And as the 90s R ‘n’ B revival continues, a new generation of fans has emerged. Now, eight years since his last studio album, Playlist, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds is back with a new record, Return of the Tender Lover. Not everything he did was good, but the art of songwriting, the art of writing a ballad - he’s got it down pat.” ![]() “He started a whole genre in America of late-night R ‘n’ B power ballads. “He’s the quiet-storm king,” says 1Xtra DJ Trevor Nelson, describing the genre that encompasses the tender side of R ‘n’ B. There were tonnes of people that came in Babyface’s wake.” ![]() R Kelly, Joe - everyone else followed on from that. “His songwriting is incredible, it’s probably the most romantic music written in R ‘n’ B,” says Rob Pursey of the hip-hop DJ crew Southern Hospitality. On the subject of Grammys, he won three consecutive producer of the year awards, from 1996 to 1998 - and he’s won 10 Grammys in total. The list of artists he has written for reads like a dream Grammys guestlist: Madonna, Whitney, Mariah, Beyonce, TLC and En Vogue among them. He has been R ‘n’ B’s starriest lover since his second solo album, Tender Lover, in 1989, as the producer or artist behind some of pop’s biggest (and schmaltziest) songs - you’ve probably slow danced to them. You know when you’re listening to a Babyface song. ![]() ![]() We’re Not Making Love No More by Dru Hill.
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