Jagged Edge signed
to Dupri’s Columbia-
distributed So So Def label
and in the summer of 1997
released their debut single,
“The Way That You Talk,”
featuring appearances by
Dupri and Da Brat.
PROFIT
CAPITALISM.
Rough but smooth
male vocal quartet
Jagged Edge formed
in Atlanta, Georgia,
consisting of identical
twin brothers Brandon
“Case Dinero” Casey
and Brian “Brasco”
Casey, who had moved
from their native
Hartford, Connecticut;
Kyle Norman (aka
“Quick”), whom
they’d met through
church activities,
and Richard Wingo
(aka “Wingo Dollar”),
a late addition to the
group suggested by
Xscape’s Kandi Burruss,
who took their demo
to super-producer
Jermaine Dupri.
It reached the Top 40 of
the R&B chart and was also
a pop chart entry. Early in
1998, Jagged Edge released
their first album, A Jagged
Era, which went gold and
spawned the Top 20 R&B,
Top 40 pop hit “Gotta Be.”
Their next single, “He Can’t
Love U,” appeared in the
fall of 1998 and reached
the Top Five of the R&B
chart and the Top 20 of
the pop chart, going gold
in the process.
It prefaced the group’s
second album, J.E.
Heartbreak (its title a nod
to New Edition’s “N.E. Heart
Break”), which topped the
R&B chart and hit the Top
Ten of the pop chart, selling
over two million copies and
spawning the number
one R&B hits “Let’s Get
BY: BRANDT EDWARDS
I
T’S been almost five
(5) months, and as a
conscientious objector
I understood the
arguments made on all fronts
concerning the issue of Colin
Kaepernick being named the
face of Nike’s 30th Anniversary
“Just Do It” campaign. The
company has been known
on occasion to dip their toe
in the sociopolitical arena or
remain in the fray when one of
their signature athletes faced
adversity.
From Charles Barkley’s “I’m
Not a Role Model” ad in 1993,
the female empowerment
ad “If You Let Me Play” in
1995, the support of Serena
Williams after the French
Open announced she could
no longer wear her cat suit at
future events, to this current
gesture of good will to the
“Black” community, they’ve
lent their voice to the most
controversial issues of the day.
Keep in mind, after signing
Kobe Bryant to a four (4) year,
$40-million-dollar contract
in June 2003, Bryant would
later go to trial that same year
(July) concerning sexual assault
allegations in Eagle, Colorado.
Michael Vick was convicted of
dog fighting charges in 2007
to later be resigned by the
company five (5) years later
after showing remorse and
acknowledging wrongdoing.
They stood by Tiger Woods
after his cheating scandal in
2009. But for every star athlete
salvaged, many others received
the blunt edge of the knife
of public opinion, including
the likes of Lance Armstrong,
Marion Jones, Manny Pacquiao,
Adrian Peterson & Ray Rice.
Nike hopes to be on the right
side of history with this one.
“Black” empowerment is now
the rage. From Sean Carter’s
release of 4:44, the global
success of the cinematic
spectacular “Black Panther”,
the rise in popularity of social
activism which includes the
likes of T. I., David Banner, Dr.
Umar Johnson, Angela Rye and
Boyce Watkins, capturing the
attention of a culture with the
estimated spending power of
1.2 trillion dollars appears to be
a seamless proposition.
The “woke” say as a people
we suffer from Stockholm
Syndrome (feelings of trust or
affection felt in certain cases of
kidnapping or hostage-taking
by a victim toward a captor)
or escapism (the tendency to
seek distraction and relief from
unpleasant realities, especially
by seeking entertainment or
engaging in fantasy); with this
one I’m on the fence.
“Since the 1970s, Nike, Inc.
has been accused of using
sweatshops to produce
footwear and clothing items.
Nike has denied the claims
in the past, suggesting the
company has little control over
sub-contracted factories.”
from all the major sports which
included Jim Brown, Lew
Alcindor and Bill Russell that
was by his side for the Summit
held in Cleveland, Ohio.
If you did your homework,
you’d know that it takes at or
about $20-$25 to manufacture
a shoe, but that markup is
astronomical; almost 100 times
more than manufacturing
costs. Thus the dilemma.
When Ali was stripped of his
titles, license and barred from
We can’t have it both ways.
boxing, it
was Joe Frazier who
We’ve been
waiting
the and “Promise”
Married”
(also
Top 20 on pop)
(also
supported him financially
emergence
Top
Ten pop). of the next Ali for
until he was able to return to
fifty (50) years; and though he
the Edge’s
ring.
may
have
By
the not
time
of the
the charisma
release of of Jagged
the GOAT
(Greatest
all Time),
third
album,
Jagged of Little
Thrill, in 2001, its
Does
Kaepernick garner that
he’s pioneering
new ground
in At”
leadoff
single, “Where
the Party
(featuring
same
from peers? His
terms was
of empowerment.
Nelly),
nearing the R&B Top Ten
and support
was
endorsement
deal with the
in the pop Top 40. Hard and Jagged
Edge
When Muhammad
Ali in
refused
followed,
respectively,
2003 and brand
2006. does offer him a sense of
financial comfort not offered to
to be drafted into the United
most
States
Army
in Baby
1967, convicted
For
2007’s
The
Makin’ Project,
the social
group agitators as he has
of draft evasion
and but
threatened
switched
to Island,
Dupri had been
since signed
taken with the company
since urban
2011.
with
it was
his colleagues
up
the jail,
post
of president
at the label’s
division, making the transition from Columbia
a welcome and natural one. The album
debuted at number eight on the Billboard
200.
Jagged Edge then moved to Slip N Slide,
where they released The Remedy in 2011.
Three years later, they reunited with Dupri
and So So Def for J.E. Heartbreak II.
A Greatest Hits collection arrived in 2016
before the group returned to the studio to
record their ninth full-length, 2017’s Layover.
Though
it
has been reported that the
company intends to donate
an undisclosed amount to
Kaepernick’s “Know Your
Rights Camp”, the corporation
has yet to speak out about
police brutality, racism, the
prison industrial complex, 45’s
(Donald Trump) comments
calling the
NFL’s featured
premier
Released that summer,
Layover
athletes
“sons of bitches”
their typically rich
vocal harmonies
with or
immigration
reform;
almost
all
contemporary production
that
included
some
af fects US. Kaepernick
trap inspiration. of which affects
generated an estimated $43
million in media exposure for
Nike when the announcement
of the new campaign was
initially made.
So do we continue to celebrate
the company because of the
individual spearheading the
campaign, or do we admit that
their intent may have been
to seek praise and profit, not
justice?
Our hero, dressed in
revolutionary regalia (afro,
turtleneck and tan leather