‘Is It A Crime?’

Beginning in the early 1980s, the band Sade emerged as one of the most listened to musical entities. Mixing soul, jazz and R&B, the band became a celebrated entity in 1984, thanks to their debut album, Diamond Life. With hits such as Smooth Operator and Your Love Is King, the band was thrown into the limelight alongside their leading vocalist and namesake, Sade Adu.

Born Helen Folasade Adu in 1959 in Nigeria, Adu grew up in London. She went on to study fashion design at Saint Martin’s School of Art and worked as a part-time model before getting her strides in music. As the face of the Sade, Adu’s fame grew as the band followed their debut album a year later with Promise. This was then followed by Stronger Than Pride (1988) and what’s widely considered the group’s magnum opus, Love Deluxe (1992). Not only known for her vocals, Adu emerged as a fashion icon throughout the mid- and late 1980s. A clear contrast to the glittery, sparkly, and big-hair fashion of the decade, Adu was known for her liberal, neutral-coloured fashion, gold hoop earrings, bold red lipstick, and slicked-back ponytail hairdo. As she stated in a 1980s interview with the magazine Face, “I don’t like things that are glittery or flashy. Simplicity is the key, looking subtle without looking dull.”

After the latter release in 1992, it seems the group was on a break. During this time, its instrumentalist members – guitarist and saxophonist Stuart Matthewman, bassist Paul Denman, and keyboardist Andrew Hale – formed a band named Sweetback and released a self-titled album in 1996. As for Adu, she gave birth to her son in 1996 and moved temporarily to Jamaica where she was in a relationship with the reggae producer Bob Morgan. It was during this sabbatical on the island in March 1997 that the reclusive celebrity made local news, and not for the right reason.

LEGAL TROUBLES

According to official police reports, Adu was driving in Montego Bay, travelling in the vicinity of Barnett Street and Howard Cooke Boulevard, when she was signalled to stop by a police officer. The report continued that she ignored the order and was chased by another police officer. The policeman then caught up with her along the Gloucester Avenue hotel strip and she was taken to the Summit Police Station where she reportedly let loose several expletives. She was then arrested and charged with dangerous driving, disobeying a police signal, and disorderly conduct. She was then given bail of her own surety. On March 10, 1997, the singer showed up in court where she was represented by the attorney-at-law Victor Robinson. Adu pleaded not guilty and was to return to court June 25, 1997. Still, according to Adu in a 2000 Times Magazine article: “It wasn’t really a traffic incident, to be honest. It got blown into some incredible farcical event.” The singer accused the Jamaican policeman of impropriety.

The case got complicated after Adu’s first time in court. After the June hearing did not get underway, the case was delayed for a second time because of Adu’s absence for which a warrant was issued for her arrest. The reason given for her absence was that her child was bitten by a dog and her child could not travel in that condition. A few months later, the case was delayed for the third time. On October 15, the case was delayed again because the investigating officer, Special Constable Palmer, failed to appear in court because he was on vacation leave. This time, Adu was in court and she told the court that she had a recording contract to honour and requested a new convenient date be set for trial. The trial date was set for February 1998 but that was again delayed. Another date was set in April, but Adu never showed up. According to her attorney, she was unable to visit Jamaica because she had to honour certain contractual obligations abroad. When another trial date was set for May 6, Adu was still a no-show.

By June 1998, a fourth warrant was issued for Adu, as she failed to show up in court again. By this time, her attorney was Clive Mullings as her former attorney, Victor Robinson, sued her and her partner, Bob Morgan, for $100,000 that he said was owed to him. According to the aforementioned Times Magazine interview, Adu says she plans never to return to the island. By all accounts, she has never visited since.

LOVERS ROCK

Still, Adu’s time on the island was not in vain, for, in 2000, the band Sade reunited to release their fifth studio album, Lovers Rock. An ode to the Jamaican musical genre which took over England throughout the 1970s, the album fused reggae, neo soul, R&B, and jazz; and contained the hit singles, By Your Side, and King of Sorrow. One song in particular, Slave Song, was largely drawn from Blackness and would seek inspiration from Bob Marley to construct it. As she stated in an interview with Vibe Magazine.

“One day, we started jamming on it in a really ‘dubby’ way, and I started to feel the weight of the sea and what it must have been like on the journey over to America. Then I thought of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song and thought, ‘Well, what is my point here?’ I knew if I stayed true to that song, it would all work out.”

For their efforts, the band won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album in 2002. By 2010, it was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and, in 2013, was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

After an almost 10-year hiatus, Sade released their sixth album, Soldier of Love, in 2010. The first single and title track won a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. The group has not released a studio album since. Still, the band continues to resonate to this day. Their artistry can be heard in artistes such as Olivia Dean, Lila Iké, Sevana, H.E.R., Brent Faiyaz, Venna, Sampha, SiR, Alex Isley, The Internet, Free Nationals, Celeste, Lianne La Havas, Umi, Tems, Cleo Sol, Pip Millet, Frank Ocean, Robert Glasper, Anaiis, Akina Eman, Jorja Smith, and so many others. As for their front woman, her fashion icon status is still on many people’s Pinterest feeds. In fact, in 2020, Jorja Smith paid homage to Adu in her music video, By Any Means; and, in December 2023, Mya would do the same in a series of Instagram photos.

Whether the band will release a next project, that’s still up in the air.

Whether Adu will ever visit the island again, well, we have to wait to see.

J.T. Davy is a member of the historical and political content collective, Tenement Yaad Media, where she co-produces their popular historical podcast, Lest We Forget. She is also a writer at the regional collective, Our Caribbean Figures. Send feedback to jordpilot@hotmail.com and entertainment@gleanerjm.com.