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Boy Band Pioneers
09/06/2000 2:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Vic Everett
Like most upscale L.A. hotels, the Mondrian--located next door to the world-famous House Of Blues--looks tougher at night. Its straight-faced attendants seem to know instantly whether you have legitimate business at the hotel or you're simply an overzealous tourist from out of state. They open the hotel's massive glass doors long before you reach the entrance, ready to press the elevator button as soon as you come into view.
It's in this world of royal treatment that Boyz II Men have decided to hold court, high atop the grimy streets of Los Angeles on the seventh floor--inside the presidential suite, no less. Industry executives schmooze with attractive socialites. Servers dart among journalists, offering a wide array of finger foods and expensive adult beverages. In one corner, a private bartender attends to the needs of the 30 or so party guests; in another, a gigantic entertainment system blares snippets from Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya, (Universal) B2M's latest musical endeavor.
The new album, filled with contemporary R&B songs, is a project just waiting to reach "classic" status. Boyz II Men offer the opus at a time when boy bands like 'N Sync, 98 Degrees, and the Backstreet Boys have tilted the pop world on its ear. As Boyz II Men re-enter the music industry as men, their fates remain unknown, yet they approach the future with carefree abandon--which is similar to the atmosphere at the party.
The festive event has now been raging on for over an hour. Suddenly, a Universal Records executive stands in the middle of the suite, and loudly announces the arrival of the group. Three familiar, dark-skinned men enter the ritzy suite clad in their traditional white-on-white ensembles (Nathan is M.I.A., as he is attending a family function in Philadelphia).
Although absent from the public eye for three years, Boyz II Men don't show any outward signs of change: Shawn is still tall and lanky, Wanya continues to wear a close-fitting wave cap, and Michael is still the quiet one. What has changed, however, is their willingness to speak with the press. In the past, the group avoided the media with a fervor rarely seen from successful singers, ducking and dodging interview requests like the captain of the Exxon Valdez. Wanya, however, says that this time around, the group is making a conscious effort to embrace the media.
"The funny thing is, we never wanted to stop doing things like promotions," Wanya explains. "We always wanted to do it. It was never our idea to stop going to radio and not to go to the magazines. It just became something political, and we're artists. When it becomes political, we start to fall into the political aspect of things, and lose out. And we realize how much we lost out."
They probably realized how much press coverage they were losing, specifically. Writers from around the country began to complain about the inaccessibility of Boyz II Men, and the hard feelings cost B2M free publicity. The public's lukewarm response to their last CD was the final deathblow to the group's unit sales, which at one time were among the highest in the business. In response to these setbacks, the group took some time off and repackaged their talent. Promotional tours for the new CD were scheduled, and interview requests by the media were met with pleasant approval. The stage is now set for an industry takeover, Boyz II Men-style. There is, however, one small obstacle--all those other boy bands.
"Well," Wanya begins when queried about B2M's place in today's music industry, "in all actuality, we talk about it a lot. We've been away for a long time. Where do we fit in? A lot of people say we'll fit in because we paved the way, but [older] music paved the way for us, you know what I mean? That's what we're doing this for--the music. We don't mind the other groups out there doing things and making music happen...but make it happen for real. Make it sound right. Don't, excuse my language, f--k the audience, because we work hard at this as Boyz II Men. [We] worked hard to take music itself to another level, back to where it was musical again. Where it was vocal again."
When Boyz II Men first started out, groups that didn't rely on lip-synching techniques seemed harder to find than life-size wall posters of Pam Grier. Present-day crooners, however, wail harmonious tunes and sometimes blatantly copy the soulful style that made Boyz II Men famous. Twenty-four hours after their Beverly Hills soiree, B2M are preparing to perform at the Sky Bar inside the Mondrian Hotel--a place so exclusive that guest list credentials are double-, even triple-checked by security. Famous actors mingle about, and other singing stars in attendance wish the foursome well. A member of 98 Degrees is even spotted in the crowd; the look on his face, however, suggests that he's there to size up the competition.
And Boyz II Men know that the competition is watching. The thrones of these pop music princes are up for grabs, and they realize that, in order to stay on top, they'll have to change with the times accordingly.
"As far as change," Shawn muses, "there was actually a controversy with us and just getting it all together, because it was so different. People at the label were thinking, 'I don't know. I don't think people will like that.' People who say we didn't do anything different [are wrong]. We actually did, you know what I'm sayin'? I mean, we have house tracks on the album. It all depends on how different y'all want us to go. We went there, but it's all a matter of, can people feel it? We felt that we had to do at least that--to at least go there to let people know that we do more than slow songs. We like to dance and party and that type of thing, too."
It's here that Shawn begins to describe in detail the latest B2M direction: Songs like the lead single, "Pass You By," which gives advice to women trapped in loveless relationships.
"The first verse starts off about a young lady who meets a guy and is like, 'I found him. This is my soulmate.' And after a while, she starts to realize that that's not the case," says Shawn. "She slowly starts to become drained, and becomes a different type of person that her friends don't know anymore. I just looked at friends and family who were in relationships, and they weren't happy. They stayed in them because it was like, 'I got kids. I got obligations,' and things like that."
Michael jokes that the song will surely help many a bad relationship come to a much-needed end. Which brings up the point that B2M have actually outlasted most modern-day marriages. After 10 years of making music together, they seem stronger than ever.
"The hunger is still there," Shawn emphasizes. "We're not jaded at all. We still love to sing and perform."
After receiving roaring applause from those lucky enough to attend the Sky Bar event, it's obvious that the public still loves to hear them perform, too.
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