The Original 7ven

The Time
The Time performing as The Original 7ven at Club Nokia in Los Angeles in 2013
Background information
Also known as	The Original 7ven
Origin	Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Genres	Pop, soul, funk rock,dance, Minneapolis sound
Years active	1981–1985, 1990–1991, 1995–present
Labels	Warner Bros., Paisley Park, Saguaro Road
Associated acts	Flyte Tyme, Prince, The Family
Members	Jellybean Johnson Jimmy Jam Terry Lewis Monte Moir Jerome Benton Morris Day Torrell "Tori" Ruffin Ricky "Freeze" Smith
Past members	Jesse Johnson Mark Cardenas St. Paul Peterson Rocky Harris Jerry Hubbard Stanley "Chance" Howard Robert GI' Grissett Jr Ricky "Freeze" Smith Morris Hayes Brice Myles Jeff McNealy

The Time, also known as Morris Day and the Time and The Original 7ven, is an American musical group that was formed in Minneapolis in 1981. Their work has been a part of the formation of the Minneapolis sound, featuring a mix of soul music and dance music with funk, rock n roll, and more. Led by singer-songwriter Morris Day, the band members are close Prince associates, and are arguably the most successful artists who have worked with him, achieving particular popularity with R&B fans with tracks such as "Jerk Out" and "Jungle Love". Band members Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are also long-time collaborators with Janet Jackson, producing all of her most successful albums.

The Time was assembled under a clause in Prince's contract with Warner Bros. that allowed him to recruit and produce other artists for the label. Inspired by the 1980 film The Idolmaker, Prince decided to put together a pop-funk group that would serve as an outlet for material in the vein of his own early albums, while he explored other genres and styles in his own career.

By 1981, he had built The Time out of an existing Minneapolis funk/R&B unit, Flyte Tyme, which featured Cynthia Johnson on lead vocals and sax, Anton (Tony) Johnson on guitar, David Eiland on saxophone, Jellybean Johnson on drums, Jimmy Jam and Monte Moir on keyboards, and Terry Lewis on bass. To the last four were added Jesse Johnson on guitar and a lead singer and childhood friend named Morris Day, and Jerome Benton who was a promoter drawn from another local band called "Enterprise", who became Day's comic foil. Prince had used an Enterprise song, "Partyup", on his Dirty Mind album.