Just Coolin'
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Album Summary
By 1989, Levert — the smooth and soulful trio of Gerald Levert, his brother Sean Levert, and their partner Marc Gordon — were riding high on the Atlantic Records roster, and 'Just Coolin'' arrived as a single release that leaned hard into the emerging New Jack Swing sound sweeping urban radio. Rather than a full album outing, this release was a focused single package pressed in the US, giving the people multiple ways to vibe with the title track — an extended hip hop remix stretch, a dub version built for the club, and a re-edited cut of the original, all under the Atlantic banner. It was a deliberate move to keep Levert's name spinning on turntables as New Jack Swing was reshaping what R&B could feel like.
Reception
- Specific chart positions for this single release are not verified and are omitted here to keep things honest.
- The New Jack Swing styling of 'Just Coolin'' placed Levert squarely in the contemporary R&B conversation of 1989, a crowded and competitive space that the group navigated with their signature vocal warmth.
Significance
- This release captures Levert operating at the intersection of classic R&B vocal tradition and the harder-edged New Jack Swing movement that was redefining the sound of Black popular music at the close of the 1980s.
- The three-version format — extended hip hop remix, hip hop dub, and original re-edit — reflects the era's embrace of the 12-inch single as an art form in its own right, designed to give DJs maximum flexibility on the ones and twos.
- As a product of the Atlantic Records machine in 1989, 'Just Coolin'' represents the label's commitment to keeping established R&B acts relevant and competitive during a period of rapid stylistic evolution in the genre.
Tracklist
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A Just Coolin' (Extended Hip Hop Remix) —
7:32
-
B1 Just Coolin' (Hip Hop Dub) —
6:05
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B2 Just Coolin' (Original Version Re-Edit) —
5:11
Artist Details
Levert was an American R&B vocal group consisting of Gerald Levert, Sean Levert, and Marc Gordon, who brought a smooth yet electrifying energy to the New Jack Swing movement that defined the sound of late 1980s soul. Recording for Atlantic Records out of the United States, these brothers and their musical partner carved out a space where the gritty warmth of classic R&B met the harder, rhythmic pulse of a new generation finding its groove. Their harmonies carried that kind of effortless cool that made you feel every word deep in your chest, keeping the spirit of soulful expression alive while the music world was busy reinventing itself around them.
