State of Affairs is the twentieth studio album by the band Kool & the Gang, released in 1996 following a four-year gap between albums. It marked the return of James "J.T." Taylor as the lead singer since 1986's album Forever.
Critical reception Dan LeRoy of AllMusic noted "With former lead singer James 'J.T.' Taylor rejoining his old band after a break of several years, hopes were high among Kool & the Gang fans that the reunited group could rejoin the ranks of hitmakers once again with State of Affairs. But the painful state of affairs revealed on this disappointing, sterile-sounding effort was that the Gang were trying too hard to show they could hang with the then-current batch of high-tech R&B chart-toppers."
Singles The single, "In the Hood" reached No. 27 on the UK R&B Singles chart.
Track listing
Personnel
Kool & the Gang James "J.T." Taylor – lead vocals, backing vocals (1–6, 8–11), music programming (11), drum programming (11), sequencing (11) Curtis "Fitz" Williams – organ (1), Moog synthesizer (4), keyboards (7), programming (7), sequencing (7) Khalis Bayyan – music programming (1–6, 8–11), drum programming (1–6, 8–11), sequencing (1–11), alto saxophone (1–3, 5, 8, 9, 11), tenor saxophone (1–3, 5, 8–11), keyboards (7), programming (7), additional programming (12) Charles Smith – guitars (1, 4–6, 11) George "Funky" Brown – music programming (12), drum programming (12), sequencing (12) Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas – alto saxophone (5) Clifford Adams – trombone (5)
Additional musicians Rashad Muhammad – digital programming (1–6, 8–12) Paul Sinclair – acoustic piano (6) Robert Meeks – keyboards (12) Craig Hardy – keyboards (13) Daryl Pediford – additional sampled guitar (1) Shawn McQuiller – additional sampled guitar (1) Amir-Salaam Bayyan – guitars (2, 6, 8, 9, 11) Jeff Catania – guitars (3, 10), drums (12) Richie Tozzi – guitars (3) Kirk Lyons – bass (10, 12) Paul Kayk – drum programming (6), additional drum programming (12) Rasheed Bell – backing vocals (2)
Production Stephan Galfas – executive producer, management for T.E. Savage, Inc. Khalis Bayyan – producer, music arrangements (5, 7, 10, 11) James "J.T." Taylor – producer, music arrangements (5, 10, 11), vocal arrangements (5, 10, 11), cover concept The Bagheads (Craig Hardy and Martin Neary) – additional production (13) Kip Kaplan – production coordinator Tia Sinclair – coordinator (1–7, 10–12) Marc Gregory – cover concept Eric Zim – cover and J-card design Tom Schierlitz – photography Fiona Saunders Reece – European management
Technical credits Rashad Muhammad – digital editing (1–6, 8–12) Kendal Stubbs – recording, mixing (3, 4) Ben Arrindell – mixing (1, 6, 7, 10–12), mix assistant (2–5, 8, 9), additional engineer (12) Stephan Galfas – mixing (1, 6, 7, 10–12) Andy Jackson – mixing (2–5, 8, 9) The Bagheads – remixing (13) Martin "Nobby" Neary – mix engineer (13) Jeff Toone – additional engineer (1, 4) Warren Riker – additional engineer (2, 3, 8, 9) Vittorio Zammarano – additional engineer (5, 6, 11, 12) Khalis Bayyan – additional engineer (7) Wade Thoren – mix assistant (7, 11, 12)
References
External links