Isley Brother' Ronald Isley: `Old School' Master Teams Up With R. Kelly And Wins New Fans

Jet, Sept 3, 2001

In the fast-moving music business where groups are here today and gone tomorrow, the Isley Brothers' old-school sound continues to sizzle and has won a new legion of fans.

The legendary soul group's old-school master, Ronald Isley, teams up with superstar R. Kelly on the hit single and red-hot video, Contagious. R. Kelly also wrote, arranged and produced it. Contagious is on the Isley Brothers' new CD Eternal, which sold a record 225,000 in its first week.

The amazing thing about the Isley Brothers, which features lead singer Ronald Isley and his brilliant guitarist brother, Ernie Isley, is that they appeal to young kids, teens and grandmothers everywhere. And they have been doing it for more than 40 years!

The Isleys hold a record as the only group--Black or White--to have had top hits in every decade since the 1950s.

"Our people have stuck with us through thick and thin," Ronald told JET. "I can say this about Black people: When it comes to the Isley Brothers, they know us, from 3 years old to their great-grandmamas. When we walk through an airport or anywhere, we get `king treatment,' and I love my people for that. There are a lot of White people who know us, but we get that love from Black people and that is the greatest thing in the world."

Ronald brings his alter ego "Mr. Biggs" back on Contagious, which also features singer Chante Moore. Mr. Biggs first appeared in R. Kelly's sizzling video Down Low (Nobody Has To Know) five years ago and in Kelly Price's 1998 video A Friend of Mine.

"Contagious is the fastest-moving record in our history," says Ronald. "Actually, we are the first to do this operatic piece on Contagious with R. Kelly, where you have three people singing on different beats, the way you would do in an opera."

The recurring theme of Ronald's alter ego Mr. Biggs, who symbolizes power and wealth, has become such a hit on records and in videos that the Isley Brothers' full name is now The Isley Brothers Featuring Ronald Isley a.k.a. Mr. Biggs. "We have plans to do a play and a film with R. Kelly, Mr. Biggs and the Isleys," Ronald reveals. He says youngsters see him as "Mr. Biggs."

Ronald says of superstar R. Kelly, who is a huge fan of the Isleys: "R. Kelly is like a member of the family. We sat down and we plotted and planned on how we wanted Mr. Biggs to have a two-way pager and cell phone to update him. I told Kelly I don't want to do Mr. Biggs unless we can top Down Low. If we can't top Down Low, let's leave it alone because we did too well with it and people respect it so much. So we came up with a way to do that. We are having more fun now than we ever had in our careers."

Ronald recalled how the Isley Brothers hooked up with R. Kelly soon after his big hit, Your Body's Calling, which had an Isley Brothers feel to it. "So he called me and said, `Look I got this song called Down Low and I want to sit down and talk to you guys.' He talked to us about our history, and he seemed to know more about the Isley Brothers than we knew about ourselves. That knocked us out. From that day on, it's hard to explain, but it's like he's been there all the while. I'll call him out of nowhere. He'll call me out of nowhere and say, `Ronald, I want you to try this. Can you be here tomorrow? And I'll stop whatever I am doing."

R. Kelly says it is always a thrill to work with the Isley Brothers. "Being around Ron Isley is like being around a teacher," he recently told JET. "I always learn something new from Ron and Ernie. I've enjoyed working with Ron and bringing his Mr. Biggs character to life. I grew up listening to the Isley Brothers. They were one of my mom's favorite groups. So it is a pleasure to be working with them and bringing Mr. Biggs to life."

In addition to Kelly, Eternal also boasts an all-star line up of contributors, including new singer Jill Scott, who co-wrote and performs on Said Enough; superstar producing-songwriting team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who worked on the title cut Eternal, and the tunes If You Leave Me Now, a remake of the group Chicago's '70s hit, and Think. Also lending their support to Eternal were singer-songwriter Avant, who co-wrote Secret Lover; Raphael Saadiq of Tony Toni Tone and Lucy Pearl fame who co-wrote and co-produced Move Your Body, You Didn't See Me and Ernie's Jam; Steve "Stone" Huff, who worked with singer Joe, put his stamp on You Deserve Better and Just Like This. Keeping it in the family, Ronald Isley's wife, famed singer-songwriter Angela Winbush, co-wrote Move Your Body and co-produced Warm Summer Night.

Ronald notes, "Everyone involved with the record knew one thing coming in: Ernie and I wanted their very best. And that's just what they gave us. We all had something to prove to each other and ourselves. We accomplished our goals and the process was truly inspirational."

They call the new album their best yet. "We're at a point in our lives where we're doing the best work we've ever done. This is the Isley Brothers' Super Bowl record."

The Isley Brothers arrived on the scene in 1959 with Shout, featuring Ronald, O'Kelly and Rudolph Isley. Years later in the '70s, brothers Ernie and Marvin and in-law Chris Jasper joined the group and enjoyed big success with such tunes as For the Love of You, Fight the Power, Harvest for the World, Between the Sheets, Atlantis and Groove With You.