Sometimes, I think my smartphone is listening in on things my conversations. It just so happens that someone asked me who sang “I Swear” and a very quick conversation followed about All-4-One. That night, suddenly, a tweet of the group appeared on my timeline. It could just be coincidence, haha, but I really started to wonder how smart my phone actually is.
Anyway, in the tweet, the group were talking about still having fun after 24 years of being together. It took me by surprise, because I only knew about two albums and I thought the group had not released anything since “And The Music Speaks”, so I had assumed that they were no longer together. I think I’m not alone in coming to that conclusion.
In fact, it could’ve been the case. It turns out they lost their major record deal due to problems between the major and the independent label, to whom they were signed, soon after their sophomore album was released. It took a good 5 years for them to find a new deal and release new music, but they had spent the years in between by touring a lot.
Touring is such a great way for artists to further perfect their skillset, so when researching what actually happened to the group, I was pleasantly surprised to hear some really great songs. Some songs really show the group has actually become a little more soulful. The music is still smooth, but sometimes reaches back to classic soul and with rawer edges in the lead vocals. However, all of it still appeals to people who only know them from the very 90s hip hop influenced hit “She Got Skillz” or the ballad “I Can Love You Like That”.
I really have rediscovered the group and am glad to not only see the original line-up still together, but also to actually not run into any real negative stories about group members cheating on their wives (like Boyz II Men) or addictions (like what played a part in the story of Color Me Badd). So far, it looks like this is a group who still has it together and has managed to stay out of the paparazzi press.
Instead, they celebrated their 20th anniversary with the Twenty+ album, released in 2015, that was launched with the release of the catchy single, “Baby Love”. In May 2016, they released a video for the ballad, “Now That We’re Together”, still all to promote the album. Not bad. Props to them.
