Baby Blue (singer)
| Pretty Ricky | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Pretty Rickie and The Maverix |
| Origin | Miami, Florida, United States |
| Genres | Hip-hop, R&B |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Labels | Pretty Ricky (current) Atlantic, Big Cat, Tommy Boy, Bluestar Ent. (former) |
| Associated acts | |
| Members |
Marcus "Pleasure P" Cooper "Spectacular" Blue Smith Ala Diamond "Baby Blue" Smith Corey "Slick'em" Mathis |
| Past members | Jaime "J.Long" Long Christopher "4Play" Myers Carl "Mowet" Lovett Emmanuel Ramone "Lingerie" DeAnda Robert "Milk B" Baish |
Pretty Ricky is an American R&B/hip hop group which originated from Miami, Florida. The group originally consisted of brothers Ala Diamond "Baby Blue" Smith and "Spectacular" Blue Smith, cousin Corey "Slick em" Mathis, and family friend Marcus "Pleasure P" Cooper. Cooper is the group's only singer; the others take roles as rappers.
The band's name was taken from a character in Martin Lawrence's comedy series, Martin. "We all used to dress alike, really different to everyone else. We wore fur in the summer when everyone else was in t-shirts," Pleasure explained. "On the show was a character called 'Pretty Ricky.' He was slick and always dressed different to everyone else, so all the girls at school started calling us 'Pretty Ricky'."
The group had great success with singles such as "Grind With Me" and "On The Hotline", and albums such as Late Night Special and Bluestars.
Pleasure P left the group in 2007 to embark on a solo career. Since then, Pretty Ricky has replaced the lead singer numerous times with ex-members 4Play, Mowet, and Lingerie. Since 2015, Pleasure P has reunited with the group, releasing their latest single, "Puddles", and preparing a final album and tour for 2017.
In 1997 while performing together in Miami, Florida Pretty Ricky was signed to Bluestar Entertainment by CEO Joseph "Blue" Smith. Supported by their father, Joseph "Blue" Smith Sr., who also served as the band's manager, these four boys, also was joined by their older brother, Joseph "J.Long" Smith Jr., set out to develop their music career in 1997 under the name of "Pretty Rickie and The Maverix". According to a 1999 story in The Miami Herald, at first, it was J.Long who was called "Pretty Rickie" while the other four brothers were "The Maverix". Upon his departure from the group, and with the objection of the country band The Mavericks regarding the name, the remaining personnel decided to reapply their original idea of the band's identity, using the name "Pretty Ricky". The remaining four brothers decided to change "ie" to "y" as it sounded "more masculine".
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Wikipedia