It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since Johnny Kemp, the man behind the club hit classic played on many Friday nights, “Just Got Paid,” passed away at age 55.
Many call “Just Got Paid” their “payday classic song” or the song that “made Friday night special.”
He Started Getting Paid at a Young Age
Kemp began singing in nightclubs in the Bahamas at age 13. He moved to Harlem, New York in 1979 with the band Kinky Fox. In the early 1980s, Kemp became a successful session musician and songwriter, singing backup for the B. B. & Q. Band on their 1982 album All Night Long (on which he co-wrote several tracks) and for Change on their 1982 album Sharing Your Love (on which he co-wrote “Take You To Heaven”). He also appeared on the obscure Network LP I Need You in 1984.
Columbia Records then gave him a record deal in 1985 and, through them, he released his first album, Johnny Kemp, in 1986. The album was a minor success that produced hit singles like “Just Another Lover,” “Can’t Get Enough,” and “Cover Girl.”
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Kemp’s second album, Secrets of Flying (1987), produced his biggest hit, “Just Got Paid,” which reached as high as no. 10 on the U.S. Billboard charts and was his only 1 million-selling record. Columbia initially offered the instrumental base for the song to Keith Sweat, who passed on it. Kemp listened to the track, wrote lyrics for it, and produced the hit track.
Kemp’s last single in the Hot 100 was “Birthday Suit,” a song featured in the Sing movie soundtrack in 1989. However, the single only reached no. 36 in the U.S. Following the release of his second album, Kemp’s visibility in the music industry waned. In the 1990s, he was a lead singer for Sugar Beats, a popular children’s band.
In memory of his legacy, watch the video below, it’ll take you down memory lane:
The Reading Rainbow series on PBS featured its theme song sung by Kemp for a few years. He appeared in Keith Sweat’s Sweat Hotel Live – a album featuring numerous R&B and New Jack Swing artists from the late 1980s – where he sang a rendition of “Just Got Paid.” He also performed “Just Got Paid” at the New Jack Swing 4ever (NJS4E) event on September 8, 2007, in New York City. It was a celebration of R&B’s New Jack Swing era hosted in the Ashford and Simpson-owned Sugar Bar nightclub.
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Later in His Career
Kemp appeared on Keith Sweat’s DVD release, Sweat Hotel Live (2007), which featured live performances by Sweat in a sort of reunion with other R&B/new jack swing era pioneers of the late 1980s, including Teddy Riley. Kemp appeared on the final track, an “all-star finale” rendition of “Just Got Paid”, originally recorded at a February 2006 concert in Atlanta, Georgia. Incidentally, Sweat had initially passed on the instrumental track that would eventually become “Just Got Paid”, when it was first offered to him in the mid-1980s. Kemp listened to it, added his own lyrics to the melody, and “Just Got Paid” was born. Kemp also performed a version of the Reading Rainbow Theme Song (and other songs for that series) that was broadcast on PBS for a few years between the Tina Fabrique and Chaka Khan versions.Kemp was the featured performer (singing “Just Got Paid”) at the NJS4E event in New York City, on September 8, 2007. As the name implied, the show celebrated and commemorated 20 years of new jack swing and took place at Ashford & Simpson’s Sugar Bar.
Our sources told us that Kemp was scheduled to perform with Teddy Riley on the cruise that same year he died, however, he was not on the ship due to him not feeling well. Police believe he was walking on some rocks, lost his balance, fell, hit his head, and drowned; he had been seen earlier that day in the area.
Samuel L. Jackson and MC Hammer were among others who shared condolences, calling him a “humble and kind spirit.”
“Johnny Kemp gave us a lot of joy with ‘Just Got Paid’ a true anthem !!! He was a very humble and kind spirit. #RIPJohnnyKemp,” wrote Hammer.
“RIP Johnny Kemp! Met him at my daughters 25th. Just Got Paid came on & He walked in!! Amazing & so Cool,” said Jackson.
Prayers and thoughts continually go out to his wife Deidre, his two sons, his family and friends.
