All About Laughs
Ideal was a promising R&B quartet that made their debut in the 90’s. The Houston, Texas natives were prepped for stardom, jumping on the popular male R&B craze of the era that made icons out of acts like Boyz II Men, Jagged Edge, Dru Hill and Jodeci.
Debuting in 1996, the group consisted of brothers Maverick “Mav” and Cedrick “Swab” Cotton, their cousin Wayne “PZ” Perry, and high school friend Jay “J-Dante” Green. The 4 met while all attending Lamar High School in Houston. The guys are best known for the hit songs “Creep Inn”, “Get Gone”, and “Whatever”.
Their first major release was 1996’s “Inner City Blues”, on the Original Gangstas soundtrack.
Their debut self titled album came out on August 24, 1999 via Virgin Records. To date the album has sold 615,000 units in the United States and was certified gold.
In 2004, they signed a new deal with Neutral Ground/Universal Records for their second album, titled From Now On. Despite featuring production from Bryan Michael-Cox, Mike City, Rockwilder and Cee-lo assisted first single titled “Makin’ Time”, the project was eventually shelved. The group has been relatively quiet since, but continued to perform and do gigs up through 2018.
Tragedy struck the group this year. R&B artists like Bryan Michael-Cox and RL took to Instagram recently to alert fans of the passing of founding member Cedrick “Swab” Cotton.
Born May 31, 1974 in Houston, Texas, Cotton was the victim of a senseless stabbing incident which claimed his life. In a post from the groups official account, the surviving members paid tribute to their brother in a heartfelt caption.
“It is with great sadness that the IDEAL family announces that our brother Cedrick (Swab) Cotton passed away on the morning of February 9, 2021 due to senseless violence in Southwest Houston, TX.” said the annoucement.
The post continued “Cedrick was a loving father, a good brother and an awesome friend…”
His mother Carldeon Floyd set up a GoFundMe in the late singers name, hoping to get some help with the financial strain she now has to burden in the wake of losing her son. “This memorial fund seeks to support his loved ones with any funeral costs and other expenses that may arise. The fund’s intention is to help alleviate the financial hardship that becomes present when arranging a funeral” said the fundraiser caption.
BET News reported today than an arrest was made. An anonymous tip lead police to a suspect. A man named Andre Ford is currently in custody and being charged in the case.
