became Jagged Edge's first top-40 pop hit in August of 1998. The song just missed the top ten on Billboard's R&B chart, stopping at #11. The Jagged Era album, released in October of 1997, peaked at #104 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and #19 on the R&B-specific albums list, going on to move over a half million copies.

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A second version of the music video was shot with the original members of Destiny's Child...

Next up, at the BET Teen Summit promoting the single...

And lastly, in concert in 2013 (the group has kept the same lineup throughout)...

Up tomorrow: Another R&B group continue their romance.