Boyz II Men: ‘II’ Is A Classic, 30 Years Later
By the summer of 1994, it had been three long years since Boyz II Men debuted with Cooleyhighharmony. Any artist would want to start their career with a classic, but the problem then becomes, how do you follow it up? Boyz II Men–Nathan Morris, Wanyá Morris, Shawn Stockman, and Michael McCary–introduced themselves with “Motownphilly,” an upbeat dancefloor-ready hit that fit right into the New Jack Swing era.
But the album’s biggest smash was the ballad, “It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday.” They followed that up in 1992 with “End Of The Road,” a song included on Eddie Murphy’s classic comedy Boomerang. A #1 hit on the pop charts, it won Grammys for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best R&B Song. The second Boyz II Men album, II, was released on August 30, 1994, and expectations for the album were very, very high.
Those expectations were met with the first single, another classic ballad, “I’ll Make Love To You,” written and produced by Babyface. It topped the Billboard charts for an incredible 14 weeks, tying a record set by Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.” It also won the Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Those are tangible honors. But we’ll never know how many people fell in love to the song. Or how many children were conceived to it!
And the romantic ballads didn’t end there: there was also “On Bended Knee,” written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. While not quite as impactful as “I’ll Make Love To You,” it actually knocked that song off of the #1 spot on the Billboard singles charts. This was the first time an artist replaced their #1 hit with another one since the Beatles did it three decades earlier. Interestingly, Boyz II Men covered the Fab Four on II, with a fully acapella version of “Yesterday.”
The ballads don’t end there, either: “Water Runs Dry” is another Babyface classic. But where “I’ll Make Love To You” is romantic, “Water Runs Dry” is about a couple who are struggling. While the former song was probably present at the beginning of some couples’ relationships, the latter may have been there at the end; it may have helped save some relationships, too.
“Khalil – Interlude” is a heartbreaking track that lasts less than two minutes. It was a tribute to their road manager, Roderick “Khalil” Rountree, who, in May 1992, was shot and killed while the band was on tour. That leads into “Trying Times,” about how a relationship helps you get through darkness: “Through the trying times/trying to get the best of me/I’m still finding time to show I care with my crying eyes/I see contentment because of you in my trying times.”
“50 Candles,” a steamy ballad written by the group’s Shawn Stockman with producers Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson, probably should have been rated NC-17. It gets pretty specific and maybe some kids were conceived to this one, too! But the album isn’t only about the ballads: opening track “Thank You,” written by the group with producer Dallas Austin, continued the mission of “Motownphilly,” bringing doo-wop music into the ’90s.
“U Know” and “Vibin'” were other fun, upbeat jams (both were collaborations between the group and Kelley and Robinson). “Vibin'” also got a red-hot remix with some of the best MCs of the era: Busta Rhymes, Treach from Naughty By Nature, the late Craig Mack, and Method Man.
In the Netflix documentary series This Is Pop, Shawn Stockman says, “You can hear the same song 30,000 times, and people still get something out of it. It just creates an energy that is unmatched. That is something that a chart could never measure.” But if you are using the charts to measure success, Boyz II Men’s II is an extremely successful album. It sold over 12 million copies, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. But even that success doesn’t quite tell the tale: these songs have become parts of the lives of so many people, and they still sound great today.
