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{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Real Men... Wear Black
| type = studio
| artist = [[Cameo (band)|Cameo]]
| cover = Cameo_RMWB.jpg|border=yes
| released = June 11, 1990
| recorded = 1989–1990
| venue =
| studio =
* Bazooka Studios (Miami, Florida)
* Encore Studios (Burbank, California)
| genre = {{Flatlist|
* [[Funk]]<ref name=NYT />
* [[Psychedelic soul|black rock]]<ref name=CT />
}}
| length = 40:35
| label = [[Atlanta Artists]]/[[Polygram Records]]
| producer = [[Larry Blackmon]]
| prev_title = [[Machismo (album)|Machismo]]
| prev_year = 1988
| year = 1990
| next_title = [[Emotional Violence]]
| next_year = 1991
}}

'''''Real Men... Wear Black''''' is a studio album by the [[funk]] group [[Cameo (band)|Cameo]] released in 1990 on [[Atlanta Artists]]/[[Mercury Records]].<ref name=Album>{{cite book|title=Cameo: Real Men... Wear Black|date=1990|publisher=[[Atlanta Artists]]/[[Mercury Records]]}}</ref> The album reached No. 18 on the [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] [[Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums|Top Soul Albums]] chart.<ref name=Billboard>{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/cameo/chart-history/blp/|title=Cameo: Real Men... Wear Black (Top Soul Albums)|publisher=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|website=billboard.com}}</ref>

==Critical reception==
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[Allmusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name=Allmusic>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/real-men-wear-black-mw0000654330|title=Cameo: Real Men... Wear Black|publisher=[[Allmusic]]|website=allmusic.com}}</ref>
| rev2 = [[Los Angeles Times]]
| rev2Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name=LAT>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-01-ca-820-story.html|title=CAMEO "Real Men Wear Black"|author=Waller, Don|date=July 1, 1990|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>
| rev3 = [[Chicago Tribune]]
| rev3Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name=CT>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-09-20-9003180841-story.html|title=CAMEO "Real Men Wear Black"|author=Heim, Chris|date=July 1, 1990|publisher=[[Chicago Tribune]]|website=chicagotribune.com}}</ref>
| rev4 = [[New York Times]]
| rev4Score = (favourable)<ref name=NYT>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/19/arts/home-entertainment-recordings-and-keep-in-mind.html|title=HOME ENTERTAINMENT/RECORDINGS: AND KEEP IN MIND|date=August 19, 1990|author=Pareles, Jon|author-link=Jon Pareles|website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>
| rev5 = [[USA Today]]
| rev5Score = (favourable)<ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|306386869}} |last1=Jones |first1=James T |title=Rap works its way into vets' R&B |newspaper=USA TODAY |date=9 July 1990 |page=4D }}</ref>
| rev6 = [[Rolling Stone]]
| rev6Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Cameo: Real Men Wear Black|author=Linden, Amy|date=September 6, 1990|publisher=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref>
| rev7 = [[People (magazine)|People]]
| rev7Score = (favourable)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-real-men-wear-black-vol-34-no-2/|title=Picks and Pans Review: Real Men Wear Black|date=July 16, 1990|publisher=[[People (magazine)|People]]|website=people.com}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[Select (magazine)|Select]]''
| rev8Score = 2/5<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=When Men Are Men And Larry's A Lamb|last=Perry|first=Neil|date=July 1990|magazine=[[Select (magazine)|Select]]|page=87}}</ref>
}}

