Fresh Music Festival Plays the Orleans Arena, 6/2

Celebrating the best in R&B, hip-hop and soul music, the Fresh Music Festival comes to the Orleans Arena on June 2. Doug E. Fresh will be the host of the festival, with headlining performances from Keith Sweat, K-Ci & JoJo, Guy and SWV.
 
Doug E. Fresh, known as the first “human beat box” in the rap world, achieved success in 1984 with his classic hip-hop single “The Show/La Di Da Di.” Since then, he has released more than 15 singles and starred in numerous movies, including “Brown Sugar,” “The Sixth Man” and “Ghostbusters II.”
 
Keith Sweat burst onto the R&B/soul scene in 1987 with his No. 1 Billboard R&B single “I Want Her,” from his debut album “Make It Last Forever.” Since then, Sweat has released 10 albums, including the 2011 release “’Til the Morning.” In 1997, Sweat won an American Music Award for “Favorite Male R&B/Soul Artist.”
 
Grammy®-nominated K-Ci & JoJo consists of brothers Cedric “K-Ci” Hailey and Joel “JoJo” Hailey. The duo’s first two singles, “If You Think You’re Lonely Now” and “How Could You,” reached the top 20 of the Billboard R&B charts. In 1998, they released their massive hit “All My Life,” which reached No. 1 on five charts, including Billboard’s Hot 100 and three international charts.  
 
R&B group Guy released their first single, “Groove Me,” in 1988 and have released a series of hit R&B singles since, including “I Like” and “Piece of My Love.” In 1989, the single “My Fantasy” from the “Do The Right Thing” movie soundtrack reached the top of the Billboard R&B charts. The members of Guy are Aaron Hall and Damion Hall.
 
One of the most successful R&B groups of the 90s, SWV had a series of hit singles with “Weak,” “Right Here/Human Nature,” “I’m So Into You” and “You’re the One.” In 1994, SWV won a Grammy® Award for “Best New Artist.” In December 2011, the group released the single “Co-Sign” off their upcoming studio album, “I Missed Us,” which is set for release in April. The members of SWV are Cheryl “Coko” Clemens, Tamara “Taj” Johnson-George and Leanne “Lelee” Lyons.
 
Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available starting at $30 and can be purchased by calling the Orleans Arena Box Office at702.284.7777, or by visiting www.orleansarena.com.