Jagged Edge

A contemporary R&B vocal group adept at ballads and uptempo songs alike, Jagged Edge are an enduring factor in Atlanta's status as a musical hot spot. Following Xscape, Da Brat, and Kriss Kross, they became one of the key acts on Jermaine Dupri's So So Def label in 1997 with the sophisticated slow jam "I Gotta Be," their first of six Top 40 pop hits. From 1999 through 2007, brothers and songwriting partners Brandon and Brian Casey, along with fellow founding members Kyle Norman and Richard Wingo, put five consecutive albums in the Top Ten of the Billboard 200. These included the multi-platinum J.E. Heartbreak and the platinum Jagged Little Thrill, and featured some of the era's biggest R&B crossover hits, including "Let's Get Married," the Grammy-nominated Nelly collaboration "Where the Party At," and "Walked Outta Heaven." They scored two more Top Ten R&B/hip-hop albums with 2011's The Remedy and 2014's J.E. Heartbreak II, then launched their HardCase label in 2017 with Layover. J.E. have since followed the 2020 double album A Jagged Love Story with 2025's All Original Parts, Vol. 1, titled in acknowledgment of their 30th year together without a change in membership -- a very rare accomplishment.

Jagged Edge formed in Atlanta in 1995. Brandon and Brian Casey, identical twins originally from Hartford, Connecticut, added Kyle Norman, a Decatur-born singer they met through church activities, and College Park, Georgia native Richard Wingo, a late addition to the group suggested by Kandi Burruss of Xscape. In addition to helping the group become a quartet, Burruss took their demo to Jermaine Dupri, a producer known for his hits with the likes of Kriss Kross, Xscape, and Da Brat. Jagged Edge signed to Dupri's Columbia-distributed So So Def label and in 1997 released their debut single, "The Way That You Talk," featuring appearances by Dupri and Da Brat. It reached the Top 40 of the R&B/hip-hop chart and also cracked the Hot 100 Early in 1998, Jagged Edge released their first album, A Jagged Era, which went gold and spawned the Top 20 R&B/hip-hop, Top 40 pop hit "Gotta Be." Their next single, "He Can't Love U," appeared in 1998 and reached the Top Five of the R&B/hip-hop chart and the Top 20 of the pop chart, going gold in the process. It prefaced the group's second album, J.E. Heartbreak (its title a nod to New Edition's "N.E. Heart Break"), which topped the R&B chart and hit the Top Ten of the Billboard 200, selling over two million copies and spawning the number one R&B/hip-hop hits "Let's Get Married" (also Top 20 pop) and "Promise" (also Top Ten pop).

By the time of the release of Jagged Edge's third album, Jagged Little Thrill, in 2001, its leadoff single, "Where the Party At" (featuring Nelly), was nearing the R&B/hip-hop Top Ten and was in the pop Top 40. The song subsequently earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Hard and Jagged Edge followed respectively in 2003 and 2006. The albums spawned a total of five charting singles highlighted by the former's "Walked Outta Heaven" (number six pop, number two R&B/hip-hop). For 2007's more ballad-oriented The Baby Makin' Project, the group switched to Island, but Dupri had since taken up the post of president at the label's urban division, making the transition a welcome and natural one. Promoted with the Ashanti collaboration "Put a Little Umph in It," The Baby Makin' Project debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200. Jagged Edge then moved to Slip-N-Slide, where they released The Remedy, their seventh album, in 2011. Three years later, they reunited with Dupri and So So Def for the highly refined J.E. Heartbreak II, their seventh Top Ten R&B/hip-hop album.

The group and So So Def parted ways, and the Caseys established their own label, HardCase, for Jagged Edge's next recordings. Layover, released in July 2017, featured the quartet's typically rich vocal harmonies with a contemporary approach that included some trap-styled production. Three years later, they offered A Jagged Love Story, a double album led by the slow jam "Genie." After an extended studio break, they returned in 2025 with "Just Might Get It," the first single from All Original Parts, Vol. 1. The album preceded a tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of J.E. Heartbreak. ~ Andy Kellman & John Bush, Rovi