"They transitioned us out of the boy band stage into the men you see today." "Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis' production gave the group an extra gear in the studio that we didn't know that we had in us," says Tresvant. Most significantly, Philadelphia's Boyz II Men owe their roots to a management and development deal with Bivins' Motown-distributed Biv 10 Records in 1990. "Heartbreak" didn't just excel at this new style of music. The band has insisted on maintaining classic soul-era choreography and romantic five-part vocal harmonies mixed with hyper-sexualized rap lyrics and "New Jack Swing"-style beats that mixed a trio of early 80s urban crossover influences from the Midwest - thumping Chicago house, plus grooving Minneapolis and Dayton funk with New York rap's booming drums. It also needed to integrate the group into mainstream Black urban crossover music's evolving conversation. With an enraptured audience missing their favorites (New Edition toured yearly from 1983-1986 but did not tour in 1987), the group needed an album that returned them to live crowds but could also deliver on the charts. The 'Heartbreak' album and legacy-defining appeal "Whether we had a number one record on the chart or not, our fanbase was still showing up to our live events," says Bivins. "Yeah, we went through and were deeply inspired by our Jackson 5 and Temptations-eras there for a bit (alluding to the group's inspirations for the first decade of existence), but when we really thought about it, we wanted the girls," joked DeVoe.Įven deeper, the girls, like seemingly everyone in the late 1980s, were obsessed with the same thing that the current era's country and R&B fans are - the intersection of society's mainstream and hip-hop culture.īy 1988, rap music was 15 years old and had achieved multi-platinum album sales, successful major film releases, global tours and increased renown via television programs like MTV's "Yo! MTV Raps." Blend the rise in rap's popularity with young Black men singing soul songs, and the potential for a shift in the genre feels obvious.
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