Don’t call them a boy band says, Boyz II Men’s Wanya Morris. Per Wanya, Boyz II Men has always been agroup whose music is filled with universal lyrical content. These young men are aware that they have already made music that will stand the test of time. Boyz II Men are beyond classic and well on their way to timeless.

Boyz II Men is a four-time Grammy winning R&B group who dominated the music charts in the 1990’s. Originally from Philadelphia, PA, they were founded in 1998 as a quintet which originally included Marc Nelson(later sang with group AZ YET) but found
their fame as a quartet, with members Nathan Morris, Michael McCary, Shawn tockman and Wanya Morris.

Boyz II Men has sold more than 60 million records and is the most successful R&B group of all time. Their song, “One Sweet Day” with Mariah Carey, held the record for longest single on the billboard charts. Of course, the group had numerous other super hits such as: “On Bended Knee, I’ll Make Love to You, and End of the Road”.

Although, now a trio, as bass singer Michael McCary left the group in 2003 due to chronic back problems resulting from scoliosis, they still have those amazing harmonies and can hit all of the notes from those great hits.

After Boyz II Men came to the 2008 Kern County Fair to perform, I sat down with Wanya Morris, of the group, to chat:

SB: You guys were founded 18 years ago – did you expect that you would be legends almost 20 years later?

BIIM: Never, we just wanted to sing in school and find places that had acoustics and get girls(laugh) I was just 15 years old at that time

SB: One reason that you guys developed your legendary status is due to songs that you made in the 1990s that still sound just as good 15 years later

BIIM: Absolutely, those songs stand the test of time. It seems to be a historical sound with many of our past hits

SB: In the 1990’s R&B was the number genre of music but there has been a huge shift in musical popularity

BIIM: Hip Hop is catering to a certain group within the market place and it is different than our audience. R& B sort of got lost in the shuffle. People stop wanting to hear
about love and more about sex. Hip Hop sort of satisfies that appetite.

SB: What’s on the horizon for Boyz II Men?

BIIM: We plan to continue to tour and our next album will be another specialty album as our latest album was a tribute to Motown. We want to exceed the expectations of people. Anything that we do has to be believable and have it accepted globally.

SB: How do you motivate others who want to follow their dreams?

BIIM: I believe that I can motivate through testimony. There has to be an order starting with Christ first and then patience and success. But to see someone who’s gone through adverse situations and still come out on top is true motivation

SB: Is there anything that you’d like to say to all of your fans in Bakersfield, especially all who came out to see you guys?

BIIM: I want to let them know that they were the reason that the show went so well. We’ll always do our job on stage but the energy that you receive from your fans only drives our performance and we thank Bakersfield fans for your loyal support of Boyz II Men

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