Portrait (band)

Portrait is an American R&B and hip hop vocal quartet, consisting of members Michael Angelo Saulsberry, Irving Washington III, Eric Kirkland and Philip Johnson. The quartet group's music sound was influence by the new jack swing style of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Career

The group, which hailed from Los Angeles, California debuted in 1992 with a self-titled album riding on the end of the new jack swing era. The disc featured two hits on the charts: "Honey Dip" reached #18 on the R&B charts.^[1] The group's second single, "Here We Go Again!", which sampled Michael Jackson's, "I Can't Help It", featured similar sounds and reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1992.

The group was featured in an episode of Family Matters, titled "Stormy Weather", performing "Here We Go Again!". In that episode, they were performing at a high school dance, where Waldo explains to his date that one of the members is actually his cousin, who claims that he'll do whatever Waldo asks him to do (such as performing at a school dance) as long as he doesn't tell people that they're related. However, Steve Urkel ends up correctly guessing which of the members is Waldo's cousin, as he ends up displaying similar mannerisms to Waldo.

Throughout 1993 and 1994, Portrait could be heard lending their voices to various projects, appearing on the soundtracks to the movies, Addams Family Values and Blankman, as well as singing on the Black Men United song, "U Will Know" for the Jason's Lyric Soundtrack. Portrait also provided backing vocals on the Quincy Jones single "Slow Jam", which featured Babyface and Tamia on lead vocals, in 1995. The song reached #68 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[2]

Also in 1995, the group released their second album, All That Matters. The album had a few minor hits, with "I Can Call You" reaching #22 on the R&B charts and "How Deep Is Your Love," a cover of the Bee Gees song, briefly appearing on the Hot 100.^[1]

Discography

References

External links

• Portrait Bio
• Billboard