The label/managers REALLY dropped the BALL with Ralph Tresvant

[Ozymandeas]

Ralph wasn't meant to be a solo star

He could have been the 90s version of Neyo. Doing lighthearted, not too sexual, nice guy R&B but, he didn't have the talent.

 

[Ayo]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1990

Billboard Hot 100 that year for context

 

[Clayton Endicott]

Dont be cruel being a monster hurt him

Bobby blowing up period hurt him. While he was the lead singer of N.E. Bobby was the one with the star power. It was just a matter of time before he was going to eclipse Ralph. Bobby was David Ruffin to Ralph's Otis.

 

[Clayton Endicott]

The problem was more the music than the persona.
He basically did a NE album without the fellas.
Jam and Lewis just got done producing N.E. Heartbreak. so having them as the primary producers was a mistake.
Jam and Lewis gave Johnny a different sound but Johnny could also sing like Teddy Pendergrass.
As far as persona, Ralph should have gone Hardcore Loverman, like a singing Big Daddy Kane.
Like "I'll love you, but bytch I'm swagged the fukk out."
You know what song would have fit Ralph like a charm?


EDIT: I just noticed young Tyra Banks in this video.

I haven't heard that song in YEARS . Rep.

 

[Lootha VanDraws]

^^^ same thing I was gonna say.

 

[Absolut da poet ®]

Word..breh put himself into a box..

And lowkey I think his confidence was shot..seeing his band mates all reach superstardom meanwhile he holds off his solo career to stay in the group.

And ain't nothing worse than a nice guy who had to brag about how nice, and gentle he is

Breh Basically marketed himself to church going broads and chicks who join book clubs.

Lol

This was the lane he should've been in




Sensitivity did numbers it just shouldn't have been one of the first songs out the gate

But it was still a ballad era.. Boyz To Men made I'll make love to you.. like 4 years after sensitivity

 

[Easy-E]

Do you know how many Ballas I shot while listening to Sensitivity

 

[klutch2381]

Success and hyper-success is often just a byproduct of timing. I think if he went solo right after NE Heartbreak, he would have become a huge star. The women in my family were still swooning over dude HARD in like 88-89 when the If it isn’t Love video would come on The Box. I was a little kid, but I vividly recall them scrambling to the tv when that joint would come on like Dark Seekers in I Am Legend. With that being said, he also seemed to be a dude that was more about the group prospering than he was getting his own project off, or leaving the group as fast as he possibly could…. *coughs* Beyoncé *coughs*

Also, Ralph got some bops too . If he really wanted solo superstardom he needed to pull a Weeknd and hook up with the Max Martin of his day, and go super pop.

 

[Sbp]

I mean who thought it was a good idea to be on that soft man shyt in that climate?

Sensitivity
Stone Cold Gentleman

Women get tired of that sensitive shyt at a certain age. It's like breh regressed from NE Heartbreak..Basically same type.of subject matter.. meanwhile his contemporaries are talm bout smashing hoes,grinding bytches on stage, fukking all night long,making bishes cry during sex

Nah breh that's a misconception. Around the early 90s Ralph had the same "demons" as Bobby. That's one reason for his fall off. The other reason was his follow up to his debut album he wrote and produced everything himself. Had he went with Jam and Lewis handling the production side his success would have continued throughout the 90s. I say that because right after his fall off. Somebody else came along with that smooth gentlemanly image with a super producer behind him and was able to become a superstar. The artist was Ginuwine. He's damn near a carbon copy of Ralph and was more successful as a solo artist with Ralph's template. Ralph's lack of success was NOT because of his image it was the music just wasn't hittin.

 

[Spiritual Stratocaster]

The problem was more the music than the persona.
He basically did a NE album without the fellas.
Jam and Lewis just got done producing N.E. Heartbreak. so having them as the primary producers was a mistake.
Jam and Lewis gave Johnny a different sound but Johnny could also sing like Teddy Pendergrass.
As far as persona, Ralph should have gone Hardcore Loverman, like a singing Big Daddy Kane.
Like "I'll love you, but bytch I'm swagged the fukk out."
You know what song would have fit Ralph like a charm?


EDIT: I just noticed young Tyra Banks in this video.

That san Andreas soundtrack

 

[Wear My Dawg's Hat]

Agreed. His own desire to stay in New Editon and do what's best for the group screwed him. By the time he went solo, Bobby and BBD were already huge using the hip hop bad boy/pop fused image, Johnny Gill had the Luther Vandross lane covered, so there was no where for Ralph to fit unless he mirrored Bobby & BBD. Had he went solo 2 or 3 years before, his career may have turned out different.

Plus by the time Ralph album dropped, you had so much talent in single artist R&B land. Tevin Campbell was starting to make noise. Al B Sure was at his peak, Keith Sweat had the nice guy/begging lane locked up, Babyface had the simp lane locked up. You needed to have an 'A' song to break through. Ralph only had B or B+ songs.

This is a very good take on that era.

I think he did the best he could, really. "Sensitivity" was a HUGE hit -- all over Black radio at the time (when Black radio was still dominant).

He suffered from the comparisons to Bobby and BBDs overwhelming successes. No one predicted. Bobby and BBD becoming what they became.

It was a period of transition. Luther and Freddie Jackson were still dominant, along with the New Edition Universe. Color Me Badu is about to hit with "I Wanna Sex You Up" and the Rap takeover of Black music is right around the corner.

 

[Wear My Dawg's Hat]

Ralph probably should have worked with Teddy Riley on his debut album, instead of just relying on Jam/Lewis and L.A & Babyface's softer sound.

Teddy hardened the sound of R&B by 1990 through Keith Sweat's and Bobby's "New Jack" approach.

Maybe a collab with Big Daddy Kane would have worked for him, too the way. Rakim collaborating with Jody Watley worked then.

 

[Wear My Dawg's Hat]

This clip of Bell Biv Devoe at the Apollo in 1990 demonstrates how much they impacted the music at the time. Harlem went crazy.

You don't see reactions to performances today like this. It was hard to Ralph and even Bobby to compete with this. Johnny was in the balladeer lane.

 

[Crude]

Ralph waited to long to go solo. He should have been a bigger star in that late 80s to mid 90s era. Had he dropped that solo album in 87-88 ish, I think his career takes a whole other trajectory. The timing was off though, and he dropped a bunch of smooth ballads when the R&B lane was moving more to the New Jack Swing era.

I absolutely agree with the breh above that said he should have worked with up and cooking producers like Teddy Riley or even Devante Swing.

He could have easily had that Tevin Campbell type lane, but his debut album was kinda mid and he never really bounced back to see the solo success of some of his N.E. group mates did.

I remember BBD and Johnny Gill being huge around that era. Bobby was attached to Whitney and that drama, so he stayed in the limelight as well even long after Don’t Be Cruel’s success had come and gone. Ralph was kinda the forgotten guy.

 

[Hitman's Shades]

If anyone took Ralph's lane, I would say it is Joe. Ralph with the right song choices and work ethic could have had Joe's career easily, even though Joe IMO has a better voice.