Keith Sweat was born in Harlem, New York City, to Juanita Thompson, a hairdresser, and Charles Sweat, a factory worker. After Charles Sweat's passing in 1973, Juanita raised their five kids by herself. He worked as a night stock boy at Macy's Department Store, and then a mail room clerk at Paine Webber, a brokerage firm. In just four years he worked his way up to a lucrative brokerage assistant job on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.[2] Sweat also worked as a supervisor for the New York Mercantile Exchange.[1]
Sweat started his musical career as a member of a Harlem band called Jamilah in 1975.[3] With the help of Jamilah, Sweat was able to hone his craft as a lead singer by performing regionally throughout the tri-State area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The group was started by bassist Larry Peoples, guitarist Michael Samuels, and drummer Walter Bradley.[citation needed]
After leaving the group in 1984 to begin a solo career, he sang at nightclubs throughout New York City and landed a chance to record for the independent label, Stadium Records. Sweat recorded only two tunes for Stadium, "Lucky Seven", and "My Mind Is Made Up", which was their third and fourth ever release, but on Stadium's first release, he is credited as co-writer and co-producer of "You Are the One for Me", the last recording ever made by the group GQ. One of GQ's original members is his uncle, Keith "Sabu" Crier.
Later in 1987, Keith Sweat was discovered by Vincent Davis and offered a recording contract with his label, Vintertainment Records, which was founded in 1983 on the foundations of early Hip-Hop and otherwise best known for releasing Joeski Love's "Pee Wee's Dance" in 1985. Vintertainment was distributed by Elektra Records from 1985 until it ceased operations in 1990. On November 24, 1987, Sweat released his debut solo studio album Make It Last Forever, which sold three million copies. The biggest hit from this album was the song that inaugurated the new jack swing era "I Want Her"[5] (No. 1 R&B & No. 5 Pop), which was nominated for the 1989 Soul Train Best R&B/Urban Contemporary Song of the Year award, while the title track from the album hit No. 2 on the R&B charts. Sweat reached the charts again with his second album I'll Give All My Love to You (1990) which hit No. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart. He released his third album, Keep It Comin' in 1991, which debuted in the Top 20 of the album chart. He produced soul singer Omar Chandler.
In 1992, Sweat discovered the group Silk, and helped craft their debut album, Lose Control, which hit No. 7 on the Billboard 200 album chart.[6]
The album's single "Freak Me" hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 1, 1993. In 1993, Sweat discovered the Atlanta-based female R&B group Kut Klose. Sweat also produced the group's debut album Surrender, which produced their biggest hit single "I Like", peaking to No. 8 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.
Sweat released his fourth album Get Up on It in the summer of 1994, and his self-titled fifth album in 1996. Both albums reached the top ten on the Billboard 200. The single co/produced and written by Eric McCaine "Twisted" featuring R&B group Kut Klose hit No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and "Nobody" hit No. 3, which made them Sweat's biggest hits to date. "Just A Touch" was a cover of the 1979 song "Just a Touch of Love" by Slave. He produced R&B group Dru Hill in 1996.
In the fall of 1997, Sweat discovered the group Ol' Skool and helped with their self-titled debut. He was on their biggest single, "Am I Dreaming", which featured the R&B group Xscape. Sweat also formed the R&B supergroup LSG with Gerald Levert and Johnny Gill, and released their self-titled debut album Levert.Sweat.Gill in 1997.[7] That album featured "My Body", which became a hit single. The album was certified double platinum and reached No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard 200.
Sweat's sixth album, Still in the Game was released in 1998, hitting No. 6 on the Billboard 200, and No. 2 on the R&B/Hip Hop albums chart. It featured the singles "Come and Get With Me" (which featured Snoop Dogg) (No. 12 Hot 100) and "I'm Not Ready" (No. 16 Hot 100). Sweat's success on the charts started to diminish in 2000, when he released the album Didn't See Me Coming. None of the singles from the album reached the top forty.
On August 13, 2002, Keith Sweat released his eighth album, Rebirth. The single "One on One" reached No. 75 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 44 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.His 2008 album Just Me included the single, "Love U Better (featuring Keyshia Cole)". Sweat is currently signed to Kedar Records and released his tenth studio album entitled Ridin' Solo on June 22, 2010. The lead single taken from the album is "Test Drive" and featured label-mate Joe. Since 2007, Sweat has been the host of a nationally syndicated radio program based upon the Quiet storm format. The Keith Sweat Hotel (known as The Quiet Storm with Keith Sweat on WBLS in New York City) is syndicated through Premiere Radio Networks.[8]
Sweat is also the host of a nationally syndicated radio show called The Sweat Hotel, which I s produced and distributed to urban adult contemporary and classic soul radio stations across the U.S. by Premiere Networks, a subsidiary of iHeartMedia, Inc.[9]
Rumors
Keith Sweat Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Is that you're leavin' me.
After all I've done for you,
How could you leave me?
Baby, all your girlfriends say
That you're leavin' me.
After all I've done for you,
Everybody's talkin', and the word is on the street,
That you're playin' games, and sayin' things like you're leavin' me.
I don't know just what to do, after all the things that we've been through.
It should have come to you, and thought that you won't play just like a fool.
Your so-called girlfriends would never lie on you. (No, no.)
So everything they say, girl, it must be true.
You got me lying here, oh, baby, by myself.
The rumor in the street, you're with somebody else.
The rumor in the street, baby, girl,
Is that you're leavin' me. (The rumor in the street is that you're leavin' me.)
After all I've done for you,
How could you leave me? (After all I done for you, my, my, my, baby.)
