Pretty Ricky Biography

A product of the Miami music scene, Pretty Ricky began as a band of four young men who went by musical pseudonyms: the rappers Slick ‘Em, Baby Blue and Spectacular, and the crooner Pleasure P.

The boys began performing together in 1997, with Joe “Blue” Smith taking the role of manager and taskmaster. (Early reports said that Joe Smith is the father of all four, though only Spectacular and Baby Blue have the same mother. As of 2018, Wikipedia suggested that only Baby Blue and Spectacular are brothers, with Slick ‘Em as a cousin and Pleasure P as a “family friend.”)

In 2004, Pretty Ricky’s single “Grind On Me” began to get heavy airplay on Miami radio, which lead to a deal with Atlantic Records and national exposure. The band specialized in synthesizer-heavy R&B with lyrics that were heavily romantic and often raunchy; “Grind With Me,” a sanitized version of their hit single, powered their debut album Bluestars.

In 2005 the band toured with Omarion and other pop-friendly R&B acts in the Scream Tour IV concert series. Their second release, Late Night Special (2007), debuted at #1 on Billboard’s album sales chart, and included the hit singles “On the Hotline” and “(I Wanna See You) Push It, Baby.”

Pleasure P left the band in 2007. Pretty Ricky used a succession of lead singers, including vocalists 4Play, Lingerie and J. Long, before Pleasure P returned to the band in 2015. The group’s later albums include Eighties Babies (2008, previewed but never formally released) and the extra-naughty Pretty Ricky (2009, with the single “Tipsy In Dis Club”).

In 2018, the reunited band began appearing on the VH1 reality show Love & Hip Hop Miami.