On June 27, 2010, audience and television viewers of the 2010 BET Awards watched in awe as we witnessed the return of El DeBarge who took center stage after 16 years to perform one of his greatest hits from the 80s and 90s, “Rhythm of the Night”, once performed with his family group, DeBarge. As cameras scanned the audience, you could see expressions of elation, surprise and even a few tears as we wondered, “Where had he been so long?” and “How could his voice still sound unscathed after more than 15 years?” The curiosity came not only due to the length of time since his past fame, but also to the fact that during his hiatus, he battled a devastating (and public) drug problem in and out of court arrests which ultimately led to a 2-year prison sentence in 2008 before rehabilitation.
If you closed your eyes, you could never imagine that he had experienced this because he sounded as good – if not better – all these years later. After ending the “Rhythm of the Night” ballad, he began to sing another song entitled “Second Chance” that by the end brought fans to their feet in roaring applause. He smoothly sang the lyrics:
I have changed, but take the blame
For all the words left unspoken through the pain
I played the game and lost in space
But I have cleansed myself by walking through the rain
So tonight I lay me down to sleep, and pray my soul to keep
In that your love will rescue me for the rest of my life
I live to say good bye to all the promises left behind
Here we are you and I … a second chance
If you listen there's a melody in how you live your life
You can write the song you want to hear and I pray
To live mine, so in the mirror speaks
It tells me you have faced your inner fears and in loving this song.
…
No, I'm not giving up, I am here to stay ….
A second chance
A second chance
A second chance
A few months later, DeBarge would release his comeback album on November 30th, using this song as the album title /track. “Second Chance” is a sultry mix of R&B, an easy neo-soul groove and up and down beat tempo ballads throughout the 10-tracks. He successfully brings back that smooth sound with his angelic falsetto the 30-50 year-old generation like myself had grown to love while also blending in a few melodic up-tempo tracks with a funky beat to attract the younger generation.
As with the BET Awards, on the surface, El DeBarge’s album drew popularity by serving to be a musical comeback after 16 years of silence. But the word “comeback” in today’s society is used too loosely in my opinion. Is it really a comeback when Jay-Z releases a new album less than a year later after vowing not to do another? Or is it a comeback when Chris Brown appears publically for the first time after domestic violence scandal and arrest to apologize in hopes of redeeming himself to audiences and return to fame? I think not. This type of return is surface and the public relation definition. It’s only when we take the time to evaluate an album, an artist, his work and life can we applaud those like Whitney Houston, Teddy Pendergrass and El DeBarge for truly making a return after adversity, winning and sounding almost vocally undamaged and mentally stronger.
From the album’s start to finish, it successfully takes listeners on a journey where DeBarge serves as tour guide. The journey ventures through his life filled with success, love, pain and redemption all intertwined. In a public appearance he states “these songs are my spiritual memoir, my mental DNA. … These are great big, huge experiences from personal and business relationships to the house that was lost or the prison sentence served.” And that is what makes “Second Chance” unique.
Knowing how important this album was to his career, he invited some of the most seasoned producers such as Ron Fair, Interscope Records Chairman and the album’s executive producer (whose worked with Christina Aguilera, Keyshia Cole, Lady Gaga, etc.), Mike City (… Faith Evans, Jamie Foxx, Brandy, etc.), and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (… worked with EVERYONE) to collaborate and deliver tracks that would have listeners old and young eager to hear more. Tracks such as “Sad Songs”, “Sexy Lady” and “Close to You” are reminiscent of the El DeBarge many came to love in years past.
Others like “Lay with You” with Faith Evans (my favorite), “Heaven” and even “Format”, collaboration with 50 Cent, can definitely be pleasing to the ears of a younger audience who may have never listened to him except in the background tracks of rap songs from Tupac and Biggie.
But the underlying message of “Second Chance” that makes it a hit would be the echoing songs of gratefulness and redemption that have the power move ANY listener. Listening to “The Other Side” brought me to tears and I actually felt as if I heard the pain in his voice of reflection.
All in all, there hasn’t been, nor will there ever be, another voice who can emulate that of El DeBarge. He will always be seen as one of the best romantic R&B crooners standing alongside artists such as Al Jarreau, Babyface, and Brian McKnight. What makes him unique is his ability to add the recognizable falsetto with ranges higher than most female singers that has brought fans – and of course many women - to their knees. “Second Chance” is labeled as a “must-have iPod addition!!”
I regretfully add El DeBarge’s return was short-lived. On Valentine's Day of 2011, DeBarge's record label announced that all appearances, including a tour dubbed "Intimacy" have been postponed and that DeBarge had checked himself into a rehabilitation center, having suffered a relapse.[1] My thoughts and prayers are with him.
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