b. George Franklin Jackson III, c.1978, Washington, DC, USA. A young R&B talent sponsored by producer/mentor Chucki Thompson, Frankie recorded his debut album for Thompson’s Epic Records subsidised imprint Chucklife in 1997. Fashioned by Thompson as a return to a classic soul crooning style, it featured an all-star cast including Faith Evans (singing on the duet, ‘Think Of You’) and hit R&B band 112. The latter group also wrote material for the set, as did fellow guest star Mary J. Blige (‘All I Do’). Frankie had originally met Thompson at the age of 14 through mutual acquaintance Notch Howell of Born Jamericans. The album was the result of a five-year apprenticeship, during which Jackson would frequently ‘tag along’ at Thompson’s recording sessions, and was promoted with the single, ‘If I Had You’.