On this date in 1988, Uptown Records R&B favorite Al B. Sure dropped his debut album In Effect Mode under the Uptown imprint and distributed on Warner Bros.

A little known fact about Al B. Sure is that before the release of In Effect Mode, the Mount Vernon native wanted to be a rapper, but his cousin Kyle West made R&B music, which influenced his decision to do the same. West was then enlisted as co-producer on Sure’s first album to which the duo wrote aall of the songs together on the album.

“Nite and Day”, the first single from the album, was written and recorded with no lyrics in 1987 by West, but when Sure heard the song a month after it was made, he wrote a chorus which led to he and West recording the song for the album.

In Effect Mode was quite a commercial success as well, having made it to #20 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart (where it remained for seven weeks). Five singles were released from the album, all of which made it to the Billboard singles charts: “Nite and Day,” “Off on Your Own (Girl),” “Rescue Me,” “If I’m Not Your Lover”, which was produced by Teddy Riley and “Killing Me Softly.”

Salute to AL B. Sure, Kyle West, Andre Harrell and the Uptown./Warner Bros. staff for making this a piece of Hip Hop/R&B history!

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Al B. Sure Dropped His Debut LP ‘In Effect Mode’ 36 Years Ago first appeared on The Source.

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Al B. Sure Dropped His Debut LP ‘In Effect Mode’ 36 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

Click Here to Discuss in the Forums