Baby, all your girlfriends say
That you're leavin' me. (All your girlfriends said that you're leavin' me.)
After all I've done for you,
How could you leave me? (Oh, yeah... Yeah.)
Now you got another lover tryin' to take my place.
You can try to hide it all you want, it's written on your face.
Now I'm sad and lonely 'cause I thought I was your only,
But you run behind my back, now tell me how you gonna act?
You had those proper things and, baby, diamond rings;
Anything for you, oh, girl, I would do.
Now I'm lying here, oh, baby, by myself.
The rumor in the street, you're with somebody else.
The rumor in the street, baby, girl,
Is that you're leavin' me. (The rumor in the street is that you're leavin' me.)
After all I've done for you,
How could you leave me? (After all I done for you, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, oh.)
Baby, all your girlfriends say
That you're leavin' me. (All your girlfriends said that you're leavin' me.)
After all I've done for you... (Oh, baby.)
How could you leave me?
(Yeah, yeah.)
Yeah, yeah, oh...
The rumor in the street, baby, girl,
Is that you're leavin' me. (The rumor in the street is that you're leavin' me.)
After all I've done for you,
How could you leave me? (How could you leave me? Oh, yeah...)
Baby, all your girlfriends say
That you're leavin' me. (All your girlfriends said that you're leavin' me, oh, yes, they are.)
After all I've done for you,
How could you leave me? (How could you leave me, girl, oh...)
The rumor in the street, baby, girl,
Is that you're leavin' me. (The rumor in the street is that you're leavin' me.)
After all I've done for you,
How could you leave me?
In Keith Sweat's song "Rumors," he expresses his confusion and sadness about the rumors spreading that his girlfriend is leaving him. He begins by acknowledging that the rumor is in the street, and he can't help but feel hurt that she would leave him after all he has done for her. According to her girlfriends, they all say that she is leaving him, which makes it hard for him to dispute the rumors. The word on the street is that she's playing games and saying she's leaving him. Despite everything they've been through, he thought she wouldn't play him like a fool, but the rumors suggest otherwise.
He acknowledges that her girlfriends would never lie about her leaving him, implying that he believes that it must be true. He's left lying alone, sad and lonely, while the rumor in the street states that she is with somebody else. Not only that, but she has another lover who is trying to take his place. Despite everything, he had provided for her, the diamond rings, and anything she could have asked for. He thought he was her only, but now he's left behind, wondering how she could leave him after all he's done for her.
Overall, "Rumors" is a song about the pain of rumors in relationships and the impact they can have on one's emotions. Despite trying to hold on to their relationship, Keith Sweat's partner has left him, and he's left behind, hurt and confused about what went wrong.
Line by Line Meaning
The rumor in the street, baby, girl,
Is that you're leavin' me.
There is a rumor going around that you are leaving me.
After all I've done for you,
How could you leave me?
I have done so much for you, how could you just leave me like this?
Baby, all your girlfriends say
That you're leavin' me.
Your girlfriends are all saying that you're leaving me.
Everybody's talkin', and the word is on the street,
That you're playin' games, and sayin' things like you're leavin' me.
Everyone is talking about how you are playing games and saying that you're going to leave me.
I don't know just what to do, after all the things that we've been through.
It should have come to you, and thought that you won't play just like a fool.
I don't know how to react to this situation, especially after everything we've been through together. You should have thought about the consequences of your actions before acting foolishly.
Your so-called girlfriends would never lie on you. (No, no.)
So everything they say, girl, it must be true.
I know your girlfriends wouldn't lie about something like this, so everything they say must be true.
You got me lying here, oh, baby, by myself.
The rumor in the street, you're with somebody else.
You've left me alone, and I'm lying here by myself. The rumor is that you're with someone else now.
Now you got another lover tryin' to take my place.
You can try to hide it all you want, it's written on your face.
You've moved on to another lover who is trying to take my place. You can try to hide it, but it's obvious from your expression.
Now I'm sad and lonely 'cause I thought I was your only,
But you run behind my back, now tell me how you gonna act?
I'm feeling sad and lonely because I thought I was the only one for you, but you have been running around behind my back. How are you going to act now?
You had those proper things and, baby, diamond rings;
Anything for you, oh, girl, I would do.
I gave you everything, even expensive gifts like diamond rings. I would do anything for you.
Yeah, yeah, oh...
Just an interjection expressing the singer's emotion.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: GAZNER HUGHES, DAVID MACPHEARSON, TANYATTA MARTINEZ, KEITH SWEAT, KEITH D SWEAT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@timmount8946
The backround vocals were always great on his stuff. He knew how to produce the music. There will never be another like him in r&b
@evelynmcdonald683
Say that shhh again!❤ He was the Truth😊
@bernadettehaskins9036
I've been listening to Keith Sweat for years. Have all his CD's. Pop one in anytime while I'm taking a bubble bath and sipping on a glass of wine. Luv dis man!!
@pandorasbox6607
🎯🎯
@wawa323
Me to but I be sippin on a can of Bud Light in the shower😄🤙🌺
@Elonmusk32123
MAY GOD CONTINUE to BLESS US KEITH and KEEP US in PERFECT PEACE in JESUS CHRIST NAME AMEN
@devote459068
this song randomly played in my head after 10 years of not hearing it and im thanking God i found it
@ambushman291
The same thing happened to me 15 years.
@thetorresfamilyandbahfamil3748
What ever happened to real music like this? Keith sweat, Gerald Levert, Rome, Lionel Richie etc😢🤔
@tcswag801
Rome !