BY ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY
The multi-platinum selling Atlanta bred R&B group Jagged Edge returns to the music scene with a vengeance.
“We built this (group) with intentions of being some of the best to ever do this,” said group member Brandon Casey.
Best known for their chart-topping hits, “Promise," “Let’s Get Married” and “Where the Party At,” the Grammy-nominated group made up of identical twins Brian and Brandon Casey, Kyle Norman and Richard Wingo released their eighth studio album "J.E. Heartbreak II" on Monday.
As the sequel to their double platinum album "J.E. Heartbreak," released in 2000, the group hopes to rub off a bit of that same success with this new album.
“We felt like the way that album stuck with people, we should revisit it,” said Brandon Casey.
The group left their previous label Slip-N-Slide and reunited with their original Atlanta-based record label So So Def for this album. "J.E. Heartbreak II" is a joint venture between So So Def and Hard Case Records. Working with producers Jermaine Dupri and Brian Michael Cox once again, Wingo described the reunion as, “like we never left.”
“It’s like a homecoming; we collab(orate) so good together,” he added.
It’s that connection and brotherhood that has kept the group together for more than 17 years. They released their first album, "A Jagged Era," in 1997.
“Some days we like each other, some days we don’t; but we’re brothers so that’s how it is,” Norman said.
Brian Casey added, “Honestly, I have very few days where I don’t like one of them, but I think as we’ve gotten older our relationship thrives because we give it space.”
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
"J.E. Heartbreak I"I is available in stores and online. The first single off the album is titled, “Hope." It’s an instant classic reminiscent of their past hits. The song was written by the Casey brothers and produced by Dupri and Cox. The music machine team is clearly in full force once again.
“Our whole purpose of this project was to get back in the flow with each other and to make sure as a music-making entity that we lit the flames under that,” said Brandon Casey.
With this new album the foursome wants their fans to remember, “real music still lives on with Jagged edge,” said Brian Casey. “We here, we do what we do and we’re not changing that.”
And when it comes to beefs with other artists, “We came and embraced everybody in the game,” said Brandon Casey.
“We never dissed nobody, but we did straighten it,” Norman added.
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