SILK : No Sweat: Newest Kids on Block Hit Top of the Charts

Just what we needed--another R&B; vocal group hitting it big on its first try. Silk is the newest kid on this increasingly crowded block, with a No. 1 pop single, “Freak Me,” from its first album, the Top 10 “Lose Control.”

So how does Silk, a quintet from Atlanta, stack up against Boyz II Men, Shai and all the others?

Soul singer Keith Sweat, who discovered the group when it gave an impromptu concert at a barbecue in Atlanta about two years ago, answers that best.

“I saw their style falling somewhere between the pop sound of Boyz II Men and street sound of Jodeci,” says Sweat, who signed the fledgling group to his label Keia/Elektra. “I could see them singing both ballads and up-tempo material very well and in a real sexy way.”

That, however, was strictly his vision.

“Back then, we were on our way to sounding a lot like Boyz II Men,” says Gary Glenn, nicknamed Big G to distinguish him from the group’s other Gary, lead singer Lil G Jenkins. “We were in love with singing those real pretty harmonies in that Boyz style.”

But under the guidance of Sweat, producer and co-writer of most of the debut album, Silk took a sexy turn, sounding mostly like a new jack version of the ‘70s O’Jays.

Jimmy Gates Jr. and Jonathan Rasboro started Silk in Atlanta in 1989, later adding Tim Cameron and Glenn. Another member, Glenn notes, didn’t fit the long-range plans, so Sweat recruited Jenkins, a Nashville, Tenn., native who suited his vision better. Though Rasboro and Glenn sing some leads, Jenkins is the real voice of Silk.

Glenn readily concedes that Silk has learned quite a bit from Sweat: “He got us to sing with more feeling. He stressed that being technically perfect is not as important as making the audience believe in and really feel what you’re singing.”

What about the perception that Silk is in Sweat’s shadow--a view that seems to intensify each time the group does an interview detailing his role in their career?

“Naturally we have egos and we don’t like the idea of being in anybody’s shadow,” Glenn explains. “But let’s face it, he put us on the map. Without him we might still be singing in somebody’s basement.”