[Music] foreign
Minneapolis Minnesota born ban meant conditions original lineup consisted of lead singer and
drummer Stokely Williams lead guitarist Homer Odell keyboardis Lawrence Waddell keyboardist
and saxophonist Jeffrey Allen keyboardist and percussionist Carrie Lewis and bass guitarist
Ricky kitchen Stokley's father first discovered that his son had a talent for music when he
overheard a young Stokely just a toddler at the time wailing on some old Bongos in the
house while attending high school together in the early 80s Stokely and Homer decided to form
a group with four other friends including Lawrence called Min conditions one day the
singer of the group didn't show up for rehearsal Stokely reluctantly and after some encouragement
from the other guys then stepped into the lead role over time three of the members left the
band which made room for Jeffrey and Carrie to be brought in then Ricky a native of Chicago
came over to fill in the last piece of the puzzle the band would eventually be discovered by super
production duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis in 1989 during a performance at the downtown Minneapolis
nightclub First Avenue having recently launched their own label called perspective through a m
records the timing couldn't have been more perfect for them to sign mint condition and so they did
the band immediately got to work on their debut album titled meant to be meant which was released
in June 1991 their first single called are you free did touch the billboard r b chart but didn't
Garner any further attention beyond that their next single however would quite a lot of attention
breaking my heart Pretty Brown Eyes written by Jeffrey Lawrence and Stokely reached the top five
on the r b chart and made it into the top 10 on the hot 100. it remains their biggest hit today
the band then went on tour where they really got to see just how much their fans were loving what
they were hearing in their 2013 unsung episode Stokely touched on just how much of an amazing
feat they pulled off achieving such a big hit with breaking my heart since there was so much
competition on the r b scene at the moment such as Boys to Men and Jodeci the album's third single
forever in your eyes also became a top 10 r b hit two years later they dropped their second
album from the mint Factory it included the number two r b hit single You Send me Swinging definition
of a band mint condition's third album dropped in the fall of 1996. the first single called
what kind of man would I be a tender ballad written by Lawrence about remaining faithful
in a relationship became a number two r b smash lived on the charts for more than 40 weeks and
went gold the question the song posed rubs some men the wrong way though Stokely explained the
reason why in a 2019 interview with the height magazine it's the song that brothers hate to love
but it's real this comes from real conversation and real talk just humans being humans we ain't
perfect we got a lot of things that we do that get ourselves in hot water sometimes and this is
just one of those conversations that either one or all of us or none of us have been in at one time
or another and everybody goes through it I think that's the thing that resonated with people you
don't have to Hurt No More the second single from the album also became a top 10 r b hit following
the success of the album the band received two Soul Train Music Award nominations including
best r b or soul album by a Groove soon though the realization of what the success they were
experiencing with all of their slow jams meant for the bigger picture of their career was coming into
view the more they were being marketed as the go-to r b balleters the less likely it would be
for them to transfer that success over to the pop chart definition of a band would go on to
reach Gold's status thereby becoming their most successful album while riding high off
the success of the project the opportunity to tour with R B singer Tony Braxton presented itself and
mint condition decided to go for it Carrie and Tony also went for it as in becoming a couple
also at this time the band's label ended their relationship with a M and that meant it was time
to shop around for a new home the group eventually signed with Electra records and released their
fourth full-length album life's aquarium in 1999. even though the first single if you love me gave
the band their six top five placement on the r b chart overall the album did not do well today
it's the lowest selling Mint Condition album released on a major label as well as their last
album as a sextet after Carrie decided to leave the following year as he stated in the band's
2013 unsung episode Carrie wanted to take his songwriting and production skills to another level
he just found it to be too difficult to focus on that craft while also being a full-time member of
a band and being on the road Soma initially the other band members claimed to not be bothered
by Carrie's departure but by the time Carrie and Tony's wedding rolled around in April 2001 Stokely
served as the only member in attendance and and if you're wondering yes they were all invited
years later the members would finally admit that Carrie's departure did leave a bad taste in their
mouths when he left the rest of the members had to switch things up because when Carrie was in
the group he was one of the writers that gave them their signature sound after a six-year break the
group resurfaced as a quintet and released live in the luxury Brown in 2005. three years later
the band would celebrate a small victory after the release of elive it sparked the tracks baby
boy baby girl and nothing left to say the latter would become the band's first top 30 r b single
in almost a decade in April 2011 Mint Condition released seven the album title refers to this
being their seventh album in their 20 years of Performing the very next year the group released
their last studio album today titled music at the speed of life that summer during a concert
in Anaheim California Carrie Lewis joined his former bandmates on stage for the first time
in over a decade after two days decades and Eight studio albums together Mint Condition was inducted
into the Soul Music Hall of Fame in December 2012. in 2015 the band released their first
ever Christmas album titled healing season it earned the group a Grammy nomination for best r b
album since then nothing more has been heard from the band although no one has issued an official
statement it appears that their disappearance seems to be the result of an indefinite Hiatus
former member Carrie reintroduced himself as a solo artist in 2016 with his debut single Called
Love he's also gone on to create the brand 90s r b alumni complete with merch available through its
dedicated website as well as various social media platforms to celebrate R B's most cherished decade
in music for many years now r b lovers have been essentially begging for a solo album from Stokely
Williams as the lead singer of mint condition he secured his spot as one of the elite vocalists of
his generation since the group's debut Stokely has flirted with the possibility of a solo project but
none had ever come to fruition that all changed in the summer of 2017 when introducing Stokely
dropped as far as his feelings about going solo at this moment in his career he told billboard.com it
was just a natural progression I didn't want to do the obvious early in my career there were a
million freaking solo artists out then but not many bands mint condition is something
very special and that needed to happen first we've defied so many odds over the last 25 to 30 years
now I want to dive into other areas of my life musically in 2019 Rick announced that he had a
solo album in the works titled truth behind lies he'd already paid for studio time and all of the
costs involved with turning in a record along with producing videos for the project but he
needed help with the next step so he asked fans to financially support the album to assist with
radio and social media promotion through a go fund me campaign hopefully he will be able to
make his dream happen soon since he did meet his 45 000 goal and it appears that the last donation
came in over two years ago in the fall of 2021 Stokely was back with his sophomore solo album
sonkofa an African word from the akan tribe in Ghana to express the importance of learning
from the past even if an artist hits taught the charts decades ago thanks to social media many
of them get to enjoy a new wave of attention and popularity when their blast from the past songs
go viral Mint Condition experienced just that in early 2022 when the band's 1991 hit breaking
my heart pretty brown eyes started racking up hundreds of thousands of clips and hundreds of
millions of views on Tick Tock the members should look forward to their bank accounts receiving
some love as well all the tick tock activity will translate to royalties via ascab according to the
bands manager for now it looks like the members of men condition don't have any plans to put out
another project together in interviews the few who are still currently in the music game have
only said that everyone is focused on their family and pursuing their own solo endeavors
[Music]