Chico Debarge

Free
$9.98
This album is CHICO Debarge at his finest. To me this album is his best, great songs, real SOUL no generic RnB formulas, nice rhodes licks, some nice songwriting and a nice flow throughout the album. I bought back in 03 and i still love it.

The Game
$11.98
"It has been nearly 10 years since the release of Chico DeBarges THE GAME (1999), the highly anticipated followup to his classic gold selling comeback CD, LONG TIME NO SEE (1997). Anticipation for the release of THE GAME was so high that it became the highest debut album of Chico's career (Billboard RB#6-POP#41). But after it's first week on the charts it began a slow descent. The majority of his fans and critics were disappointed and felt it was a weak followup to what many consider a masterpiece, LONG TIME NO SEE. But in actuality THE GAME was just as good as his previous effort, but it lacked the flow and continuity that made Chico's prison epic LONG TIME NO SEE a classic. Indeed Chico, the youngest member of Motown's famed DeBarge family musical dynasty of the 80s understood the music game better than most of his peers and knew how to give the public what it wanted. Although he was not taken very seriously by the public during his early career, being overshadowed by his older siblings in the group SWITCH AND DEBARGE, Chico displayed a harder edge that made him stand out from the rest of his family, after his auspicious 1986 debut at the age of 20 with the hit single "Talk To Me" (RB#7 POP#21). His early career however was derailed for nearly a decade by a drug related conviction in 1988 that sent him to prison for nearly six years. He emerged in 1997, 10 years after his last album KISS SERIOUS (1987) with the help of Kedar Massenberg, as a neo soul contender, but also a hip hop hearthrob with something to say. And the public finally took notice. LONG TIME NO SEE was a masterpiece and a fascinating exploration of the life hopes and dreams of a young man behind bars. And THE GAME was supposed to give the public a fascinating look at the life loves struggles and aspirations of a man after being released from prison. Chico delivered what I believe to be, the most commercial project of his career, just as relevant and good as LONG TIME NO SEE. But the public ultimately did not see it that way. When a project fails it is easy to point blame, yet nearly a decade later I still believe that THE GAME was suppose to be a concept album, but that the compilation was so eratic that it became too difficult to comprehend. It seems as if they placed what they considered the most commercial songs first and the weakest songs last, giving no heed to what should have been a proper story line. The public recognized Chico after LONG TIME NO SEE as a master story teller and a fine song stylist, but the production of THE GAME and the way it was compiled was like trying to read a book with disjointed haphazored chapters. Who was the blame for the failure of Chico auspicious return to the Motown label. Perhaps an infamous VIBE article from 2007 on the RISE AND FALL OF THE DEBARGE FAMILY answers that question. When asked by the author Michael Gonzales about the failure of THE GAME, the executive producer of the project, Kedar Massenberg, who had emerged President of the new Motown label in 1998, chiefly because of his success with D'Angelo, Erykah Badu and Chico DeBarge, admitted that he and Chico had "very strong opinions," about the project. Massenberg felt however that Chico's "ideas for THE GAME were corny, Chico wanted to be more bling and mainstream. We did manage to make one classic album, but sometimes Chico can be his own worst enemy." Yet the only thing corny about THE GAME was the way it was promoted and compiled. And although I am not sure who was responsible for that compilation, Kedar or Chico, had the project been marketed like their previous project, it would have been a success. As a matter of fact it took nearly a year for LONG TIME NO SEE to sell over 500,000 copies and be certified Gold. The public did not embrace the project until they released a bonus track addition with the hit remix of "No Guarantee" featuring Joe (RB#18). Only then did the CD "fly off the store racks" as one record store owner so eloquently put it. Motown and Universal had enough confidence to gamble on such a risky move. Many fans (including myself) were bothered by the fact we ended up buying two copies of the same album. But the bonus track addition was a brilliant marketing scheme (that later became a common practice in the industry) and enabled a brilliant album to finally become embraced by a mass public. After the release of THE GAME's lead hit single "Give You What You Want Fa Sure" (RB#11-POP#71), Chico's best charting single since his debut 13 years before, a hot remix featuring Trina soon follow. Even though the remix was not embraced by radio, the video for it was and a lot more successful than the over the top video that accompanied the original lead single. And so re-releasing THE GAME with the remixed bonus track of the lead single this time, however, would not have effected the albums downward spiral. But by re-releasing and re-structuring the album which would have been renamed THE GAME-RELOADED as an actual concept album along with the remix single, surely would have turned this into a gold selling success and possibly a multi platinum mega-hit, because then the public would have embraced it as the concept album it was meant to be. Motown/Universal can still make amends by re-releasing this album as THE GAME-RELOADED on it's 10th anniversary this year. Irregardless if they do or don't, I would encourage fans of Chico to recompile this amazing CD to reflect it as an actual concept album. My concept of THE GAME RELOADED begins rightly so with the first cut "The Game" as Chico takes you in his ride on an amazing journey of a brother who must constantly stay away from temptations that would send him back to a life a confinement. One of the first temptations he meets along the way is explosed in the next tract, "Sexual." Although he doesn't want to make a girl feel cheap by calling her a freak, he feels the need to get "Sexual" on his journey. These first two numbers or chapters in this saga set the pretext for everything that follows. Perhaps feeling a little guilty however he hooks up with his friend Bobby Brown on "Talk About You" who encourages him to not be concern with what others say because people only say something good about you when your dead, it's only when people stop talking about you, that you need to be concerned (because then it might mean that your career is dead). Bobby Brown (who incidently after leaving New Edition, began his solo career the same year as Chico did) may not have been the best person to give advice and the song is one of the