New Music By En Vogue but...
2
By Back2J
Sorry EV fans! I tried to boycott this new EP release on iTunes by Grammy nominated Platinum selling R&B group En Vogue. This short 4 track EP entitled: Rufftown Presents En Vogue EP came out of nowhere because it was quietly released on iTunes with no promotion for it as it was old recording of tracks that Cindy, Terry & Maxine had recorded in 2011 with Rufftown. I initially boycotted this release once I found out the members of En Vogue are NOT supporting this release from their former label, but I had to purchase the studio version of "I'll Cry Later". The version I had was a low quality radio edit of the song from 2011. The reason why is because the group does not support this release since Rene Moore & his label Rufftown Entertainment Group sued the ladies earlier this year according to TMZ for breach of contract when Cindy Herron-Braggs & Terry Ellis signed to Pyramid Records along with Rhona Bennett in July 2014, while former original member Maxine Jones was the only one not sued for 210 million because she fulfilled her commitments to the best of her ability as Herron, Ellis & Jones signed to the Independent label Rufftown in late 2010. Their single "I'll Cry Later" was leaked to radio stations in late September 2011 with an album release scheduled for that December, but the group started having management issues with Jones which led to her leaving the group in May 2012 & no new music or album released. At the time of the signing, Dawn Robinson was still with the group tour with En Vogue for the 20th Anniversary Tour but decided not to sign with Rufftown because she felt it was a bad recording deal & she wanted the other three to hold out for something better. According to Robinson: Herron wanted to sign the deal because there were no other offers on the table at the time. In December 2011, Robinson officially left the group once again leaving the group as a trio until Jones left that following May. Bennett rejoined the group in June 2012 & is currently recording a new album along with original members Herron & Ellis. Robinson & Jones started their owe version of En Vogue To The Max which was short lived once Robinson decided to sign on to the first season of R&B Divas LA. Jones decided to keep the group going with three new members but a lawsuit followed because Jones was using the En Vogue trademark name which was making it difficult for Herron & Ellis to book shows with having two touring En Vogue's on the market is not a smart ideal since no promoters wanted to book either group. Herron & Ellis tried to sue for 100 million in damages & ultimately blocked Jones from using the En Vogue name with the exception of "Formerly of..." & had to pay all legal fees that incurred on behalf of Herron & Ellis, plus she lost all rights to the name. In May 2014, Jones released her first solo single entitled "Didn't I" and eventually had to filled chapter 11 bankruptcy due to having issues getting booked for shows since she could no longer use the En Vogue name & around $18,000 she owed in legal fees...En Vogue is currently Herron, Ellis & Bennett. In November 2014, Lifetime shot a movie with En Vogue called "An En Vogue Christmas" and the group released the three songs that were recorded for the movie soundtrack on iTunes. Robinson threatens to sue LifeTime if they released the movie because she was not in the movie, nor was her or Jones mentioned, giving fans a false hope that was all original members of the group. ---Back to review! This four track EP was put together very quickly to make a quick buck off these recordings that featured Herron, Ellis & Jones (who is no longer a member of the group). The first track features a new artist that no one has heard of before called Molly. She's supposedly a rapper & a singer signed to Rufftown. The song is called "What's Her Face". Unfortunately, Molly raps all the verse & En Vogue only songs the chorus. Clearly they were using En Vogue's name to get some buzz for their new artist & label. I'm assuming this was a song the group was working on but never finished it. En Vogue does not do songs with rappers when it's supposed to be their song, so this was a very weird collaboration. The second song is called: "You Don't Know Me" and the third "Expiration Day" did not catch my attention either. This songs production sounded a little outdated. The last song on the EP is called: "I'll Cry Later". This was the song En Vogue fans had been wanting on to hear because the version that was heard was a poor quality radio rip that was uploaded on YouTube & quickly taken down by Rufftown, so not many have heard it. This song was what caught my attention to purchase it. I had been wanting the studio version for years...you can hear more of the instrumental background with the girls melismatic runs & adlibs & the electric guitar through the song. Herron & Ellis share the first verse, while Jones does the second verse & Herron & Ellis finishes the pre-hook. Ellis does most of the adlibs throughout the chorus & during the bridge Herron is heard adlibing. This was the only song I purchased and I'm happy with it. The other songs I wouldn't support since the girls (Herron & Ellis) again DO NOT SUPPORT THIS EP PROJECT! This is why I gave the overall rating for this project 2 stars. The cover art is even worse. Very quickly put together with no real cover art of the group. Very disappointing. But the group will be releasing a new album hopefully before the year of this year from their new independent label Pyramid.
