“Roni” by Bobby Brown – A Classic Revisited from The Bad Boy of R&B

Kevin Benoit

Good old controversial Bobby Brown. He might stir the pot a bit, but dammit if he didn’t know how to make great music! As one of the original members of New Edition, it was evident quite early, that Bobby Brown was gonna go solo. Many of the group members did as well, but his success, by far, transcended that of the others. Bobby had an edge that couldn’t be contained in the “Pop” box that they were trying to keep New Edition in, so he made that move and it proved to be a very wise and lucrative decision for him.

“Roni” short for “Tenderoni” is a very specific type of girl that Bobby was looking for. To be specific, “She’s a sweet old girl, about the sweetest little girl in the whole wide world.” I mean, she made the toughest homeboy fall deep in love. She had to be something special. She has all kinds of attributes, she make her Daddy feel proud, she stand out in crowds who wouldn’t that? So clearly it was very important that Bobby found himself one.

A whole entire legend wrote this song, Babyface, and if you know like I know it’s borderline impossible to go wrong when Babyface is writing for you. “Roni” is just sweet. It comes on and it makes you feel warm and fuzzy. It conjures up teenage love and how it felt to be on the phone with somebody going back and forth talking bout “No, you hang up….” Oh, the good old days.

Bobby’s voice in general has a rough feel to it, but on this track he got the chance to show his softer side. In doing so he had ALL the girls in 1988 tryna be somebody’s “Roni”. He was a bonafide sex symbol at that point, so I’m sure there was no shortage of “Roni”s on his end. So, ladies “If you believe in love and all that it can do for you, give it a chance girl. You’ll find romaance…”

And fellas like Bobby said, “Make it official. Give her your love….oooooh yeahhhh.”

“Roni” was the third single off Bobby’s solo sophomore album, Don’t Be Cruel. In addition to writing from Babyface, the song has additional writing credits from Darnell Bristoll. It is also co-produced by Babyface and L.A. Reid.

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