Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 23, 1995 TAG: 9506230006
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Jordan, who will open Monday's Boyz II Men concert at the Roanoke Civic Center coliseum, scored his big number-one with ``This Is How We Do It.'' It stayed on top of the pop and R&B charts for most of April and May.
It also propelled Jordan from relative obscurity to a prime opening slot on the hottest pop music tour of the summer. And it has changed his life.
``I'm so busy now,'' he said in a telephone interview from his apartment in Los Angeles.
What with the concerts, promotional appearances, media interviews, airplane flights and the other odds-and-ends that come with overnight success, Jordan said it seems like he rarely sleeps anymore, and he has lost all concept of time.
``I've kind of lost my grounds a little bit as far as where I am,'' he said.
This sudden change also has cut into his time with family, playing dominoes with friends or just hanging out. ``I don't have that kicking-it time no more.''
Not that he's complaining.
``I'd rather have the phone ringing off the hook,'' he said, ``than nothing at all.''
Jordan's rise in the music business was a somewhat unlikely one, given that the twentysomething singer seemed headed in another direction. This was a few years ago when he was finishing up his degree in communications from Pepperdine University and planning on going to law school.
At the same time, Jordan dabbled in music. He can play piano, saxophone and clarinet. At Pepperdine, he was a member of a jazz vocal group. Then, a chance meeting with hip-hop producer Chi-Luv led eventually to a musical collaboration, and to Jordan's debut album on Def Jam Records, ``This Is How We Do It.''
Bye-bye law school.
Some might say that his rise is also something of an accomplishment given the rough neighborhood he came from in South Central Los Angeles.
Jordan scoffs at the notion. He said there is an attitude in South Central that ``it's almost impossible to succeed, that you're destined to fail,'' that if you go to college or if you become a lawyer or doctor, then you are one of the lucky ones.
He maintains that the attitude ought to be not if you go to college or ecome a lawyer, but when you go to college and when you become a lawyer.
``We should be asking the others how did they not do it,'' he said.
Jordan certainly could have bought into his community's negative mindset, particularly in a neighborhood where he was jumped once coming home from school, where the Bloods and the Crips battled for gang turf, and where the streets offered the temptation of adventure and quick money.
Growing up, there were older guys he admired, but he said one-by-one he atched them get killed or jailed or addicted to drugs. ``Eventually, everybody just fell off,'' he said, except for one guy he knew who went o college and medical school. He became a role model.
His father, an honest laborer, also was a role model - and a strict parent who helped him tow the line, Jordan said. ``I knew there was no trouble I could get into on the streets that would be worse than the trouble I'd have at home.''
Jordan had strong church support as well.
When he was a kid, the pastor would lock him up inside the church during the summers, along with some other musically minded kids, to teach them piano and keep them out of trouble. And when it came time for college, the church helped with some of the costs.
Now, Jordan is opening 70 dates for Boyz II Men, a plum spot for a rising singer. He will play first on Monday's concert bill, which also includes Mary J. Blige. As the opener, he will not have a band along. Instead, he has to sing along with pre-recorded tapes.
``It's kind of a dues-paying situation,'' he said.
Again, he's not complaining.
The exposure is invaluable, he said. Plus, he recently signed what he called a ``very very substantial'' publishing deal with Chrysalis Records. Now, opening for Boyz II Men only gives him something more to shoot for.
``I'm hoping I'm next up in line.''
Montell Jordan: Opening for Boyz II Men Monday at 7:30 p.m. in the Roanoke Civic Center coliseum. Tickets $27.50 through the box office (981-1201), Ticketmaster and charge-by-phone (343-8100).
by CNB