CHICO DEBARGE

Chico launched a promising solo career on Motown in the late '80s. Despite a hit single and a hit debut album, his career was sidelined by imprisonment on a drug charge. After after years of hard time being locked away and losing a family member, Chico launched a comeback in November 1997 with the release of "Long Time No See".

On "Long Time No See", Chico did a cover of Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man". He said the song spoke to him and it paralled the troubles he's been through. The line "I had to lose, start all over, and win again" is his favorite, because speaks to him. That's how he says he sees his life going.

With the sucess of his 1997 release of "Long Time No See" and 1999's "The Game", you would think that Chico moved right along into a bright future.

Unfortunately, Chico's efforts went largely unnoticed by fans. This time around, Chico has learned his lesson and now has a new label and a new cd -- and he's learned that if he wants it done right, he'll have to do it all by himself.

A couple of years ago Chico launched his own label called Alove Entertainment and his third solo release was supposed to debut in the summer of 2002, but now his new label is officially up and running and his new album "Free" will be the first release on March 25, 2003. Chico says he branched out from under the umbrella of Mowtown Records and out on his own because the 'artist deal' had been outdated.

"Having my own label allows me the freedom to create musically. From a business standpoint, I can now take new directions and implement different ideas that I envision, allowing me to take flight."

Chico was born Jonathan "Chico" DeBarge in 1966. He is the youngest of the famous singing DeBarge family. His older siblings performed as the successful pop-R&B singing group DeBarge and also Switch. Both groups were very popular- Switch in the late '70's early 80's, DeBarge in the early to mid '80's.

Chico made an album on Motown Records ("Chico DeBarge") back in 1986, but his career took an unexpected turn when he got sentenced to almost six years in jail. He got caught up on drug charges. He says his crime was introducing two people to each other who later went on to make a drug deal. Well, Chico, we all know that that makes you an accessory to the crime.

During his time in prison, Chico said he learned that prison teaches you to be a failure. Luckily, while locked behind bars, Chico expressed himself by writing songs. He's written dozens and dozens of them.

He says it was his way of escape. Escape from the bars, from the brutality. It was his freedom, his outlet, his therapy and his ticket towards a productive life on the outside. And if it taught him anything, he says, it's to be an example for others inside, that you can have a useful life after prison if you prepare yourself for success, not failure.

People took to his smooth D'Angelo/Maxewell-type neo-soul sexy groove and ate it up. Even his ex-sister-in-law Janet Jackson called him to congratulate him on his chart-rising single, "No Guarantee." The two had discussed the possibility of working together sometime, but as of yet I haven't heard anything from the two.

(Janet was marriaged to Chico's brother, James in 1984, but the marriage was annulled after only a few months).