Is there any argument to be had regarding Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and his pen game?
The New York Times Magazine named the Indianapolis native one of “The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters.”
The unranked list was created with the input of more than 250 music insiders and six New York Times critics.
The interactive piece lauds Edmonds for his “gift for collapsing big feelings into diamond lines” and rendering “a body of work that echoes the past even as it reshapes the present.”
“In 1988, Edmonds co-wrote and co-produced “Don’t Be Cruel” for Bobby Brown. … It became a defining hit for Brown and signaled Edmonds’s growing command of the mainstream. That command soon became dominance,” it said. “Edmonds co-wrote and co-produced “End of the Road” (1992) for Boyz II Men, and the ballad spent 13 consecutive weeks at No. 1. It surpassed Presley’s longstanding achievement and announced a new center of gravity in American pop — one rooted in emotional clarity, vocal precision, Black male interiority and wisdom about women’s desires. Just two years later, he surpassed himself. Released on July 26, 1994, “I’ll Make Love to You” reached No. 1 and remained there for 14 consecutive weeks.”
“But Babyface’s impact extends even further than two of the biggest songs of the last 30-plus years,” Danyel Smith wrote, noting Edmonds has written and produced for artists including TLC, Madonna, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Gladys Knight, the Whispers, Whitney Houston, Tevin Campbell, Toni Braxton, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin and Ariana Grande.
“What Edmonds ultimately achieved is a redefinition — of the charts, but more lastingly of what a modern love song could be. He diagrams the vertigo of first love like a compound sentence: clause flowing into clause, cause burning into effect. How imagination works, how influence unfolds, how history rhymes — these remain riddles,” the piece said. “But Edmonds’s career, a quest to master the tender languages of music, delight and heartbreak, stands as one of the most eloquent answers we have for love’s enduring questions.”
The North Central High School grad won the Grammy for Producer of the Year every year from 1996 through 1998 won a Grammy in 2024 as a writer for SZA’s “Snooze.”
Five essential Babyface songs
The New York Times Magazine named the following as five essential songs written by the artist:
Who are the 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters?
The top living songwriters, according to The New York Times Magazine:
Contact Midwest Connect reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cjackson@usatodayco.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X.com: @cherylvjackson or Bluesky: @cherylvjackson.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana artist named among 30 greatest living American songwriters
Reporting by Cheryl V. Jackson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
