Pretty Ricky
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| Pretty Ricky | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | The Maverix,[1] Bluestars |
| Origin | Miami, Florida |
| Genres | R&B, hip hop |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Labels | Bluestar Ent. Atlantic Records (2004 - 2007) |
| Associated acts | Pitbull, Sean Paul |
| Website | www.prettyricky.com |
| Members | Baby Blue (1997-present) Yella Boy aka Spectacular (1997-present) Lingerie (2009-present) Slick'em (1997-present) |
| Past members | Pleasure P (1997–2007) Ambition |
Pretty Ricky is an American R&B/hip hop group originated from Miami, Florida. Pretty Ricky originally consisted of six friends: Andrew Marks, Kyle Schlade, Colton Adams, Joe Kuhn, Andy Sens and Austin Lee. Pleasure P left the group in 2007 to embark on his solo career. Since then there have been numerous times where Pretty Ricky had numerous replacements of lead singers. In 2009 Emmanual DeAnda (aka Manny DeAnda or "Lingerie") joined Pretty Ricky, and is now the lead singer of the group.
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Musical career [edit]
Early career (1997–2003) [edit]
Pretty Ricky began performing together in 1997 in Miami, Florida signed to Bluestar Entertainment International by C.E.O. Joseph "Blue" Smith. Joe Smith is the father of the original 4 members. According to a 1999 story in The Miami Herald, the brothers were originally called Pretty Rickie & The Maverix, until the country group the Mavericks objected, and the brothers decided 'y' endings are "more masculine" than 'i.e.'.
Bluestars (2004–2005) [edit]
In 2004, Pretty Ricky created sensation when their next tune entitled "Grind With Me" made its way to be the most requested song ever on Power 96 shortly after it was first played during 'Love Hour' program. The station's Program Director, Tony the Tiger (Ira Wolf), afterwards sent the tune to Craig Kallman, Co-Chairman and also Chief Operating Officer of Atlantic Records. Upon his arrival in Florida by December, he was amazed by the commotion the band had ignited at a Martin Luther King, Jr. parade in Hallandale. "It was complete pandemonium," Kallman recalled. "Hundreds and hundreds of screaming, shrieking girls basically stormed the stage and bum rushed the guys as they came off, chasing them down the field, jumping on the van, trying to climb on the van." Invited by Kallman to have an audition in his hotel room at Loew's Miami Beach, Pretty Ricky was immediately offered a record deal on the spot.
After signing the deal, the song was re-recorded with familiar titles, "Grind with Me" & "Ride with Me", less explicit versions of their hit single, which led to their debut album Bluestars being released in May 2005. It debuted[2] and peaked at number 16 on the Billboard 200 album chart selling 56,000 copies in the first week. Within several months, Bluestars was certified Gold by RIAA, leading the group to obtain popularity as well as commercial success. This debut album was included in the top 20 of The Billboard 200 while its two tracks, "Grind With Me" and "Your Body".
The group then toured with Omarion, Bow Wow, Chris Brown, Bobby V, and other acts in the Scream Tour IV concert series. As of January 1, 2012, the album Bluestars has sold over one million copies nationwide.
Late Night Special, Pleasure P departures (2006–2007) [edit]
Their second album, Late Night Special, was released on January 23, 2007, and sold over 132,000 copies in the first week topping the Billboard 200 album charts.[3] In its second week on the chart it fell to number five with 62,000 copies sold. The album included the singles "On the Hotline" and "Push It Baby" which featured reggae superstar Sean Paul. After the release of Late Night Special, the group's singer, Marcus "Pleasure P" Cooper, pursued a solo career.
Eighties Babies/Pretty Ricky and Ambition/4Play debut and departures and Emmanual DeAnda "Lingerie" debut(2008-2009) [edit]
In 2008 4Play made his debut and also recorded an unreleased album Eighties Babies from which five songs were leaked. He then left the group that same year, so he was with the band for a short time due to creative differences. He was later replaced by Manny DeAnda "Lingerie" in 2009. Also signed to the label was singer J.Long 2009-2011. J.Long was a solo artist on Bluestar's roster but also an un-official member of Pretty Ricky. In 2010 Pretty Ricky and J.Long released their first single Personal Freak. J.Long does Christian/music now. J.Long and Slick'em have a Christian song together called "Anything".
In 2009, Pretty Ricky independently recorded and released their third album, self-titled Pretty Ricky, which was released on November 17, 2009. Only two singles were released from the album, "Tipsy (In Dis Club)" and "Say a Command". The album sold over 500,000 copies and has been certified Gold on their independent label Bluestar Records.
Bluestars 2 (2010–2012) [edit]
"Cookie Cutter", was released on July 27, 2010,[4] whilst "Topless" was released on August 10, 2010.[5] Slick'em left the group due to an addiction to cocaine and being in rehab. He did not feature in the "Cookie Cutter" video and he was replaced by PlayBoy in 2011. Bluestars 2 is the upcoming fourth studio album by Pretty Ricky, which is set to be released in 2013.[6]
"Pacman Your Body" and "Topless (Remix)" are the group's singles for their mixtape Sex Music Vol. 1: Streets N The Sheets.
In mid-2012 Spectacular introduced the world to his "bad boy" alter ego "Yella Boy" with his mixtape "#MostWatned Vol.1" which has a certified Gold Trophy with over 100,000 downloads, and more counting on Datpiff.com.
Discography [edit]
Studio albums [edit]
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions[7] | Certification | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | US Rap | |||
| 2005 | Bluestars
|
16 | 5 | 3 | |
| 2007 | Late Night Special
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1 | 1 | 1 |
|
| 2009 | Pretty Ricky
|
97 | 14 | — | |
| 2013 | Bluestars 2
|
TBA | |||
Singles [edit]
| Year | Title | Chart positions[9] | Certification | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | U.S. R&B | U.S. Rap | UK[10] | ||||
| 2005 | "Grind with Me" | 7 | 6 | 2 | 26 |
|
Bluestars |
| "Your Body" | 12 | 22 | 5 | 37 |
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| 2006 | "Nothing but a Number" | — | 70 | — | — | ||
| "On the Hotline" | 12 | 6 | — | 121 |
|
Late Night Special | |
| 2007 | "Push It Baby" (featuring Sean Paul) | 109 | 51 | 18 | — | ||
| "Love like Honey" | — | 101 | — | — | |||
| 2009 | "Tipsy (In Dis Club)" | — | 52 | — | — | Pretty Ricky | |
| "Say a Command" | — | 98 | — | — | |||
| 2010 | "Personal Freak" | — | — | — | — | Bluestars 2 | |
| 2010 | "Cookie Cutter" | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011 | "Topless" | — | — | — | — | ||
References [edit]
- ^ Pretty Ricky: A Who2 Profile
- ^ Margo Whitmire,"A Welcome 'Exile': Audioslave Opens At No. 1", Billboard.com, June 1, 2005.
- ^ "Pretty Ricky, Shins Grab Top Album Chart Spots"
- ^ "Cookie Cutter - Single: Pretty Ricky". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2012-12-23.
- ^ "iTunes - Music - Topless - EP by Pretty Ricky". Itunes.apple.com. 2010-08-10. Retrieved 2012-04-23.
- ^ "PRETTY RICKY BLUESTARS 2 LOOKING FOR A FALL RELEASE! - Team Pretty". Webcache.googleusercontent.com. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
- ^ "Artist Chart History – – Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
- ^ a b c d e "Gold and Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
- ^ "Pretty Ricky Charts & Awards (Billboard Singles)". Allmusic.
- ^ Everyhit.com – accessed March 2011
External links [edit]
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