I assumed Mint Condition was popular in their time...

[Cadillac]

I came across and saw they only have 1 gold album and a few award nominations.

Mint Condition discography - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Thats crazy to me, i always assumed they were pretty big in the 90s not R Kelly big. But I thought they might have been like B-level artist of popularity

of having a run of plat/gold albums and singles.

espescially as their music rang off in R&B based events i go to, open mics, lounges, etc. Everyone be hype singing to pretty brown eyes, what kind of men would I be, etc

shyt not even Pretty Brown Eyes has made Platinum tho.


were they even noticable in the 90s or were they a total afterthought?

 

[DontEemTry]

They were kind of C level in the 90s despite the fact that they were literally MILES ahead of their peers musically.

They are musicians in the very real sense. Live instrumentation, no gimmicks, wrote all their own shyt and performed live always.

Not to mention pretty much nobody in all of R&B at the time could fukk with Stokely vocally.

They were just considered too serious for people who were being spoonfed the simple music of the likes of R Kelly and Joe.

 

[TAYLONDO SAMSWORTHY]

Mint condition was dope af i coulda swore they had more plaques

 

[Cadillac]

They were kind of C level in the 90s despite the fact that they were literally MILES ahead of their peers musically.

They are musicians in the very real sense. Live instrumentation, no gimmicks, wrote all their own shyt and performed live always.

Not to mention pretty much nobody in all of R&B at the time could fukk with Stokely vocally.

They were just considered too serious for people who were being spoonfed the simple music of the likes of R Kelly and Joe.

interesting,

this really puts into perspective when my older cousin made mention of how they werent bumped like that in the 90s

he said they got some play but nothing huge. so i always thought they atleast had 2 albums both plat atleast a little small run.



did them being one of the last funk bands before new jack, and hip took off(as it says in their wiki) hurt them with that "to serious for people" image?

 

[DontEemTry]

interesting,

this really puts into perspective when my older cousin made mention of how they werent bumped like that in the 90s

he said they got some play but nothing huge. so i always thought they atleast had 2 albums both plat atleast a little small run.



did them being one of the last funk bands before new jack, and hip took off(as it says in their wiki) hurt them with that "to serious for people" image?

Yeah, but truth be told they were pretty much the only R&B band in the mold of older acts like EW&F or Time etc. So even in the 90's they were an anomaly. You could count the Roots I guess but they had their own (arguably much less successful) lane.

They never got on that mean muggin "we sing but we really thugs" that started to creep into R&B at that time. Seeing them live is an incredible experience.

 

[MusicConsulting]

I came across and saw they only have 1 gold album and a few award nominations.

Mint Condition discography - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Thats crazy to me, i always assumed they were pretty big in the 90s not R Kelly big. But I thought they might have been like B-level artist of popularity

of having a run of plat/gold albums and singles.

espescially as their music rang off in R&B based events i go to, open mics, lounges, etc. Everyone be hype singing to pretty brown eyes, what kind of men would I be, etc

shyt not even Pretty Brown Eyes has made Platinum tho.


were they even noticable in the 90s or were they a total afterthought?

i think the big problem is that mtv never gave them the support to make them extremely popular

Because it was jimmy jam & terry lewis label, the reach was limited. Perspective records was not a powerhouse like Columbia records.

The fact they didn’t leave minnesota is likely part of the reason they didn’t obtain success

in comparison they were kinda like the roots

tour based
album driven
musically inclined
well versed in musicology
understood their audience
were fully aware of their sales radio play challenge


MC didn’t have the lifeline like the Roota with the talk show gig


What they did have were co-signs from many highly successful artists including Prince Toni Braxton (she would marry & divorce a keyboardist from the band)

But they had to do take other career paths being a black band on a major label.

Their last album was 2015, this gives us an idea how difficult it is to record a follow up with their schedule

But this was one of the only bands where Prince would stop his day to go see perform at a club in MPLS.

And if you could get his attention to watch a full concert, i’d say you were a highly successful band.

Their band catalog is underrated and hell of a group of songwriters. There is so many more bangers than Pretty Brown Eyes or Swingin or What kind of man would i be

this is an example of how dope they were on stop by at a music show

from 26 years ago -




Stokley has it all the charisma, that one take ability as a vocalist and musician no instrumental backing tracks needed. Not to mention he’s in another great band called Ursus Minor as the co-leader with a few lp’s

and his solo lp’s are great as well



the way they kill this set on live tv

 

[Tommy Gibbs]

Mint Condition was the best band of the 90s. Their sales may not reflect it, but they were indeed the Earth Wind & Fire, Barkays, Isleys, Ready for the world of their era. Every member played multiple instruments and their songs were on the radio and Video Soul daily. They were never a C Level band. They were clearly the best of their era with the combination of musical ability, performance, and albums . Everything was in-house as they wrote and produced thtier own music. They didn't have the success of Jodeci, Boyz II Men, Dru, Hill, BBD, SWV, or Envogue, but they were legit. To this day I still purchase every Mint Condition album in the physical copy and I have known all of the members by name and what instruments they play. Keri Lewis left after marrying Toni Braxton . he was the main keyboardist from the beginning.

 

[tremonthustler1]

It's gangsta rap's fault.

 

[BigMoneyGrip]

Stokely still that dude

 

[DontEemTry]

Mint Condition was the best band of the 90s. Their sales may not reflect it, but they were indeed the Earth Wind & Fire, Barkays, Isleys, Ready for the world of their era. Every member played multiple instruments and their songs were on the radio and Video Soul daily. They were never a C Level band. They were clearly the best of their era with the combination of musical ability, performance, and albums . Everything was in-house as they wrote and produced thtier own music. They didn't have the success of Jodeci, Boyz II Men, Dru, Hill, BBD, SWV, or Envogue, but they were legit. To this day I still purchase every Mint Condition album in the physical copy and I have known all of the members by name and what instruments they play. Keri Lewis left after marrying Toni Braxton . he was the main keyboardist from the beginning.

Yeah when I said C-Level I just meant in terms of exposure and airplay.

I'll take Mint Condition's music over ANY popular 90's R&B acts. Easy.

 

[hex]

Difficult to gauge success back then because it was before the internet. So you could hear something all day, every day in your neighborhood or school and think it was doing "Thriller" numbers when it only went gold or 1x plat.

Fred.

 

[zayk35]

It's gangsta rap's fault.

In the words and voice of the "Unsung" announcer......And the came Gangsta Rap

 

[Eastside Get The Money]

They were true R&B and a band. They didn’t get their right play at the time tbh.

Not edgy like jodeci, not timeless ballads like boys ii men, and not a solo sex act like a Bobby brown or Johnny gill.

I mean the next hot black band was the roots I think? To keep it a bean the black band has been so disrespected in music

 

[CrushedGroove]

I never knew they weren't big. I've always heard and played their music. I've always preferred their sound in addition to D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, etc over the more mainstream sound at the time.

 

[Ol’Otis]

I think they had too many internal conflicts