* En anglais uniquement
A protégé of pop-rapper
MC Hammer,
B Angie B was among the more promising urban contemporary/neo-soul singers of the early ‘90s. Much to the disappointment of those who recognized her potential, the Mississippi native (who shouldn't be confused with Angie B of the Sequence) turned out to be a one-album wonder -- that is, someone who only recorded one album and wasn't heard from again. But that doesn't make her lone album any less noteworthy. Born Angela Boyd in Morton, MS, the gritty, big-voiced singer became part of
Hammer's posse in the late ‘80s and toured with the famous pop-rapper as a dancer.
Hammer realized that
B Angie B could sing as well as she could dance, and in 1991, he signed her to his Capitol-distributed Bust It label. That year, Bust It/Capitol released her self-titled debut album, which
Hammer produced with his Northern California colleague
Felton Pilate (formerly of the popular ‘70s/'80s funk band
Con-Funk-Shun). Combining a strong appreciation of classic soul with a high-tech hip-hop production style, the album was the essence of neo-soul. In 1991, that soul-meets-hip-hop approach wasn't totally unprecedented -- before that, artists ranging from
Keith Sweat and
Michel'le to
En Vogue and the innovative
Force MD's had been thinking along similar lines. Nonetheless,
B Angie B did her part to bring soul music to a hip-hop/urban contemporary generation, and it should be noted that she was doing that type of thing before the rise of
Mary J. Blige,
D'Angelo,
Erykah Badu, or
Jill Scott.
Bust It/Capitol released a few songs from
B Angie B's album as singles, including "So Much Love" and remakes of two ‘70s soul classics:
Rufus & Chaka Khan's "Sweet Thing" and
the Emotions' "I Don't Want to Lose Your Love." Although the latter became a minor hit, Angie's sales didn't satisfy Capitol, and she ended up being dropped. When the 21st century rolled around, Angie had yet to provide a second album. ~ Alex Henderson