Jon Pareles of the [[New York Times]] stated that "[[Larry Blackmon]]'s cracked nasal voice keeps the band funny and unpretentious, especially when kicking up its well honed midtempo funk".<ref name=NYT /> [[Allmusic]] gave the album a three out of five star rating.<ref name=Allmusic /> Chris Heim of the [[Chicago Tribune]] noted "The sound is a bit harder and the themes a bit lighter, but this new album basically continues down the path Cameo has followed since trimming down to a trio in the early 1980s. It was then that the group began seriously to experiment with what Blackmon tagged ”black rock,” a musical mix Cameo has never really been adequately credited for helping create. ”Real Men” is another solid example of Cameo`s approach to the sound."<ref name=CT /> Don Waller of the [[Los Angeles Times]] also proclaimed "using a krazee-quilt combination of synthetic/organic keyboards ‘n’ hipshot! percussion, greazy basslines and goofbawl vocals, (heavy on the minor sevenths), Cameo rolls back the rug for a wall-to-off-the-wall dance party".<ref name=LAT />

==Singles==
[[I Want It Now (Cameo song)|I Want It Now]] reached No. 5 on the [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Hot R&B Songs]] chart.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/cameo/chart-history/bsi/|title=Cameo: I Want It Now (Hot R&B Songs)|publisher=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|website=billboard.com}}</ref> Close Quarters also reached No. 38 on the [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Hot R&B Songs]] chart.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/cameo/chart-history/bsi/|title=Cameo: Close Quarters (Hot R&B Songs)|publisher=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|website=billboard.com}}</ref>

==Track listing==
{{Track listing
| title1 = Close Quarters
| writer1 = [[Larry Blackmon]], Robert Smith, Billy Allen
| length1 = 6:11
| title2 = I Want It Now
| writer2 = Larry Blackmon, Robert Smith, Billy Allen
| length2 = 4:32
| title3 = Me
| writer3 = Larry Blackmon, Robert Smith, Billy Allen
| length3 = 4:31
| title4 = Attitude
| writer4 = Larry Blackmon
| length4 = 3:44
| title5 = Get Paid
| writer5 = Larry Blackmon, Robert Smith, Billy Allen
| length5 = 4:58
| title6 = Am I Bad Enough
| writer6 = Larry Blackmon, Robert Smith, [[Tomi Jenkins]], Billy Allen
| length6 = 5:25
| title7 = Time, Fire & Space
| writer7 = Kevin Kendricks, Tomi Jenkins, Larry Blackmon
| length7 = 3:40
| title8 = Nan-Yea
| writer8 = Jemeal Leftenant, Larry Blackmon, Nathan Leftenant
| length8 = 4:36
| title9 = Just a Broken Heart
| writer9 = Larry Blackmon, Robert Smith, [[Tomi Jenkins]], Billy Allen
| length9 = 4:34
}}

== Personnel ==

'''Cameo'''
* [[Larry Blackmon]] – lead vocals, backing vocals, drums, percussion
* Tomi Jenkins – lead vocals, backing vocals
* Nathan Leftenant – backing vocals, trumpet

'''Additional musicians'''
* Billy Allen – keyboards, programming
* Kevin Kendricks – keyboards, programming
* Charlie Singleton – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals
* Robert Smith – keyboards, programming
* Aaron Mills – bass
* Melvin Wells – saxophones
* [[Brainstorm (American band)|Jeryl Bright]] – trombone
* Smoove & Konduko – [[Turntables|scratches]]
* Willie Morris – lead vocals, backing vocals

=== Production ===
* Larry Blackmon – producer
* Barney Perkins – recording, mixing
* Christopher Rutherford – recording
* Milton Chan – assistant engineer
* Paul Speck – assistant engineer
* Sterling Sound (New York, NY) – mastering location
* Reiner Design Consultants, Inc. – album design
* David Vance – photography
* Fleur Thiemeyer – fashion
* Anderson Phillips – hair
<ref name=Album />

==Charts==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
!Chart (1990)
!Peak<br>position
|-
!scope="row"|US [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]]<ref name=Billboard />
|align="center"|84
|-
!scope="row"|US [[Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums|Top R&B Albums]] (''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'')<ref name=Billboard />
|align="center"|18
|-
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Cameo}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Real Men Wear Black}}
[[Category:Cameo (band) albums]]
[[Category:1990 albums]]
[[Category:Mercury Records albums]]

Real Men... Wear Black - Revision history

imported>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: add {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}