Primary Wave Music Publishing has acquired a majority stake in the music publishing catalog of British ’90s R&B star Mark Morrison.
Included in what Primary Wave describes as a “multi-million dollar deal” are a number of Morrison’s biggest hits such as Crazy, Trippin’ and Return of the Mack.
The deal follow’s last month’s acquisition deal with Wilson Phillips members Chynna Phillips and Carnie Wilson.
Primary Wave also acquired the legendary recording company Sun Records in January.
Released 25 years ago this year, Return of the Mack was the debut single off Morrison’s album of the same name.
Peaking at No.2 on the Billboard Top 100 charts in the US, Return of the Mack quickly went platinum and soared to the top of the charts internationally.
The song was recently sampled on 2021’s G-Eazy song Provide and saw a feature from Morrison himself.
Primary Wave says it will work to market Morison’s name and likeness, as well as provide access to the company’s marketing team and publishing infrastructure, which includes digital strategy, licensing, sync opportunities as well as film, television and theatrical production.
Mark Morrison is one the most successful British R&B singers of the mid-90s.
His breakthrough single, Return of the Mack became a Top-10 hit worldwide in 1996 and opened the U.S. market for him the following year.
Born in Hanover, Germany, to Barbadian parentage, Morrison lived in Leicester, before moving to Florida, at a young age, where he discovered his love for music.
In mid-1995 he released his debut single Crazy, which became a Top 20 hit in the UK, and Let’s Get Down, entering the Top 40.
They were followed in the spring of 1996 by the aforementioned Return of the Mack, which became a smash hit worldwide, spending two weeks at No.1 in the UK charts.
Morrison became the first black male solo artist to reach No.1 in the 90s.
His debut album, also titled Return of the Mack followed, and became a multi-platinum success. It reached No.4 in the UK chart, and sold 3 million albums worldwide.
It spun off several more hit singles over the next year. Crazy (remix), Trippin’, Horny, and Moan & Groan would all reach the UK Top 10, making him the first artist in British pop history to have five Top 10’s from their debut album.
In 1997 he received four Brit nominations, a Mercury Music Prize nomination, an MTV Europe award nomination and five MOBO nominations (including winning best R&B), as Return of the Mack began to climb its way to No.2 on the American Billboard charts, ultimately going platinum.
It stayed on the Billboard charts for an incredible 25 weeks. His follow up, Who’s the Mack?, also hit the Top 20 in September 1997, and another single – Best Friend – entered the Top 40 in 1999.
That track saw Mark team up with UK soul star Gabrielle and soul star Connor Reeves.
In 2006, Morrison made a return with an independent album Innocent Man. It featured collaborations with DMX, Elephant Man, and Alexander O’Neal.
The single Innocent Man featuring DMX, also appeared in sample form on Innocent (Misunderstood) by Cassidy, which reached No.3 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart in November 2007.Music Business Worldwide
