Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds is making it known that any narratives about him withholding residuals from ’90s R&B sensation Jon B are false.
A clip of the “They Don’t Know” crooner is experiencing a viral moment as a snippet of his interview on “The Joe Budden Podcast” in November 2023 has stirred a response from Edmonds.
“I find it really saddening that Jon would let someone run with this false narrative. Just gonna say that Jon was never signed to me personally or my label. All I did was write songs and try to help,” wrote Edmonds in the comments of The Neighborhood Talk’s repost of the clip. The Grammy Award-winning artist penned records such as “Pretty Girl” and “Someone to Love,” sung by Jon B.
While discussing the “dark elements” of his music career on the Dec. 1 episode, Jon B said, “When you sell millions of records already and there’s nothing to show about it, you know what I mean, financially…If you can get put through that test where you write and produce all your s—t and they still not writing you checks and you can keep a happy face, and go out there and smile, and go out there and love your crowd the way I have all these years…anybody that can do that needs to be commended.”
Around the 13-minute mark of the interview, when asked about being signed to LaFace Records, which was founded by L.A. Reid and Edmonds, the Rhode Island native stated he was actually signed to the celebrated singer-songwriter under his “personal Edmonds Record Group.”
“It’s 25, 26 years later and you know, I mean, I still haven’t been paid a check for my records,” he claimed as a host referred to Edmonds as possibly being like “Big Red,” the problematic music executive depicted in “The Five Heartbeats” film.
“We gotta work some things out…I get checks because I do shows, but I don’t get paid from my records,” said Jon B. He noted that the pay he does receive is not what it is supposed to be due to the fine print and “cross collateral” laid out in his contract. He went on to say, “Nobody’s bitter over all this stuff…It’s made me stronger of a person is what it’s done.”
The way i play Cool Relax in my car that man should be a trillionaire. Babyface btr run Jon B his money stat. https://t.co/gaxL2xRMHf
— Honey❤ It's You Choi San (@niclassicole) December 12, 2023
“Laface robbed not only John but tic and Toni Braxton. Babyface needs to [zipped lips emoji] before everybody start telling how they robbing ppl back then,” read a social media user’s reaction to the post.
“Idk… Miss Anita quietly removed u from the concert,” and “Well you let your fans drag Anita Kenneth it be like that ya know,” read two more comments on the post.
Edmonds found himself the subject of unflattering headlines in May while touring as a guest on Anita Baker’s “The Songstress” tour.
After his performance was cut from a Newark show due to an array of technical difficulties, Baker faced weeks of backlash and claims that she had a history of sabotaging male artists. The onslaught of trolling led her to publicly ask Edmonds to tell his fans to back down, but he instead chose to stay out of the online fray. He was ultimately removed from the tour as a result of the fallout.
