Silk

A raunchy R&B act with street attitude and swaggering confidence, Silk released their huge hit 'Freak Me' in 1993 and were briefly one of the biggest boy bands in the US. Lead singer Gary 'Lil G' Jenkins originally started singing at seven-years-old and played guitar and keyboards in gospel groups before majoring in music at Tennessee State University, where he played jazz and performed in operas. The rest of the group had been spotted singing in church by soul star Keith Sweat, and after Jenkins passed an audition, they set about basing their sound around Sweat's 'New Jack Swing' style of urban pop. Sweat featured on their debut single 'Happy Days', a smooth, R&B strut, but they really broke a year later when 'Freak Me' sold over 1.3 million copies and topped the US Charts. Album 'Lose Control' also made the US top ten and went double platinum, and they had a string of tracks popular with R&B fans, including 'Girl U for Me', 'Hooked On You' and 'If You (Lovin' You)'. With a sound that was pitched somewhere between the romantic croon of Barry White, the gospel pop of Boyz II Men and the rough edge of 1990s hip-hop, the group found more success with the albums 'Tonight' and 'Love Session' selling in millions, but were never able to repeat their early wave of fame. British boy band Another Level went on to top the UK Charts with their cover of 'Freak Me' in 1998, but Jenkins left Silk in 2002 to perform solo and with supergroup Blayse. Despite record company difficulties, the band continued on and reunited with Jenkins in 2007, before releasing their seventh studio album 'Quiet Storm' in 2016 through Shanachie Records.

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