Throwback Artist Bio: Stevie-B

Okay so if you are born this century, when I say “Freestyle Music” you are going to think I’m about to jump on a beat and give you a sweet-sixteen. In the late 80’s and ’90s, freestyle was all about overly elaborated lyrics and roller skate beats. The undisputed demi-god at the time was the exalted Stevie B.

Anything that wasn’t Stevie B in this window of time that 80’s babies thought was the epitome of dance music was simply window dressing to the real thing. Stevie used to absolutely own this genre of music and that fact was not lost on the artist or his fans.

Stevie B was born as Steven Bernard Hill on April 19, 1958, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, He worked a variety of jobs – from car washing to fast food – before gaining recognition for his 1987 national club smash, “Party Your Body”. It was also the title track of his 1988 debut LP, which eventually went gold. In 1989 he had his first three top 40 hits with “I Wanna Be the One,” “In My Eyes” and “Love Me For Life.”

With his 1990 album, Love & Emotion, he reached the height of his success, with the single “Because I Love You” that enjoyed four weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in December 1990. He had two other top 15 hits from Love and Emotion with “I’ll Be by Your Side” and the title track from the album.

Stayed Strong

Stevie would go on to produce sixteen full-length studio albums. Each one of these albums has great value in terms of what the artist was able to express. The world had a fast and short attention span for music such as Stevie’s and most of his albums failed to reach commercial success.

Stevie, however, stuck to his guns and continued to produce music he and his production team believed in. What remains after all these years is a complete catalog of music that is directly targeted for the very specific fan-base that made his music popular.

In terms of commercial success you could say that Stevie B was a one-hit-wonder but in terms of music fans across the globe, nobody can touch him. Stevie’s voice will forever be associated with adolescence, the coming of age tune for many in that generation.