Solo

An R&B vocal group named Solo first attracted notice from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the former Time members whose production résumé already included the S.O.S. Band, Alexander O'Neal, Janet Jackson, and countless others, while performing on a Soho street in Manhattan. The duo promptly signed the act to their Perspective imprint and brought them to Flyte Time Studios in suburban Minneapolis, where Solo recorded and released a self-titled debut album in 1995. Two tracks from the project—“Where Do You Want Me to Put It” and the retro-styled “Heaven,” which stood apart from every other song then on radio—each climbed into the Top Ten of Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop chart, and the album ultimately achieved gold status. A follow-up effort, 4 Bruthas & a Bass, arrived in 1998 but met with far less commercial success. Although Jam and Lewis took no part in its writing or production, the set contained the standout single “Touch Me,” a Raphael Saadiq collaboration whose number 26 R&B/Hip-Hop peak failed to reflect its quality. After a period of absence, Solo resurfaced in the early 2010s and steadily prepared an independent release, the characteristically polished and soul-rooted 3.0 Rebooted, which appeared in 2015.