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Evidently shown by the figures, Pretty Ricky have provided the aural backdrop to countless bedrooms Stateside with 'Grind On Me'. Now we check up on the ‘Bluestars’ as they try their luck here in the UK.
Ladies,
brace yourselves for the latest R&B/hip hop combo set to unleash their
suggestive, sensual and all-round sexual lyrics to the world. As Spectacular,
one quarter of the group, describes, Pretty
Ricky insist they are something original and are hoping
that through their music, “people start vibing back into the clubs”
and “get their swagger back on with the hips” – something
they feel has been lacking on the scene.
After a week of continuous promotion, it’s lunchtime and the boys are relaxing in their London hotel room, ready to talk business: “This is Baby Blue, I’m looking for four baby mamas. I’ve moved up, the other day it was three!” Spectacular adds, “We like London ’cos we like the girls; we like the way they talk. We just enjoying it right now.”
Pretty Ricky consists of four blood brothers, all sons of a Joe Jackson-type of father figure/musical tycoon. The Miami-born quartet are rowdy, energetic and absolutely loving the attention of the fame platform they’ve been thrown onto. First of all, you’ve got the sweet-talking, 20-year-old sole singer of the group: “This ya boy Pleasure, I provide pleasure for all the ladies in need of pleasure. I bring the singing to the group.” Then you have the three hard-hitting rappers: “This ya boy Spectacular, I bring the dancing,” Spec, 19, says, introducing himself. “This ya boy Slick Em, the wild man of the clique. I bring the…” “Bring the pain!” Spectacular interrupts, before Slick, also 20, continues, “I bring the energy to the clique.” And finally, there’s 21-year old Diamond, aka Baby Blue. “I bring that freak-nastiness to the group. That over triple X-rated, passionate lover, passionate sex,” Slick Em answers. “We brothers, so I know what he’s going to say.”
Now, that’s where Pretty Ricky stand out. Constantly digressing from the interview to joke or reminisce about past times, their natural life-long bond is obvious. And it creates a certain chemistry between them that puts them on a completely different map to the tried-and-failed manufactured groups we’ve all seen try… and fail. “Baby Blue cried when B2K broke up,” Slick Em laughs. “Basically, one thing about Pretty Ricky is that we got both sides of the fans. Some groups they only have the look, but they don’t have the songs, or the attitude, or the stage presence. People just like how they look and that’s it. With Pretty Ricky, we got the look, we got the songs, we got the stage performance, the attitude; we take that extra step. And we more street, we more ghetto.”
But don’t think Pretty Ricky blew up just out of luck. They were grinding their way to the top long before they had time to start grinding with their adoring legion of female fans. With their father as their head inspiration, the four of them have been working hard; from placing their own posters to waiting hours for club performances for years on end. “We started back seven years ago, got our song on the radio,” Spectacular recalls. “Craig Kallman from Atlantic Records came to town and we performed ‘Grind On Me’ in front of him and 15,000 girls, who rushed the stage and broke the barricades down. The police came down, it was pandemonium; we started a riot. If we can do it in Miami, we can do it all over the world. That leads us here to London where we’re starting all over again.”
‘Grind On Me’, Pretty Ricky’s official mainstream debut single, has already broken radio records and spurred on its very own baby-making era. “When we made it, we felt it was going to be a huge song, we knew it had potential. But we didn’t know that a couple of months later we were gonna be in London. We didn’t know we were going to be over here, and we didn’t know it was going to have the same effect as in the States,” Spectacular reflects, before mimicking a serious tone that, as a ladies’ man, he’s no doubt used on more than his fair share of girls before. “We overwhelmed by the people supporting us. We overwhelmed with joy. My heart flutters with love.”
By now, the boys have finished their lunch (working lunch that is – no chance of a break when you’re superstars-in-the-making). As Slick Em tries some cranberry juice, his face turns with repulsion and tries to make Spec drink it. “Smells like liquor,” Spectacular comments, before laughing at the fact his suggestion encourages Slick to down the lot.
Pretty Ricky’s debut album ‘Bluestars’ is already certified gold in the US, and on September 26, the boys attempt to recreate that success this side of the Atlantic. It’s undoubtedly a brilliant debut, a CD that Baby Blue refers to as “sexy hip-hop” – something that’s designed to get “people in the mood” and get girls “wet like Spongebob!”
The second single from ‘Bluestars’ is ‘Your Body’ (out in the UK in November), but Pretty Ricky insist that whatever track they choose, it’s going to be a hit. Spectacular explains, “Most people just put three singles on their album. They get a five album deal, so they know they need some hits for the next one. They don’t want it to be straight up garbage, so they try to save everything. But we didn’t try take 14 singles and divide them between six albums; we put all our good songs on one album so we got 14 singles. It’s not just one good song, it’s not just two good songs; you can press play and just go through all 14.” “Plus we got the fellas on our sides and the girls on our sides,” Pleasure insists. “Most groups come out and they only get the girls; we represent for the fellas as well as the ladies. We telling them how you do this, how you start love-making. You got the album, so you know what goes down.”
All ‘great’ groups and artists are in some way revolutionary and Slick Em believes that Pretty Ricky are quickly leaving their mark on R&B: “At night, you go to a club and you’re going to get trampled, ’cos you got Elephant Man (Spec shouts from the background: “Pon de River!”), you got Lil’ Jon in there (“Okaaay, Whaaat, Yeaaah!”), but when that Pretty Ricky song come on, it slows everything down, the lights dim low and it’s real romantic, and you just jump on a girl and start grinding. People ain’t seen that in a long time, so people say we’re the next Jodeci, the next Jackson 5.”
Comparisons aside, Pretty Ricky are in demand. It’s been a gruelling summer for the boys; their promotional trip to the UK comes after having just completed the Scream IV tour in the US. Without a doubt, their act was one for the ladies, as Slick Em explains, “We on the stage and the girls throw their stuff on. Once they almost pulled Pleasure off stage, snatched his whole robe off, so he was on stage butt naked.” Spectacular adds, “We heard they might have a Scream Tour here [in the UK], with Omarion, Bow Wow, Marques Houston, B5, and us. If we do it, we’ll represent for y’all.” Although that’s not confirmed yet, be rest assured that Pretty Ricky will be back in town quicker than you think – the boys have been booked in for shows in London and Birmingham in November.
When they’re not touring/working their magic on the ladies, Pretty Ricky are sure to be keeping themselves busy with a whole bunch of entrepreneurial ventures they’ve got on the cards: “We got clothing lines coming out, movies coming – we act in movie. We got a reality show coming,” Spectacular says. “We just trying to be the next Puff Daddy and Russell Simmons of the game.”
Pretty Ricky’s album ‘Bluestars’
is out on September 26 here in the UK on Atlantic Records. Keep checking
TheSituation.co.uk for news on tour dates.
