Make It Last Forever (album)
Encyclopedia
Make It Last Forever is the debut album
of American R&B
recording artist Keith Sweat
. Released on November 24, 1987, the album went to #1 on the Top R&B Albums
chart for three weeks (and topped the Billboard Year-End
R&B chart for 1988), and #5 on the Billboard 200
. Make It Last Forever was one of the earliest R&B albums to showcase the up-and-coming New Jack Swing
sound, as it was mostly produced by Sweat himself and music producer Teddy Riley.
The album's biggest hit was "I Want Her", a #5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and the first #1 R&B hit for Sweat. The title track, "Don't Stop Your Love" and "Something Just Ain't Right" were major Top Ten hits on the Billboard R&B charts. On April 6, 1994, Make It Last Forever was certified triple platinum
by the Recording Industry Association of America
, for shipments of three million copies in the United States. The single "I Want Her" was certified gold by the RIAA on June 13, 1989, for shipments of 500,000 copies in the US.
stated in a review upon the album's release, "Though Keith Sweat is B-Boy enough to relish the cheap-drum-machine
clatter of the classic hip-hop
groove, he's also sufficiently soulful to keep that from crowding his vocal style". In his consumer guide for The Village Voice
, critic Robert Christgau
gave Make It Last Forever a B rating, indicating "an admirable effort that aficionados of the style or artist will probably find quite listenable". Christgau commented that "the beats prove Teddy Riley New York's answer to Jam & Lewis
" and stated "For credentials the next big love man proffers beats on the slow ones and lyrics whose seduction strategy is never to offend". In a retrospective review, Allmusic editor Andrew Hamilton viewed it as Sweat's best album and complimented his "pleading, whining tenor", writing that it "adroitly draws you into every song, demanding an emotional commitment".
1987 Make It Last Forever Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums No. 1
1987 Make It Last Forever The Billboard 200 No. 5
Billboard Music Charts (North America) - singles
1987 I Want Her Hot R&B Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks No. 1
1987 I Want Her The Billboard Hot 100 No. 5
1987 I Want Her Hot Dance Music/Maxi Single Sales No. 5
1987 I Want Her Hot Dance Music/Club Play No. 38
1988 Make It Last Forever The Billboard Hot 100 No. 7
1988 Make It Last Forever Hot R&B Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks No. 1
1988 Something Just Ain't Right The Billboard Hot 100 No. 79
1988 Something Just Ain't Right Hot R&B Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks No. 3
1988 Something Just Ain't Right Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Single Sales No. 49
1988 Don't Stop Your Love Hot R&B Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks No. 9
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
of American R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
recording artist Keith Sweat
Keith Sweat
Keith Sweat is an American R&B/soul, singer-songwriter, record producer, radio personality and a major contributor to the new jack swing era.-Music career:...
. Released on November 24, 1987, the album went to #1 on the Top R&B Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
chart for three weeks (and topped the Billboard Year-End
Billboard Year-End
Billboard Year-End charts are a cumulative measure of a single or album's performance in the United States, based upon the Billboard magazine charts during any given chart year. Billboard's "chart year" runs from the first week of December to the final week in November...
R&B chart for 1988), and #5 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. Make It Last Forever was one of the earliest R&B albums to showcase the up-and-coming New Jack Swing
New jack swing
New jack swing or swingbeat is a fusion genre spearheaded by Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle which became extremely popular from the late-1980s into the mid-1990s. Its influence, along with hip-hop, seeped into pop culture and was the definitive sound of the inventive Black New York club scene...
sound, as it was mostly produced by Sweat himself and music producer Teddy Riley.
The album's biggest hit was "I Want Her", a #5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and the first #1 R&B hit for Sweat. The title track, "Don't Stop Your Love" and "Something Just Ain't Right" were major Top Ten hits on the Billboard R&B charts. On April 6, 1994, Make It Last Forever was certified triple platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
, for shipments of three million copies in the United States. The single "I Want Her" was certified gold by the RIAA on June 13, 1989, for shipments of 500,000 copies in the US.
Reception
J.D. Considine of MusicianMusician (magazine)
Musician was a monthly magazine that covered news and information about American popular music. Initially called "Music America", it was founded in 1976 by Sam Holdsworth and Gordon Baird. The two friends borrowed $20,000 from relatives and started the publication in a barn in Colorado...
stated in a review upon the album's release, "Though Keith Sweat is B-Boy enough to relish the cheap-drum-machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
clatter of the classic hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
groove, he's also sufficiently soulful to keep that from crowding his vocal style". In his consumer guide for The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, critic Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
gave Make It Last Forever a B rating, indicating "an admirable effort that aficionados of the style or artist will probably find quite listenable". Christgau commented that "the beats prove Teddy Riley New York's answer to Jam & Lewis
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B and pop-music songwriting and record production team...
" and stated "For credentials the next big love man proffers beats on the slow ones and lyrics whose seduction strategy is never to offend". In a retrospective review, Allmusic editor Andrew Hamilton viewed it as Sweat's best album and complimented his "pleading, whining tenor", writing that it "adroitly draws you into every song, demanding an emotional commitment".
Track listing
- "Something Just Ain't Right" (Keith Sweat/Teddy Riley) 5:22
- "Right and A Wrong Way" (Sweat/Riley) 5:17
- "Tell Me It's Me You Want" (Sweat/Riley) 4:44
- "I Want HerI Want Her"I Want Her" is a 1987 single from R&B singer Keith Sweat. As the first single from his debut album, Make It Last Forever, it reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart for three weeks. and became the most successful number one single...
" (Sweat/Riley) 5:58 - "Make It Last ForeverMake It Last Forever (song)"Make It Last Forever" is a 1988 single by Keith Sweat and Jacci McGhee. The single peaked at #59 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was a hit on the Hot Black Singles chart, where it peaked at #2. Years later, the song would be covered by Chanté Moore and her husband, Kenny Lattimore...
" (featuring Jacci McGhee) (Sweat/Riley) 4:55 - "In the Rain" (Tony Hester) 5:42
- "How Deep Is Your Love" (Sweat/Riley) 4:47
- "Don't Stop Your Love" (Sweat) 6:12
Personnel
- Keith Sweat – Main Performer, Producer
- Teddy Riley – Producer
- Jeff Neiblum – Engineer, Vocals (bckgr), Percussion
- Clifford Branch – Keyboards, Vocals (bckgr)
- George Heylinger – Vocals (bckgr)
- Emmanuel Rahiem LeBlanc – Vocals (bckgr)
- Jacci McGhee – Vocals (bckgr), Performer
- Vivian Sessoms – Vocals (bckgr)
Charts
Billboard Music Charts (North America) - album1987 Make It Last Forever Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums No. 1
1987 Make It Last Forever The Billboard 200 No. 5
Billboard Music Charts (North America) - singles
1987 I Want Her Hot R&B Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks No. 1
1987 I Want Her The Billboard Hot 100 No. 5
1987 I Want Her Hot Dance Music/Maxi Single Sales No. 5
1987 I Want Her Hot Dance Music/Club Play No. 38
1988 Make It Last Forever The Billboard Hot 100 No. 7
1988 Make It Last Forever Hot R&B Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks No. 1
1988 Something Just Ain't Right The Billboard Hot 100 No. 79
1988 Something Just Ain't Right Hot R&B Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks No. 3
1988 Something Just Ain't Right Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Single Sales No. 49
1988 Don't Stop Your Love Hot R&B Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks No. 9
External links
- Make It Last Forever at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...