R&B of the 1990s: After 7's Reflections Album

The R&B group After 7 released its last album as a performing group in 1995 titled Reflections. R&B fans fell in love with songs like "Til You Do Me Right."

The R&B Group After 7 came on the music scene in 1989. The group members were Keith Mitchell and brothers, Kevon and Melvin Edmonds. The Edmonds are brothers to Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds who brought us songs like "When Can I See You Again" and "Whip Appeal." After 7 released three albums as a performing and recording group, After 7, Takin My Time and Reflections. Compilations of their music have been released after the group split up.

Music in 1989 When After 7 Released Their Debut Album

When After 7 released their first single in 1989, Cher was singing "If I could Turn Back Time," Fine Young Cannibals were grooving with "She's Drives Me Crazy" and Soul II Soul brought us "Back To Life." More upbeat songs like "Pump Up The Jam" by Technotronic and "My Perrogative" by Bobby Brown were released in 1989. After 7's music was much more soulful and reminiscent of the earlier groups like the Temptations, The O'Jays and the Isley Brothers.

After 7's Albums

After 7's debut album was the self-titled After 7 in 1989. R&B fans enjoyed "Heat of the Moment" and "Ready or Not," which will always be considered as a top R&B song. Takin My Time was released in 1992 with songs like "Can He Love You Like This" and "Baby I'm for Real (Natural High)." The last album, Reflections, was released in 1995. These three albums were all released by Virgin Records.

The Songs on After 7's Reflections

Reflections has twelve songs and all sing tribute to love. The songs were produced and written by Babyface along with Jon B. and The Boom Brothers. Keith Andes for Ande Pandee Entertainment also produced and co-wrote four of the songs on this album.

• 'Til You Do Me Right": This song was written by the Edmond brothers, Babyface, Kevon and Melvin. The title literally shares what the song is about. The second part of the chorus is "'til you do me right / only wrong is gonna come to you / nothing good is gonna come 'til you change…."
• "How Do You Tell The One": "How Do You Tell The One" was written by Babyface and is a song about breaking up. "Cause I care for you more than you know / although my heart says go" and "If I'm deserting you, I don't mean to make you cry" are examples of the lyrics.
• "Sprung On It": The Boom Brothers wrote "Sprung On It" which is the typical 90's song about infatuation or being "sprung." "Sprung On It" begins "Now I never thought that I'd be losing sleep at night / over you…." The song continues "Thoughts of you / keep driving me crazy / and if I don't sleep/ then it won't even faze me."
• "Save It Up": "Save It Up" is one of the more upbeat songs on Reflections and is reminiscent of the earlier R&B song "Heat of the Moment." Jon B. penned this song and also sang in the background vocals. Lyrics from this song include "take your time / let's make sure the feeling's right" and the chorus includes "Save it up baby love / don't hold back your lovin'."

After 7 Post Reflections

K-Ci & JoJo and along with Babyface and After 7's Kenny Edmonds and Melvin Edmonds joined together in 1997 for the sound track of movie Soul Food (1997). They, as a group called Milestone, sang "I Care 'Bout You" but the group did not release any other songs. Kevon Edmonds was featured on the soundtrack of the movie Save The Last Dance (2001) with the song, "Move It Slow." Kevon Edmonds has continued to sing and released the album Who Knew in 2009. After 7 was one of the R&B groups of the 1990s that had that classic R&B flow with soothing love songs.

After 7 released three albums while still recording and performing. Unfortunately, the group did not release any more albums after Reflections in 1995. However, Reflections will always remain one of the classic R&B albums of the 1990s with songs like "How Do You Tell The One" and "I Like It Like That."