‘Atlanta R&B Music Experience: Holiday Edition’ Comes to State Farm Arena on Dec. 4

It was announced today that ‘Atlanta R&B Music Experience: Holiday Edition’ will come to the award-winning State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Dec. 4, in an event promoted by Global Events Production. The event will feature RIAA Certified Platinum R&B group Xscape as well as world-renowned R&B/Rap artist Bobby Brown and include performances from Dru Hill, Silk, 112, and Shai. Tickets are on sale to the general public now via Ticketmaster.com, just as the Atlanta R&B Music Experience begins its sold-out concert at the downtown Atlanta venue.

Atlanta’s own all-female R&B quartet Xscape combined gospel-influenced vocals with hip-hop production to become one of the biggest girl groups in the 1990s. Formed in Atlanta in 1992, the group was discovered by Jermaine Dupri, who signed them to his So So Def record label. Xscape’s platinum-selling 1993 debut single, “Just Kickin’ It,” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The group has a total of three platinum albums and five Top 10 singles, including “My Little Secret” from 1998’s Traces of My Lipstick album. In 2017, Xscape staged a major comeback reunion tour.

Bobby Brown’s rise to superstardom led new jack swing to the forefront of American music, shifted the parameters of pop, and paved the way for hip-hop’s commercial ascension. Born in Boston in 1969, Brown emerged as one-fifth of the adolescent, Jackson 5-inspired New Edition. Decisively shedding his teen image and embracing a more provocative sound, Brown partnered with producers Babyface and L.A. Reid. A rollicking fusion of hulking swing beats, snappy raps, and pinpoint melodies, the album cemented R&B’s fusion with hip-hop and produced a spate of red-letter singles. After bringing new jack swing into the ‘90s with Teddy Riley’s boisterous hip-hop beats on 1992’s Bobby, Brown reunited with New Edition. In 2012, he returned with “The Masterpiece”, coinciding with a new era of R&B/rap crossover that followed his trend-setting influence on popular music.

Baltimore R&B legends Dru Hill never met a pun they didn’t like: Witness the R&B group’s album titles, from “Enter the Dru” in 1998 to “Dru World Order” in 2002 to “InDRUpendence Day” in 2010. Despite a revolving cast of members and some breaks, Dru Hill continued to record albums until 2010. They released occasional singles and EPs and were coaxed back together for various tours during their hiatus. In 2017, they reunited on the seductive holiday EP Christmas in Baltimore, following that up three years later with a new single and tour.

Thanks to their trademark sexually charged lyrics, Silk was one of the leading R&B groups of the 1990s. Formed in Atlanta in 1989, the quintet was discovered by R&B star Keith Sweat. In 1992, Silk released their debut album, “Lose Control”, which reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and went double platinum. Silk’s signature hit, the platinum-selling 1993 bedroom anthem “Freak Me,” spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2016, with Jenkins back in the lineup, Silk released their seventh studio album, Quiet Storm.

Starting in the late 1990s, R&B group 112—one of the first acts signed to Sean Combs’ Bad Boy Records—had a string of hit albums packed with four-part harmonies and romantic balladry. “Peaches & Cream,” from the 2001 chart-topper Part III, earned the group a Grammy® Award nomination and the top slot on Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop chart.

Using nothing but their voices, the R&B quartet Shai scored a massive hit with their 1992 single “If I Ever Fall in Love.” The original members of Shai met while attending Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 1992, they released their debut album, “If I Ever Fall in Love”, featuring their gigantic hit of the same name. Following 1995’s Blackface, singer and songwriter Carl Martin left the group. The other carried on as a trio, releasing 1999’s “Destiny”.

To secure tickets for Atlanta R&B Music Experience: Holiday Edition on Dec. 4 at State Farm Arena, visit StateFarmArena.com.

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Tags: Atlanta, Atlanta R&B Music Experience, Happenings, Holiday, State Farm Arena

About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.