underrated is the perfect word to describe the impact these three men made in the world of music
talent vocals lyricism they had it all however it was easy to get lost among
all the color-coordinated outfits and choreographed dance routines
including perfectly timed pelvic thrusts of their peers
hit records and commercial success still came their way as they continued to just be themselves
then a shocking tragedy would stop everything in its tracks let's find out whatever happened to
american 90s r b trio intro intro consisting of members jeff sanders clinton buddy white
and lead vocalist kenny green came together in brooklyn new york in the mid 80s the name
intro is meant to be an acronym for innovative new talent reaching out while growing up in brooklyn
buddy white showed a passion for music at an early age naturally following in his father's footsteps
who's a gospel preacher and musician by playing the piano during sunday morning church services
at first he thought about being a producer and then he got the idea to become a rapper
for a time he was actually a member of a rap group along with fellow rapper jeru the damager
then once he became eligible he enlisted into the army and planned on a lifelong military career
later he would be deployed to operations desert shield and desert storm
then while stationed in fort bragg north carolina buddy would meet future group member kenny green
after his deployment experiences buddy came to the realization that military life wasn't for
him anymore and he began thinking about making a go of this music thing the idea of singing
didn't cross his mind until he met kenny he taught kenny how to play the piano and kenny taught him
how to sing kenny green was born and raised in detroit michigan
in addition to his work with intro he also wrote many songs for other artists such as
r b soul singer mary j blige boy band 98 degrees and rappers cam'ron and will smith
his pen was so golden that he tied with jimmy jam and terry lewis
for the american society of composers authors and publishers songwriter of the year award
in 1993. he also wrote and produced most of intro songs while doing a short stint
with the us army he would play the piano and perform in many military talent shows
it was then that he met buddy and together with another service member formed intro
army duties soon got in the way so both kenny and buddy asked to be discharged their other army
buddy opted to stay in the service so that left an opening for jeff sanders from queens new york
buddy was introduced to jeff through a mutual friend an intro spent the following summer
rehearsing in his mother's backyard
the chemistry between the three was undeniable they all fit together perfectly like a puzzle
jeff was the choreographer buddy was the producer and kenny was the songwriter
one night at a club intro met rapper heavy d this meeting would play a very important role in the
group's future the group let heavy hear their rendition of a jodeci song he'd done with them
after they were done heavy took down their number
and that was that until one week later when he called heavy contacted them and asked them to come
down to meet his partner edward farrell better known as dj eddie f eddie f ultimately signed
intro to his untouchables management group which had connections with atlantic records
the group's self-titled debut album dropped in 1993.
the popular singles love thang let me be the one the stevie wonder cover ribbon in the sky
and their highest charting hit come inside all help to garner the group platinum status
their follow-up album titled new life came two years later it produced the singles funny how
time flies and feels like the first time but didn't produce the same success as their debut
in an interview with you know igotsoul.com in april 2020 buddy explains what happened
after their debut album was released the group went on tour for over two years
so by the time they got back into the studio to work on their second album
the vibe was totally different kenny's father had died
and they decided to tone down the album to make it more inspirational and dedicated to his memory
but he recalls knowing that he needed to fall back from his producer role and let kenny take the lead
in doing so the elements that he usually brought to the table were missing
another layer to the story is that a new girl group called the braxtons was on the
scene and the record label chose to pour more of their resources into them instead of intro
the group left atlantic after the release of their second album and it was at this time that internal
issues among the members started to surface kenny was ultimately suspended from the group
after he disrespected a radio dj during a national interview
he made some efforts to launch a solo career but was not successful eventually the trio
reunited and got back into the studio a third album was recorded but it was never released
sadly in 2001 kenny passed away at the age of 32 due to complications from aids many people
didn't know until after his death that he was bisexual and contracted the illness from a partner
in the early days of intro the groupie situation was in full effect all of the guys enjoyed all
the attention and fun they had with the ladies actually before their debut album hit the streets
buddy was in a relationship with another r b celebrity coco lead singer of girl group swv
then when their career took off and they began experiencing a more exciting nightlife
kenny began to attract the attention of both women and men after all he was handsome and talented
and that combination had a very positive impact on the ladies however he was attracted to men as well
kenny's look in the first few music videos intro put out was on the huskier side
but shortly after he began losing weight he also seemed to get sick with the flu quite often
but continuously brushed off any concerns from others about his declining health later kenny
would admit that the other group members knew nothing about his intimate forays with other men
his last recorded work was in early 2001 singing background vocals for tyrese on the song for
always on his 2000 watts album later that year a couple of months before kenny died he did an
interview with sister to sister magazine where he discussed his sexuality and his hiv diagnosis
it was important for him to talk about it because of the enormous pressure
to be a straight man in the alpha male world of r b in the same you know i got seoul.com interview
but he spoke about how difficult it was to carry on without kenny i just shut down when he passed
it was a great time of my life and i looked at it like it was an era in my life and that was pretty
much it when kenny passed a part of my creativity i felt like had left with him besides being one
of the most prolific songwriters of our generation he was a really good dude he was my little brother
over the years jeff and buddy brought in new members and continued to release the
occasional single here and there however the new members didn't last by 2015
there was word that a new album was on the way but that album never manifested
for the last 17 years buddy's been keeping a closely guarded secret that almost no one knew
he's had a day job all this time as a new york city police officer he had to swallow his pride
and get a regular 9-5 after kenny passed and the emergence of hip-hop took over the music industry
the phone stopped ringing for intro to do shows and their songs stopped being
played on the radio so he knew he had to do what he had to do to feed his family
he began three years after kenny's passing and will be retiring in the summer of 2021
to many people's surprise but not buddies jeff sanders announced via social media that he was
no longer a member of intro buddy refrained from making any public comments of his own
at the time but in a 2021 interview with online talk show halftime chat he spoke about how it
bothered him that jeff never spoke to him about the decision or gave him any reason why
but he also speculated that jeff possibly felt left out of all the business decisions buddy
was making without jeff's input this wasn't the first time that jeff left the group so buddy was
somewhat already prepared to forge ahead without him luckily he wouldn't have to for very long
the remaining two intro members seem to have patched things up and are on the same page once
again on june 4th 2021 the group's documentary titled music lyrics and life the story of kenny
jeff and buddy will be released there are also plans to have a soundtrack to accompany the film
which will serve as the group's official third album
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