Tune in to this Q & A with the group's Shawn Stockman.
Boyz II Men fans couldn't be happier now that the harmonizing quartet from Philly are back with II, a brand new album featuing a fresh collection of tunes. Including the Number One single, "I'll Make Love to You," II is packed with Boyz II Men's trademark vocals and rhythmic sounds. You fall for the ballads "On Bended Knee," and "Water Runs Dry," and catch the vibe on tracks like "Thank You," and "U Know." Wanya, Shawn, Michael, and Nate top it all off with an a capella version of the Beatles' classic, "Yesterday." Tune in to this interview with the group's Shawn Stockman and when you're through, don't pass up your chance to win a CD copy of II!
Teen Beat: How did the group decide on the title, II, for the new album?
Shawn Stockman: Actually, it was an idea of mine. I happened to just think of it and I was kind or nervous about how the rest of the guys were going to take it, but, one day we were just talking and I said, "Fellas, I think I have a name for the next LP." I really thought they weren't going to like it. But they fell in love with it and then ideas from them started coming out, and everybody was fully into it and I felt good about that.
Teen Beat: What was different about recording this time around?
Shawn: Our vocals have matured. We've gotten more familiar with the recording studio; we acted as co-producers. We were very much a part of not just the creative side, but also the technical side (of making the album). We were very much a part of everything this time, not just the music.
Teen Beat: There's a story behind putting together the new album. You started out working in Philly and ended up at Granny's House. Tell us about Granny's House.
Shawn: Granny's House is a studio in Reno, Nevada that basically has all the comforts of home. It looks just like a regular house from the outside, but when you go inside it has a full-scale 48-track studio where we worked on our music. The reason we did that was just to get away from a lot of the distractions that kind of got in the way of making the album. So we said, all right, we're gonna pack up our clothes for about a week and just go away and concentrate strictly on recording. It was nice. It was real relaxing. There was a gym down the steet that we went to when we weren't recording.
Teen Beat: What made you decide to record the Beatles' "Yesterday" for the album?
Shawn: "Yesterday" was a song that we were introduced to in high school. It was part of our vocal choir repertoire.
We all went to the High School for Creative And Performing Arts and we had a lot of material that our teacher taught us. "Yesterday" was one of those tunes and we just fell in love with. Even after we graduated we would still sing it and we thought that it would be a great idea to put on the record.
Teen Beat: You must be very pleased with the album's success.
Shawn: We try our best. We're just glad it's doing as well as it's doing. I've just been told that the album is platinum here in te U.S. It's just really great how people have taken to the album and our music. People walk up to us, and even some people who we didn't expect to have the album, had it. Like a couple of rappers would come up to us and go, "Yo, your album's phat, man, your album's phat!" And some rock atists come up to us sometimes and say, "I love your music. Keep it going!" So it's nice that the album's reaching a lot of people.
Teen Beat: When will Boyz II Men tour in the U.S.?
Shawn: Look out for us next year! And to all of the Teen Beat reader, I would like to say on the behalf of the group, thank you very much for the support. We hope all the readers have the album, and if not, go out and check it out. We think you'll like it. And to those who have it, we appreciate it. Thank you very much!