POP MUSIC : Keith Sweat: Holding Out for the Mainstream

Keith Sweat’s first two albums have sold a total of 5 million copies and he’s co-headlining a national tour with Bell Biv DeVoe that includes a three night stand, beginning Friday, at the Forum in Inglewood.

So why is he frustrated?

Sweat, primarily known for crooning R&B; ballads, is dissatisfied because he thinks he should be selling a lot more albums. He feels he’s still largely unknown outside the black community. He’d like to have more of his music played on Top 40 pop stations and be spotlighted more in mainstream media.

“I want pop fans to know who Keith Sweat is,” he said, during a recent interview. “It’s not about ego. It’s about selling records--which is what this business is all about. I’ve hit a stone wall in the black community. There’s only so much money there.”

Sweat, a writer-producer who prefers to spend most of time in the studio, acknowledges he is to blame in part for his early lack of media exposure. When his first, album was released in 1987, Sweat, now 29, prided himself on keeping a low profile. But now he’s giving lots of interviews. It’s also no accident that he has been paired on this tour with a hot pop drawing card--Bell Biv DeVoe.

Sweat’s current hit single, “I’ll Give All My Love to You,” should also give him some leverage in Top 40 pop circles. It’s already in the Top 10 and may go to No. 1. Sweat had a Top 10 single in 1988 with “I Want Her,” but it didn’t significantly boost his pop profile.

“One isolated hit pop single won’t do it,” Sweat explained. “You need a couple of hit pop singles in a row. Then pop radio takes you seriously.”

However, the easygoing singer, a Harlem native whose debut album (much of it co-written by Teddy Riley) helped showcase the new jack swing sound, isn’t just counting on media attention and touring to break into the pop field. He’s also thinking about a new musical direction--not to pander to a pop crowd, but to reach out in a way that the second album didn’t.

“I know the second album was basically like the first one, but I didn’t think it was time to change directions just yet. But now, I’m ready.”