Irving "OG Geno" Jones, was born the youngest of 6 children on 6/15/1969 in the city of Chicago to Ruby & Creadel "Red" Jones, the original bass singer of the Chi-Lites, (born 9/26/1940- died 8/25/1994- R.I.P. Dad). His first place of residence was the Robert Taylor Homes housing projects (4525 building) on the city's southside. There is where he spent the first 9 years of his life, learning to play the games that the projects play. From there he lived in a few other southside neighborhoods- 57th & Calumet- 56 & Throop and the Ida B. Wells projects. He attended Coleman Elementary, Carter Elementary & Dunbar High School, where he dropped out in the 9th grade. Geno's mother moved to the northside of Flint, Michigan in 1985. After living in Chicago for another year, Geno's brother & sister bought him a bus ticket to move to Flint with his mother in 1986, which is where he still lives today. Geno found Flint to be much different from Chicago, but as any true hustler, he learned to live there, and gain a few friends along the way. Geno was no stranger to gang life. While living in the Robert Taylor homes at age 7 or 8, he and 2 friends of his started a small gang that they named the Black Dragons. When he moved from the projects in 1978 he brung the gang's name with him & got a few other young boys in his new neighborhood to join up with him. A couple of years later he was associating with the Black Disciples & the Gangster Disciples & would later gone on to form his own street family, called the Guntown Gangster Organization in 1988. Geno is no longer gangbangin. Geno says that spending the first half of his life in Chicago & the later years in Flint, has showed him that every city has ghettos and somebody that's starting trouble. This is where he got most of the content for the songs that he creates. Geno always had a love for music. He became hooked to hiphop after hearing Rappers Delight by the Sugarhill Gang in 1980. At age 11 he learned all the words, and would spit it word for word, while his friends would say, how you remember all of that? His reply would always be "I don't know". By age 13, he was writing to other artists songs, changing the words, but keeping the flow and music of some of the top artist at that time. He did'nt know at the time, that would be the start of his G. Style Records. Thru out the 80's & 90's, Geno kept writing & flowin', then in 1998 he bought his first (well, actually 2nd, but that's another story) keyboard for $312 (the amount of his rent that month) and started writing songs to the beats in the keyboard, as well as songs to the beats he was creating. He would record his songs on a tape deck in his apartment's living room. He had a couple of homeboys (Mizzike & D. Rick) that use to stop by & flow to some of his beats. The 3 of them would also get on some songs together. After months of freestylin' over so many beats, Geno saw they he & his homeboys had it, & that he could make beats that other rappers could feel & want to flow on. This was the 2nd stage of G. Style Records. In 2001, Geno moved from his apartment & bought a house, & this is where the studio really came to be. He bought another keyboard, a 24 channel mixer, a digital recorder & a cd recorder. Thru much trial & error, he taught himself how to write songs, make beats, arrange the songs, perform the vocals on the songs & record the songs. (That's determenation for you) He would pass the cd's off to some homeboys, to see what they thought, and they were all diggin' it. Some of them would even remember the words to his songs & flow to it while it was playing, letting him know that his music could catch a person's attention. In 2005, Geno decided to go worldwide with his G. Style Records & posted his music on different websites like soundclick.com, myspace.com, Independent Artist Company.com & a few others. The response from all has been extremly well, once again showing the OG Geno that there is a place for his G. Style Records, & now he's commited to staying in the studio, making beats, writing songs, and flowin' on the mic the G. Style way..
One of the most popular smooth soul groups of the early '70s didn't hail from Philadelphia or Memphis, the two cities known for sweet, string-laden soul. Instead, the Chi-Lites were from Chicago, a town better known for its gritty urban blues and driving RB. Led by vocalist Eugene Record, the Chi-Lites had a lush, creamy sound distinguished by their four-part harmonies and layered productions. During the early '70s, they racked up 11 Top Ten RB singles, ranging from the romantic ballads "Have You Seen Her" and "Oh Girl" to protest songs like "(For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People" and "There Will Never Be Any Peace (Until God Is Seated at the Conference Table)." All the songs featured Record's warm, pleading tenor and falsetto, and the majority of the group's hits were written by Record, often in collaboration with other songwriters like Barbara Acklin.
the Chi-Lites had been around for nearly a decade before they finally had a hit in the late '60s. Eugene Record, Robert Lester, and Clarence Johnson formed the doo wop group the Chanteurs in the late '50s, and they released one single on Renee Records in 1959. Shortly afterward, Creadel "Red" Jones and Marshall Thompson, who had sung with the Desideros, teamed with the trio to form the Hi-Lites. Over the next four years, the Hi-Lites released a number of singles on local labels. In 1964, they changed their name to Marshall the Chi-Lites, adding the "C" as tribute to their hometown Chicago. By the end of the year, Johnson left the group and the remaining quartet truncated their name to the Chi-Lites. Over the next four years, the group continued to perform and release independent singles, with Record slowly emerging as the group's lead singer, songwriter, and producer.
In 1968, the Chi-Lites signed with the large Chicago indie label Brunswick Records, and early the following year "Give It Away" became their first national hit single, reaching number ten on the RB charts. Despite the moderate success of "Let Me Be the Man My Daddy Was," the group wasn't able to deliver another big hit until "Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So)" climbed into the RB Top Ten in early 1971, beginning a string of ten Top Ten hits that ran intermittently over the next four years. The follow-up to "Are You My Woman?," "(For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People," was their first pop hit, setting the stage for a pair of slow, soulful ballads, "Have You Seen Her" and "Oh Girl," which both reached number one on the RB charts; the latter was a number-one pop hit, as well. in the spring of 1972.
Shortly after the release of the hit "Stoned Out of My Mind," the Chi-Lites began to splinter in 1973, when Jones left the group and was replaced by Stanley Anderson, who was quickly replaced by Willie Kensey. The revamped lineup had three Top Ten RB hits -- "Homely Girl," "There Will Never Be Any Peace (Until God Is Seated at the Conference Table)," and "Toby" -- before they replaced Kensey with Doc Roberson. Shortly afterward, Brunswick became involved in serious financial problems, which prevented the label from promoting the group's record. Frustrated, Record left the band to become a solo recording artist for Warner Bros. The remaining trio, augmented by David Scott and Danny Johnson (who was replaced by Vandy Hampton in 1977), signed with Mercury, but none of their singles were hits.
The original lineup of the Chi-Lites re-formed in 1980, and the group began recording for Eugene Record's label, Chi-Sound. Although their first singles were more successful than their Mercury Records, they didn't have a genuine hit until 1982, when "Hot on a Thing (Called Love)" reached number 15. The following year, they moved to Larc Records, where they had their final Top Ten hit with "Bottoms Up." Late that year, Creadel Jones retired and the group continued to tour as a trio throughout the remainder of the decade. Record left the group in 1990 to record as a solo artist. He was replaced by Anthony Watson. By the early '90s, Jones had re-joined the group, and this version of the Chi-Lites became a regular on the oldies and soul circuit during the '90s.
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
