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Pretty Ricky is an American R&B/hip hop group originating from Miami, Florida. The group originally consisted of brothers Diamond (Baby Blue) Smith and Spectacular Smith, plus Corey (Slick 'Em) Mathis and Marcus (Pleasure P) Cooper. Pleasure P was the group's main singer, while the other three members performed as rappers. After he departed in 2007 to embark on a solo career, the group shuffled through several replacement vocalists.
Pretty Ricky | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Pretty Rickie and The Maverix |
| Origin | Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Labels | |
| Members | Marcus "Pleasure P" Cooper "Spectacular" Blue Smith Diamond "Baby Blue" Smith Corey "Slick'em" Mathis |
| Past members | Christopher Myers ("4Play") Carl Lovett ("Mowet") Emmanuel Ramone DeAnda ("Lingerie") Robert "Milk B" Baish |
The name "Pretty Ricky" was taken from a character in the sitcom Martin. The group enjoyed its biggest success in the mid-2000s with their gold-selling albums Bluestars and Late Night Special, and the platinum singles "Grind With Me" and "On the Hotline".
Baby Blue, who appears on the show Love & Hip Hop: Miami, pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme to file at least 79 fraudulent loan applications seeking more than $24 million in forgivable PPP loans. Baby Blue used the loan proceeds to make "luxury purchases", including a Ferrari for $96,000.[1]
History
edit1997–2003: Beginnings
editIn 1997, while performing together in Miami, Pretty Ricky was signed to Bluestar Entertainment by CEO Joseph "Blue" Smith. Supported by their father, Joseph Smith Sr., who also served as the band's manager and who is of Jamaican descent, the group developed their music under the name of "Pretty Rickie and The Maverix" before changing it to "Pretty Ricky". With the help from producer Jim Jonsin of the Unusual Suspects production team, Pretty Ricky began to gain desirable attention through their local performances. However, it was not until 2002 that the group encountered their initial success as their song "Flossin'" became a huge hit on Miami radio station Power 96.[2]
2004–2005: Bluestars
editIn 2004, Pretty Ricky released their first official single, "Grind With Me". It reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[3]
The single made its way to popularity on WPOW-Power 96, and station program director Ira Wolf (Tony the Tiger) sent the single to Craig Kallman of Atlantic Records. After auditioning with Kallman, Pretty Ricky was offered a record deal on the spot.
On May 17, 2005, Pretty Ricky released their debut album titled Bluestars. It debuted at #16 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 56,000 copies in the first week, and within several months, was certified Gold by RIAA.[4] On June 15, 2005, Pretty Ricky released their second single from the album, "Your Body", which charted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #12.
In the summer of 2005 the group toured with Omarion, Bow Wow, Chris Brown, Bobby V, and other acts in the Scream Tour IV concert series.[5]
2006–2009: Late Night Special and Pleasure P's departure
editOn November 9, 2006, Pretty Ricky released the first single off their second album, Late Night Special, titled "On the Hotline". It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at #97 and was certified platinum by the RIAA.[6] In January 2007, Late Night Special topped the Billboard 200 album charts with over 132,000 copies sold in the first week.[7] The second single from the album, "Push It Baby", featured Sean Paul but failed to crack the Hot 100, reaching only #109. Pleasure P later left the group after, and was replaced by Carl "Mowet" Lovett and soon after Christopher "4Play" Myers in 2007.[8]
In 2008, Pretty Ricky began work on a new album, Eighties Babies,[9] with an intended release date of October 14, 2008, but the album was shelved due to leaking and creative differences. 4Play quit the group in 2009 and was replaced by Emanuel "Lingerie" DeAnda.[10] Pretty Ricky then split from Atlantic and signed with independent Atlanta label Big Cat Records, who released their official third album, Pretty Ricky, in November 2009.[11][better source needed] It charted for only one week on the Billboard 200, at #97.
2010–present
editIn 2010, Pretty Ricky released the singles "Personal Freak" and "Cookie Cutter", neither of which charted.[12] On August 10, 2010, they released an extended play titled Topless.[13] In December 2010, the group announced their fourth album, Bluestars 2, was in the works,[14] but the album was never produced.
