Were it not for a "chance" 3
.m. meeting in Clevel nd park­
ing lot, Michael Bivins still might
be looking for his first rap act.
Not th t he needed one; his first
two Biv Entertainment projects,
Another B d Creation and Boyz
II Men, were certified double and
quadruple platinum, re pectively,
with Boyz II Men collecting a '92
Grammy.
Bivins ("Biv" of Bell Biv
DeVoe and a New Edition mem­
ber) didn't need to stake his .1000
batting average on any garden
variety rap act So, he waited for
something extraordinary to come
along.
"It was about 3 a.m. one morn­
ing," recalls 17 -year old M. C.
I Brains, "when a friend called to
say that Mike Bivins had gone to
Dennys after his Bell Biv DeVoe
concert. My mom and I decided
to go meet him. When we got
there he was just leaving, but
mom grabbed him by the arm and
asked ir.-he'd listen to her son rap.
Mike said he would, if I'd do it
right then and there. So I rapped
for him in the parking lot, and he
asked for my phone number. But
I .
ne. •
later I was in the studio' record­
ing." .
The pop/rap hit "Oochie
Coochie" launched M.C. Brains'
recording career. The song was
an instant sales magnet from get­
go. Within two weeks of its
release, it landed in th� Top 5
sales charts at Tower/San Fran­
cisco and Sacramento, and made
Top 5 debuts at two Philadelphia
record stores. Within 11 weeks it
hit #1 on rap charts across the
country, cracked the Top 30 on
the pop ch , nd was n med
"Power Pick/Sales." But the
ong wasn't necess rily destined
for Brains.
"MIKE BIVI S had already
m de up the chorus for "Oochie
Coochie," Brains explains.
"When he played it for me I asked
him - no, begged him - to let
me finish the song. He told me to
go write on it and see what I could
do. When he heard the finished
song he said, 'That's a hitl'" The
ingle wa produced by Biv
Entertainment producer Rico
Anderson, who had produced a
track for Another Bad Creation.
came up with the name M. C.
Brain , which fit like a glove. "I
knew Mike Bivins would ask me
what it meant, so I came up with
an explanation: 'Bringing Raps
And Instrumentals on-Stop.'
That shocked him."
"Everybody's Talking About
M.C. Brains," a rousing rap­
meets-R&B-dance revelation,
written by Bivins artd Brains, was
picked for the second single. "G­
String, " one of Brains' personal
picks, was produced by Finesse,
a New Yorker now part of Biv's
organization. "It's a track that we
didn't spend a whole lot of time
on, and it turned out to be a great
• I
really didn't have much ex­
perience in a recording studio,"
Brains admi . "But Mike gave
me a lot of confidence. He said
that if it hadn't been for me, he
wouldn't even mess with rap.
That really inspired me. And we
ended up recording the album in
one month."
The Brains saga started in
1988, when the music ofLL. Cool
J inspired 13-year old James De­
Shannon Davis to experiment
with rap. James and a friend
long.
producer - very
the board."
JOHNNY GILL - a double
platinum solo act who also
belongs to New Edition - must
have agreed; Finesse added Gill's
vocals to "Brains Is Goin' Craz-
. e." Brains recalls: "Johnny came
into the studio while Boyz II Men
were singing the chorus. He was
just having fun singing with U�
See Me BRAINS, 84
pathway, hooking up with school
friends to perform at local clubs,
college homecomings and frater­
nity shows and building up a solid
reputation throughout Florida.
BY THE TIME he'd turned
17, Lorenzo was actively pursu­
ing a recording contract, driving
up to Atlanta each weekend to lay
down vocals on a series of tunes
intended for his first demo.
Lorenzo's hard work paid off,
impressed with his vocal dex­
terity, the executives at Alpha
International signed him - but
not before he'd promised his
mother that he'd finish school!
"That was the one condition she
put on it " Lorenzo states, "and
that's exactly what I did."
Lorenzo did some initial
recording that resulted in the
release of the single "Tic Tok"
which did well on the R&B charts
and gave the young singer an op­
portunity to perform on shows
with artists like Boyz II Men,
Tracie Spencer, Tyler Collins and
Kipper Jones.
Lorenzo completed his new
album in Philadelphia, working
with producers Joe Jefferson (co­
writer of Philly classics "Games
People Play" and "Mighty Love"
for The Spinners) and Fitzgerald
Scott; Terry Stubb , whose
credits include work with The 0'­
Jays and Phyillis Hyman; 'and
Mike Forte, who co-wrote
Dreamin' for Vanessa Williams.
In addition, Lorenzo coproduced
tracks with longtime musical as­
sociate Kelvin Anderson, and
Rick Smith as well as co-writing
three tunes for the album. The lp
also includes "Tic Tok" and four
other songs from Lorenzo's
eariier recordings for Alpha.
"I wantedto make an album;
that would appeal to everyone, .
young and old. That's why
there's a mix of uptempo tunes, .
some midtempo groove and'
some serious ballads," Lorenzo
states. Asked to name songs that
are particularly special to him, he
mentions four of the many stand­
out tunes on the album.
"�en I sing, I give my alll"
Funky, fresh, soulful, Florida­
born vocalist Lorenzo provides
more than ample evidence of that
heartfelt ability on his sparkling
self-titled Alpha Internation­
alIPLO debut album. Take a lis­
ten to the groove on "Real Love"
(the first single), to the infectious
"Saving My Love" or the sen­
suous "Make Love To Me," and
it's obvious that when it comes to
downhome, honest singing,
Lorenzo's a man blessed with a
special talent.
Given he started singing at the
. tender age of five, it's hardly
surprising that this genial young
artist has been working steadily
ever since at honing his musical
skills; initially, as a member of
the local church choir, and later,
performing R&B with local
bands.
Encouraged by his mother to
listen to legendary artists like Otis
Redding, Sam Cooke and James
Brown and tuning in himself to
musical greats like Michael Jack­
son as well as blues singers like
Bobby Bland, Lorenzo had
decided on a musical career by
the time he was in his early teens.
" At one point I was considering a
career in football," he recalls. "1
bad to make a choice between
ports and music when I was in
tenth grade ... "
Fortunately for the music
world, Lorenzo chose a musical
"WELL, 'Make Love To Me' .
is one of those songs that I think
S LORENZO. B4