Biography
For Real emerged as a contemporary R&B vocal group in the aftermath of new jack swing, yet the ballads and slow jams that formed the core of their recordings drew primarily from classic soul traditions exemplified by Deniece Williams and Anita Baker rather than hip-hop influences. The quartet, consisting of Latanyia Baldwin, Necia Bray, Josina Elder, and Wendi Williams, came together in 1993. Their first release arrived the next year on major-label A&M under the title It's a Natural Thang and yielded three charting singles, one of which, "You Don't Wanna Miss," reached the Top 30 of the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart while falling just short of the upper half of the Hot 100. In 1995 the singers joined an all-women lineup on "Freedom (Theme from Panther)" and contributed "Love Will Be Waiting at Home" to the multi-platinum, Babyface-produced soundtrack for Waiting to Exhale. That same track appeared on the group's sophomore and final album, Free, which surfaced in 1996 on Dallas Austin's Rowdy imprint and spotlighted the Motown throwback "Like I Do," a single that climbed to number 72 on the Hot 100. Following the project's release the members pursued individual paths, with Williams most prominently supplying the singing voice of Dorothy Dandridge—as portrayed by Halle Berry—in the 1999 television film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.
Albums