On August 12, 2011, Pretty Ricky released a mixtape titled Sex Music Vol. 1: Streets N The Sheets.[15]
After a three-year hiatus, Pretty Ricky released the non-charting single "Puddles" on February 16, 2015. This marked the return of Pleasure P.[16][17]
In 2019, Pretty Ricky joined The Millennium Tour along with B2K, Mario, Chingy, Ying Yang Twins, Lloyd, and Bobby Valentino.[18] On February 21, 2020, Pretty Ricky returned with a new single titled "Body", which is set to appear on the group's reunion album.[19]
Discography
editStudio albums
edit| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US |
US R&B | US Rap | |||
| What They Call Em | — | — | — | ||
| Bluestars | 16 | 5 | 3 | ||
| Late Night Special |
|
1 | 1 | 1 |
|
| Pretty Ricky | 97 | 14 | — | ||
EPs
edit| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Topless |
|
Mixtapes
edit| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Sex Music Vol. 1: Streets N The Sheets[15] |
|
Singles
edit| Year | Title | Chart positions | Certification | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B |
US Rap |
AUS [20] |
FIN | NZ | UK [21] | ||||
| 2005 | "Grind with Me" | 7 | 6 | 2 | 70 | — | 6 | 26 |
|
Bluestars |
| "Your Body" | 12 | 22 | 5 | 45 | — | 13 | 37 |
| ||
| 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 | — | 2 | — | 120 | ||
| "Love Like Honey" | — | 101 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2008 | "Knockin' Boots 08" | — | 75 | — | — | — | — | — | Eighties Babies (unreleased) | |
| "Cuddle Up" (featuring Butta Creame) | — | 76 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2009 | "Tipsy (In Dis Club)" | — | 52 | — | — | — | — | — | Pretty Ricky | |
| "Say a Command" | — | 98 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2010 | "Personal Freak" (J. Long featuring Pretty Ricky) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Cookie Cutter" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2011 | "Topless" | — | 124 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015 | "Puddles" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017 | "Good Girlz" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020 | "Body" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
References
edit- ^ Smith, Kyle (January 21, 2022). "Fraudsters cash in as Dems shovel out billions and billions in COVID relief". New York Post. Archived from the original on January 21, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
- ^ Venable, Malcolm (March 9, 2006). "Pretty Ricky | MusicWorld". BMI.com. Archived from the original on October 12, 2019. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
- ^ "You searched for Pretty Ricky grind on me". RIAA. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
- ^ "A Welcome 'Exile': Audioslave Opens At No. 1". Billboard. June 6, 2005. Archived from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ archive-Chris-Harris (June 20, 2005). "Bow Wow, Omarion Roll Out Scream IV Summer Dates". MTV. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f "Gold & Platinum: Pretty Ricky". RIAA. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
- ^ Cohen, Jonathan (January 31, 2007). "Pretty Ricky, Shins Grab Top Album Chart Spots". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 12, 2022. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ Centeno, Tony M. (January 8, 2018). "Pleasure P Talks 'Love & Hip-Hop: Miami,' Pretty Ricky Reunion And More". Vibe. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
- ^ "Eighties Babies [Unreleased]". AllMusic. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ Digga, Ro (October 23, 2011). "Pretty Ricky's Newest Member.. he's mean, he sings, he's Lingerie!!!". Z 107.9. Archived from the original on February 21, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ "Big Cat Records to Distribute Pretty Ricky's Self Titled New LP November 17th". PRWeb. August 26, 2009. Archived from the original on November 15, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ "Cookie Cutter – Single". iTunes. July 27, 2010. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ "Topless – EP". iTunes. August 10, 2010. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ "Pretty Ricky "Blue Stars 2"". BET.com. December 27, 2010. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ a b "Pretty Ricky – Sex Music Vol. 1: Streets N The Sheets". DatPiff. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ "Puddles (feat. Baby Blue, Spectacular, Slickem & Pleasure P) – Single". iTunes. February 16, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ Pannell, Ni'Kesia (February 17, 2015). "Listen: Pleasure P Reunites with Pretty Ricky on New Single "Puddles" – ThisisRnB.com – Hot New R&B Music, Videos, News". ThisisRnB. Archived from the original on November 7, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ Miss2Bees (December 21, 2018). "Omarion Announces B2K Reunion Tour With Pretty Ricky, Mario, Lloyd, Chingy & Ying Yang Twins". The Source. Archived from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Pretty Ricky Returns With LSG Sampled Single "Body"". YouKnowIGotSoul. February 23, 2020. Archived from the original on February 25, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
- ^ Peaks in Australia:
- "Grind with Me": "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 3 October 2005" (PDF). Australian Web Archive. October 20, 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2005. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
- "Your Body": "Pretty Ricky – Your Body". australian-charts.com. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
- ^ Everyhit.com – accessed March 2011