Member-only story
Mint Condition Lead Singer’s Solo Album Features Socially-Conscious Music
Mint Condition is a top R&B band that broke on the scene in the 1990s. The Minneapolis group has snagged both Grammy and Soul Train awards and toured with Prince. Lead singer Rick Kinchen recently announced a new solo project, “Truth Behind The Lies,” influenced by recent social events. This is my interview with him.
Otiko: Are you taking a break from Mint Condition? Is the band still active?
Kinchen: It was time for the lead singer to do his solo project and so I was put in a situation where I had to grow something else. I had put so much time into growing Mint Condition, from getting a distribution deal and management which then led to getting a booking agent. I had co-written and produced half of four of the last five albums as well as taken all the photographs since 2004. After all that, it was time to put some energy into myself and my own projects.
Otiko: What inspired the album?
Kinchen: My life, the injustice that my people have endured and continue to endure, and people who lie. I decided to speak truth to power and expose people who lie in order to get people of color incarcerated. My album is also inspired by love, which we have for both people who deserve it and those who don’t.
