Public announcement

Public announcement
General information
Genre (s)	Contemporary R&B , soul
founding	1990, 1998
resolution	1993
Current occupation
Background - vocals	Earl Robinson
Lead vocals	Feloney Davis (since 1993)
Background singing	Mar-K (since 2004)
Background singing	Glenn Wright
former members
Lead vocals	R. Kelly (1990-1993)
Background singing	André Boykins (1990-1993)

Public Announcement , known as R. Kelly and Public Announcement until 1993 , is an American R&B and New Jack Swing band, which was R. Kelly's background band until 1993 .

Career

After the then newcomer R. Kelly signed his first recording deal with Jive in 1990 , he cast his backup tape for his upcoming debut album. Background singers and dancers André Boykins, Earl Robinson and Glenn Wright landed the job as R. Kelly's background group and the first album Born into the 90's was released in January 1992. The album is a commercial hit, shooting straight to third place on the US R&B and hip-hop album charts. The album also went platinum for over one million units sold in the United States . The four singles “She's Got That Vibe”, “Honey Love”, “Dedicated” and “Slow Dance (Hey Mr. DJ)” are also successes. While two of them ("Honey" and "Slow Dance") even reach number one on Billboard's Hot R & B / Hip-Hop tracks , the other two singles are top ten hits. At the time, the group was called R. Kelly and Public Announcement . After a successful tour of the group in 1993, Kelly left the project to start a solo career. With him, Boykins left the group, who decided to write songs for Kelly and to act as a singer of background vocals in the studio. The band took a break after this setback.

By 1998, five years after the debut album with Kelly and Boykins, the remaining singers of Public Announcement Robinson and Wright found a suitable replacement in the musicians Euclid Gray and Feloney Davis, who from then on took over the lead vocals for Kelly, and released their second studio album All Work , No Play under A&M Records . The second long player was also a success and reached number 14 in the top twenty of the top R&B / hip-hop albums . The lead single "Body Bumpin (Yippie-Yi-Yo)" was also the biggest hit the band has to date and not only reached number 4 on the R&B single charts in the USA, but also number 5 on the pop- oriented Hot 100 -List. Although the first single was such a great success, the follow-up single "It's About Time" missed the chart entry. As a consequence, the label canceled the contract with the group. Frustrated about this, the gospel musician Gray , who joined in 1993, left the band to be replaced by Chicago singer Ace Watkins.

Just one year later, in 1999, the buzz single "John Doe" followed. The foretaste of the third upcoming album was - contrary to expectations - only a minor hit in the US charts, whereupon the new music label Epic Records decided to postpone the album release . A few months later in 2000 the single "Mamacita" was released. It does not build on the great success of the last lead single “Body Bumpin”, but it sells satisfactorily (39th place on the US Hot 100 and 7th place on the corresponding R&B / Hip-Hop counterpart). With the release of the third studio album Don't Hold Back , a re-release of the title "John Doe" in 2001 goes hand in hand. The album and the song "Jon Doe" are in the top forty of the R&B / Hip-Hop charts. In addition, months later, the third release "Man Ain't Supposed To Cry" followed with similar success. As a result of the disappointing chart placements, the band was dropped for the third time in 2003. Likewise, another member, annoyed about it, leaves the ensemble. This time it is Watkins (member since 1999) who ends the collaboration with the group. In 2004 the youngest member Mar-K fills the gap. The Cincinnati- born singer is the only one who has ever been a member of the group without being from Chicago .

In 2006 they succeeded in releasing their fourth studio album When the Smoke Clears together with Universal and their own, newly founded label . The album is a commercial flop and only reaches position 99 on the Top R & B / Hip-Hop Albums . No single is released from the album and the group decided to take a break to focus on solo careers.

Discography (selection)

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1998	All work, no play	-	-	-	-	US81 (24 weeks) US	First published: August 24, 1998
2001	Don't hold back	-	-	-	-	US89 (7 weeks) US	First published: February 6, 2001
2006	When The Smoke Clears	-	-	-	-	-	First published: January 10, 2006

Collaborations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1992	Born into the '90s	-	-	-	UK67 (1 week) UK	US42 platinum (62 weeks)US	First published: January 14, 1992 with R. Kelly

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1992	She's Got That Vibe Born into the 90's	-	-	-	UK3 (15 weeks) UK	US59 (12 weeks) US	First published: March 1992 with R. Kelly
	Honey Love Born into the 90's	-	-	-	-	US39 (19 weeks) US	First published: May 16, 1992 with R. Kelly
	Slow Dance (Hey Mr. DJ) Born into the 90’s	-	-	-	-	US43 (19 weeks) US	First published: September 11, 1992 with R. Kelly
1993	Dedicated Born into the 90’s	-	-	-	-	US31 (20 weeks) US	First published: February 1993 with R. Kelly
1998	Body Bumpin '(Yippie-Yi-Yo) All Work, No Play	-	-	-	UK38 (2 weeks) UK	US5 platinum (22 weeks)US	First published: February 1998
2001	Mamacita Don't Hold Back	DE76 (6 weeks) DE	-	-	-	US39 (8 weeks) US	First published: January 2001
	John Doe Don't Hold Back	-	-	-	-	US95 (3 weeks) US	First release: September 2001 feat. LeLe

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Awards: US