![]() “I Wanna Sex You Up” wasn’t the first song of its kind, but with its sighing backup vocals and its softly insistent Slick Rick and Betty Wright samples, it set the table for much of what would follow in the years ahead. (It’s also got a very funny line about “we can do it till we both wake up,” so maybe Color Me Badd didn’t understand how sex works.) That combination of elements, we’d soon learn, would become one of the dominant radio sounds of the ’90s.Ĭolor Me Badd referred to their sound as hip-hop doo-wop, and that style, minus the goofy name, would power seduction jams for the next decade. The title is silly and horny and extremely memorable, and there’s a funny disconnect between the couch-humping lyrics and the feathery, angelic delivery of the Color Me Badd boys. It’s a breezy little R&B jam that nods in the direction of rap music without including any actual rapping. “I Wanna Sex You Up” landed at the exact right moment. If you remember Color Me Badd, then you probably remember them as the guys with the carefully-sculpted facial hair who sang “I Wanna Sex You Up.” That’s their legacy, but that’s not what the charts tell us. Consider the case of Color Me Badd, the multi-racial Oklahoma City R&B vocal group with the extremely funny name. But sometimes, those numbers don’t line up with lived experience. The team at the magazine hones formulas and crunches numbers, and they’ve got a whole evolving methodology to figure out the most popular song in America during any given week. The Billboard charts aim for some kind of objectivity. The artists were renamed Color Me Bradd for the occasion.In The Number Ones, I’m reviewing every single #1 single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, starting with the chart’s beginning, in 1958, and working my way up into the present. On a November 2015 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Color Me Badd’s Abrams, Calderon and Watters joined with country singer Brad Paisley in a performance of “I Wanna Sex You Up” for Kimmel’s “Mash Up Monday” series. The song has appeared in numerous films and television shows, including You Don’t Mess with the Zohan and No Strings Attached. The music video for “I Wanna Sex You Up” was on an episode of Beavis and Butthead on MTV. “I Wanna Sex You Up” was performed by cast members on an episode of the first season of Glee in 2009. The Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg Saturday Night Live Digital Short “Dick in a Box” which debuted on December 16, 2006, is a parody of early ’90s R&B, and is considered a spoof of the style of Color Me Badd in particular. The group was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2000.Ĭolor Me Badd has had a lasting influence on R&B music. ![]() Calderon is Mexican-American, Abrams is Caucasian and Native American, Watters is Caucasian and Thornton is African-American. In the 1990s, they were known for wearing bright-colored suits and for their choreography, as well as for being a racially diverse group, which was rare at the time. Color Me Badd invented the term “hip-hop doo-wop” to describe its sound, which combines four-part pop-soul harmonies with a hip-hop influence. They made a cameo appearance as themselves on a 1992 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210.Īlong with Boyz II Men, Hi-Five and All-4-One, Color Me Badd were considered the leaders of a resurgence of post-doo-wop harmony group singing in the early 1990s. Their songs have been featured in movies and on television programs including New Jack City, Mo’ Money, No Strings Attached and Glee. They were nominated for two Grammy Awards, won two Soul Train Music Awards and one American Music Award, and were nominated for five others. ![]() As of 2016, they operate as a trio with Abrams, Calderon and Adam Emil.īest known for their singles “I Wanna Sex You Up”, “I Adore Mi Amor” and “All 4 Love”, the group has sold over 12 million records worldwide, had three number 1 hit singles, nine Top 40 hits and a triple-platinum album. They formed in 1985 and broke up in 1998 before reuniting in 2010, with various lineups since. ![]() The original members of the group were lead singer Bryan Abrams (born November 16, 1969), second tenor Mark Calderon (born September 27, 1970), second tenor Sam Watters (born July 23, 1970) and baritone Kevin Thornton (born June 17, 1969). Color Me Badd is an American contemporary R&B group that was formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. ![]()
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