Update May 20: Babyface plans to go on Instagram Live May 24 to celebrate the music of "Waiting to Exhale." The co-founder of the former Atlanta record label LaFace Records announced the news on Instagram Tuesday by playfully teasing frequent collaborator Toni Braxton, who appeared on the soundtrack, for her singing style. The livestream begins at 8 p.m. Sunday.
Update: Following the death of music executive Andre Harrell Saturday, Babyface announced on Instagram he's postponing the Mother's Day Instagram Live session for the "Waiting to Exhale" soundtrack.
“There’s no way I can get through this at 100% and honestly, that just wouldn’t be fair to all of you,” he said in part. “It will be rescheduled at a later date.”
Original story: Weeks after Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds participated in the Instagram Live "Versuz" series and soared past the 1 million followers mark, the hitmaker has announced he'll return — but this time, it won't be for a battle with fellow producer Teddy Riley.
Instead, Edmonds plans to go live on the social media platform Sunday night to celebrate Mother’s Day.
» RELATED: Babyface-Teddy Riley battle fizzles on Instagram Live
“It’s been 25 years since ‘Waiting to Exhale’ was first released — I can’t even believe it,” he said in a Tuesday Instagram video. “So to celebrate, this Sunday, on Mother’s Day... I wanna play you the music of ‘Waiting to Exhale,’ tell you the story about the songs and all of the incredible women that were part of the journey.
“And, I don’t know, maybe we’ll have a special guest or two. Just saying,” he added.
The singer told Variety that during his music battle with Riley last month "(t)here were a lot of people asking for stuff" from the Billboard 200 chart-topping "Waiting to Exhale" soundtrack. Because of that, Edmonds decided to discuss it in a livestream on Mother's Day.
“I thought that would be a great way to celebrate Mother’s Day. And I’ll premiere the new single, — ‘When I Get to Heaven,’ then, too,” he said of his first release in half a decade.
» RELATED: Jermaine Dupri has the most Atlanta singalong with L.A. Reid, Babyface
It seems Babyface is getting comfortable with the livestream platform.
Although the “Versuz” battle proved popular — more than 500,000 viewers tuned in live — Edmonds wasn’t initially eager to join the music producer battle launched by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz as people have remained at home amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“It wasn’t something I was dying to do but now that it’s happened I realize that there are people out there that wanna reach out and connect and this is a new way of connecting,” he told Variety. “That’s why I’ll do this IG Live and do some other things in the future as well. … Until we get out on the road again.”
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