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Mint Condition VibeZ

Twenty-two tracks from a Minneapolis band who played their own instruments in an era of programmed R&B and were quietly the best live act in the genre.

OneLove

Mint Condition

Mint Condition are an anomaly and have been since 1989: a six-piece self-contained band in a genre that had comprehensively moved to producers and session players. They write, arrange and play everything, and they have kept essentially the same line-up for three decades.

They came out of Minneapolis and were signed to Perspective Records, the label run by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, which placed them at the centre of the city's scene without making them sound like anyone else on it.

Stokley Williams is the reason they cut through. He sings lead and plays drums simultaneously — a rare combination — and he has one of the most flexible voices in R&B, capable of a rasp and a falsetto within the same phrase.

What to listen for

"Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)" is the debut single and the record everyone knows — a band performance with real dynamics, at a moment when almost nothing on R&B radio had them.

"What Kind Of Man Would I Be" is the biggest hit and the best-written song here.

"U Send Me Swingin'" is the one musicians talk about — listen to what the rhythm section does under the second verse.

"Someone To Love" and "Forever In Your Eyes" are the ballads, and "You Don't Have To Hurt No More" is the most emotionally direct thing in the catalogue.

"Let Me Be The One" appears twice, and the Ummah remix with Phife Dawg is the hip-hop version — a genuine rarity, produced by the collective around A Tribe Called Quest and J Dilla.

"My Sista" and "10 Million Strong" are the socially conscious records, and "Girl of My Life" with DJ Jazzy Jeff is the later collaboration.

"Whoaa" and "Change Your Mind" are the deep cuts worth chasing.

Go deeper

From the Mint Factory (1993) and Definition of a Band (1996) are the two essential albums, and the second's title is a statement of position.

Stokley's solo records are worth hearing, and for the wider tradition of self-contained R&B bands: The Time, Tony! Toni! Toné! and The Roots — a very short list, which is the point.

Why the band matters: six musicians writing, arranging and playing everything, with essentially the same line-up for three decades, in a genre that had comprehensively moved to producers and session players. The dynamics on these records — things getting quieter, players responding to each other — simply do not exist on programmed contemporaries.

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