For
Courtney, Jon, Michael and Rob, One Chance is the perfect name for a foursome
that has invested their heart and soul into their musical dreams and now stands
on the verge of savouring the fruits of their labour. Usher signed One Chance
to his label, US Records, and began the diligent task of developing them as only
Usher can do. The multi-platinum, Grammy-winning artist said he saw reflections
of himself in the group. Their debut album “Private” is released in
October.How did you get together as a group?
Jon and Michael are brothers and we met Robert and Courtney at their high schools. We’ve been singing together for about four years now.
What has it been like touring with Chris Brown?
It’s wonderful being in the presence of great artists like ourselves and go out on stage and be welcomed by so many people singing our songs. We couldn’t ask for anything better.
What do you enjoy about touring?
The experience we get on stage, travelling to new places, meeting people and being on the tour bus.
Do you do anything special to prepare for a show?
We all pray as a group together and by ourselves before every show.
How involved is Usher in your career?
It was a blessing to meet Usher and perform in front of him. It was a great experience whether he would have signed us or not but luckily he did! Usher’s so involved in our career, sometimes we’re like, hey Usher haven’t you got something else to do with your time. He’s in the studio with us and at our photo shoots showing us how to take good pictures and certain looks to give off, he teaches how to be humble and how to do great interviews. He doesn’t even have to say anything; you can just watch and learn with him.
How would you describe your sound?
It’s taking you back to past roots. We like to say we have the harmonies of Boyz II Men, the presence of New Edition, the edge of Jodeci and we hope to have the longevity of The Temptations. Now from Chicago you have One Chance.
How do you feel being compared to so many other groups?
We get compared to great groups and it’s a compliment just to get your name mentioned in the same sentence as them. What’s going to set us apart is that a lot of groups can sing or can’t dance or can sing but not entertain. We’re trying to put all of that into a pot, the whole nine yards. You won’t miss out on anything because if you like to hear singing, you will hear singing but you’ll get an extra treat with us dancing too.
What kind of tracks do you have on the album?
We’ve got some real hot tracks like our single “Look At Her” which is a Snap & B record, almost how Usher did Crunk & B with his track “Yeah” alongside Lil Jon. We basically tried to bring that to life but we also have some ballads. The album is called “Private” so we’re letting you into our private lives as well. We’re letting you in on little situations as to why we’re doing things or maybe having a chick here and there. Sometimes we go to the strip club and we have a track about that.
We’ve heard of Snap music with Dem Franchize Boyz [Lean Wit It Rock Wit It] but what’s Snap & B?
It’s a Snap record with singing on it. A lot of people were afraid to do it. It’s kind of like what Cherish did with “Do It To It” but our track is a little bit harder and edgier.
Where do you get inspiration from when you’re writing?
With “Look At Her” the inspiration came from TV in the studio one late night. We didn’t know what to write about and looked at the screen with some beautiful women and we just said “look at her.” We thought we should get someone on it and got Fabo from D4L who was one of the cats who started Snap music.
Have you met any famous people since being signed?
We’ve met Pharrell, Lil Wayne, Juelz Santana, Kanye West, Terry Lewis, Clive Davis...Lil Wayne told us to keep our heads up in this came and not to put our heads down until you have to, which is when you die.
Will One Chance be visiting the UK soon?
We’ll be over there real soon, can’t give you an exact date but sooner than later!
www.myonechance.com
By Rashmi Shastri - Sep 2006