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Pretty Ricky is an American hip-hop group made up of brothers Baby Blue, Spectacular, and Slick'Em ², and now former member of the group, Pleasure P, has been replaced by current member, 4Play. They are notable for releasing several popular singles, such as "Grind With Me", "Your Body", "Juicy", "Nothing But A Number", "On The Hotline", "Push It Baby", and "Love Like Honey". The group emerged in the music industry in 1997, following the footsteps of their father, Joseph "Bluestar" Smith and continue to have success.

History

2007-2008: Late Night Special and departure of Pleasure P

Pretty Ricky then released their second album, Late Night Special, on January 23, 2007. The first single released from this album was "On The Hotline Pretty Ricky followed up their single "On The Hotline" with an actual Bluestars Hotline \, where Spectacular from Pretty Ricky leaves new messages to let the "Superstars" know whats up. The second album single, "Push It Baby", has also been released with a very well known artist Sean Paul. The video for this single included winning contest entry dances from a promotional contest held on You Tube; which Pretty Ricky took all the dances they like and put them together into on "Master Dance" which Baby Blue referred to as "The Pretty Slide" on "Push It Baby [Remix]" Access Granted on BET. Pretty Ricky was featured in Spring Bling '04, an annual event on the BET television network.³ The group has developed a Pretty Clothing Line, which is featured in the first three music videos for the singles "On The Hotline", "Push It Baby" and "Love Like Honey". The group is currently touring on their Late Night Special Tour, which features artist on their recording label, Bluestar Records.

Pretty Ricky was nominated for "Best Group" for the BET Awards '04. They were featured as performers in My Super Sweet 16: The Movie.

On August 9, 2007, they released a music video for "Love Like Honey" on BET's video premier show Access Granted. The group toured that year with Pittsburgh-based R&B/hip hop group Crave.

Rumors began circulating stating that Pretty Ricky were breaking up. These rumors have finally been addressed at the BET 2007 Hip-Hop Awards when member Pleasure P confirmed he is no longer with Pretty Ricky and is now a solo artist. He also added that he wished the best of luck to the rest of the group.⁴⁵

2008: Eighties Babies

In 2008, they have been working on a new studio album and have featured on the late Static Major's single "Till The Wheels Fall Off" from his debut album, Suppertime. Formerly departed member Pleasure P has now been replaced by Ambition/4 Play. His place in the group was announced in one of^specify their promotional videos advertising their Bluestar-signed group, Meat and Bones. The bands third album, 80's Babies, was scheduled for release 26th of August but was pushed back to September 23.The video for "Cuddle Up" was shown on Access Granted on the 18th of June. The group announced the title of their new album on their weekly advice column on Vibe.⁶ The last single was from their album Eighties Babies, "Cuddle Up.

The group revealed the new member in videos posted on their official website called 21 days of 4Play. It started May 11, 2008 lasting 21 days. Members had 21 days of videos detailing who the REAL 4Play is. Official website.⁷

80's Babies is now available on Pre-Order from their official website. Baby Blue confirmed another track of their 80's Babies album called 'Down On My Knees' in their weekly column in Vibe.⁸

On July 14th, 2008 Pretty Ricky will showed their new video "Knockin' Boots 08" to their biggest fans online 1st on their website. The video is now posted on the popular video-sharing website. YouTube!

80's Babies is set for release December 30, 2008.

01. Shon'in 02. Marry Me (Down On My Knees ) 03. Knockin' Boots 08 04. XXL 05. Cuddle Up (Ft. Butta Creame) 06. Insecure (Ft. Lingerie) 07. Sleep Wit Me 08. Let You Go 09. Bedroom Beast 10. 4 Play 11. How Long

With Exclusive Bonus Tracks Available on the album.

Promotion

Pretty Ricky has frequently utilized the Internet to promote their music and other works, usually through special features and contests directed at fans (for example, the music video dance contest that was featured on YouTube). This type of advertising and promotion, along with word of mouth, has contributed to the success of the group.^{citation needed}

Pretty Ricky also has a YouTube channel that features their music. It ranks 47th of all music channels in views 54th in subscribers, and has reached #1 as the most watched channel on YouTube.⁹ Currently, Pretty Ricky has a 1,000 demand competition on the website Eventful.com. Voters are able to influence where the group holds a concert by participating in this competition.¹⁰ In another online contest, fans were able to email the group and tell them if they find a local music store that did not have Pretty Ricky's albums for sale. Out of the participants, a winner would be chosen to receive an autographed Late Night Special CD and a piece of clothing from the upcoming Pretty Clothing Line.¹¹

References

External links

• http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=399616945
• Official website
• Pretty Ricky at MySpace