weakest of the set, yet it works well as the 3rd track and sets Chico up for the next phase of his saga, the lead single "Give You What You Want Fa Sure." Chico arrives home and tells his lady to turn off the lights, put down the phone and close all the shades because he has something to prove and is going to give her what she (and the public wants). But there are consequences to everything and by the next chapter (track) Chico realizes that because of his weaknesses his lady eventually leaves him, leaving him to wonder why "Everybody Knew But Me" including Shamika, Roshanda and all the other "Queens of the Ghetto," (my take off of his follow up project FREE). In this song Chico does a good job of channeling Stevie Wonder but by the end of it where he admits that a man is not suppose to cry and he refuses to do so, he is channeling soulful DeBarge at its best. Chico ends the first half of the album by admitting that he is "Sorry" with a reggaeton beat that will remind old fans of his last single before going to Prison "Kiss Serious" inwhich he laments that he has been around the world and seen many girls but only one had ever made him feel the way his lover has and that in the end a man does have a right to cry, afterall. "Sorry" with its reggaeton flavor could have become an international hit had it been exploited. The second half of the album starts with a man now living on "The Edge." And although I have yet to figure out what the lyrics are actually saying (why he didn't include the lyrics on the CD is beyond me and very frustrating) it is obviously about a man trying to convince his woman to come back home after all he has put her through. A weak song for sure yet a followup to the otherside of the opening song "The Game." Finally with the collaboration of his good friend Joe, Chico lays down the law and demands his lady to "Listen To Your Man." He lets her know what the meaning of loyalty is all about and why, is it that, if he treats a woman like a dog, she likes it and stays, yet when he treats her like a lady, she resents it and leaves. The track works best here because in the first half of Chico's story he seems to be consummed with complaining about why others gossip about him, and it gets a little monotonous and annoying, but with this track located here in the second half it becomes a cathartic moment and an excellent way to move to the next phase of the story. Despite all the arguments with his woman (or is it the other woman) we next find Chico channeling Marvin Gaye with a classic remake of "Til Tomorrow," complete with the angelic voice of El DeBarge holding up the rear. Despite his hardcore persona, Chico proves that he can be just as romantic as any of the other crooners on the scene and I have always felt his rendition of it is a highlite of not only THE GAME but the original project for which it came, MARVIN AT 60. After pleading with his girl, Chico lets her know in salsa tenged spanglish that he can do it "Your Way" if that's what it takes. Motown failed to mine this commercial gem as well, but in the era when Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and other latin stars where redefining the pop charts, this song could have become a major international hit as well and broaden Chico's appeal to other genres. Perhaps a remix of "Your Way" combined with his "Til Tomorrow" or even the 70s classic "Pillow Talk" by Sylvia, would have heated up the dance floors around the world! I didn't really care for Brian Mcknights "When Can I See You Again," but it was perfect filler material to move the album to it's fitting conclusion. But I must admit that Mcknight, Motown's hottest artist of that moment, should be commended for his participation on Chico's return to the legendary label. In the song, it's obvious that Chico lovelife may never be the same and the monotonous refrain of "when can I see you again" allows him the opportunity to reflect and even rap upon what he has lost. Chico finally concludes his journey by going to The Lord and his Mom for advice whereupon he realizes that inorder to deal with The Game he must commit to a higher authority "Heart Mind and Soul." And by doing so, Chico in this his forth album, pays honor to not only his family legacy, but his mother Mama DeBarge who he duets with and his brother El who co-wrote the song for his own fourth and final album in 1994 HEART MIND AND SOUL (the same year Chico was released from federal detention). I personally did not feel that Chico did justice to the song and that he probably should have remade, "He'll Make A Way," the dynamic duet his mother did with Darrel DeBarge on the family's 1991 underrated gospel effort BACK ON TRACK. But I can understand his need to pay homage to El and Mama DeBarge and have always found it prophetic that he decided to use the song as his grand finale to what I believe would have been the most commercial project of Chico's career: that is, had they decided to re-release the project as THE GAME - RELOADED. Within a few days Chico, back with Kedar Massenberg, will release his 6th CD album ADDICTION, which promises to be another concept album. I am eagerly awaiting it, because he is a master story teller as well as an amazing song stylist. But I only hope that he and Kedar have learned their lesson from the botched job they did with the compilation of THE GAME, and realize that when one listens to a concept album it should be akin to reading a good book and the flow of compiling each chapter is essential to enjoying the story. That is the concept behind the success of LONG TIME NO SEE and I hope this review allows others to enjoy the success of what should have been THE GAME RELOADED. "

Addiction
$17.98
Another beautiful album by Chico. Such a shame it took so long for him to release it. He tackles romance & his bout with drug addiction on this album, which is a bold move. He often times uses the lady as a metaphor for his addiction. A mellow soul album. Even jazzy at times. However, it never put me to sleep. Beside passing on about 2 songs on the album, the only true negative is that the album took so long for it to come out. There are too many standout songs to mention. Hopefully, he won't make us wait another 6 yrs for his next album to come out.

Addiction
$9.49
Another beautiful album by Chico. Such a shame it took so long for him to release it. He tackles romance & his bout with drug addiction on this album, which is a bold move. He often times uses the lady as a metaphor for his addiction. A mellow soul album. Even jazzy at times. However, it never put me to sleep. Beside passing on about 2 songs on the album, the only true negative is that the album took so long for it to come out. There are too many standout songs to mention. Hopefully, he won't make us wait another 6 yrs for his next album to come out.