Candy Girl.
You are my world.
You look so sweet.
You’re a special treat.
The lyrics are still echoing in all the New Edition fans’ heads across America.
The biopic aired part one—of a three part series—last night on BET to show how the infamous group climbed their way to fame. Even though it shows the performances of the songs we all know and adore, it also exposes how the group’s biggest weaknesses developed: their egos and drug abuse.
Even though my generation did not grow up with New Edition, you will find their songs somewhere in our music library because of our parents. So it was fitting for me to be curious about their story.
Now the history of previous music biopics has left us very skeptical on whether or not “The New Edition Story” was going to be good or not. I mean, we can’t forget how much hype Aaliyah’s biopic received, and the majority of her fans were already disappointed at the first 30 minutes of the movie.
“The New Edition Story” was one that everyone wanted to prosper because their story seemed untold. Of course, people knew the basic details of how they got started and what happened to the members, but this included the hidden story; the story that is the underbelly of the music industry and what it does to the growth of boys in a band.
The miniseries started out adorable and innocent. Just a group of kids growing up in the projects and using its talents to make some money and of course meet girls. Until the time came to decide if they wanted to take their talents to the next level.
From the start, we saw how the industry started playing the boys against each other by producers pushing Ralph Tresvant as the lead singer. As the members grew up, egos developed along with the hunger for more fame.
There was also a huge emphasis on how easy it was for the industry to take advantage of the young kids and their moms who knew nothing about the industry. The boys performed and had hit records, yet the moms were still struggling to feed them. Even after the first tour, they had a lot of fame, but little money to show for it.
Even though many are just learning how the group got started, many can agree that they chose the right boys for the job. Not only did they look the part, but they also had the right moves and voices too.
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