If you thought that old fashioned R&B boybands were a dying breed, than you are wrong. Recently, I already introduced you to UK’s Mic Lowry, but the US also has an offering. They are called M.T.B., which stands for Meant To Be. They are Philly’s latest pride.
Philadelphia has already produced some serious talent, back in the day: Boyz II Men and Az Yet, just to name a few. M.T.B don’t remind me of them at all though. If I had to give you 90s references, I would let you think more in the lines of Immature, but then towards their IMx days or UK groups like MN8 and Damage. It’s the bare 6-packs that do it, completed with the hint of boxers that are exposed just slightly above the jeans.
To me, it is exactly that, that makes me turn away from the video of their second single, “All Night”, but just listening to the music, I actually think the group are on to something. Even their first single, “Do Your Thing”, released earlier in 2016, is kind of cool. Not to repeat myself, but there’s something about their sound that has mixed the feel of classic R&B with contemporary R&B.
The group is not only young in the ages of its members, Mire, Tae, Dash, and Rizzy, the group is young too. It has only been formed in 2015. Things are moving pretty rapidly though. Pretty much with the release of their first single, they were already featured on some major R&B blog sites and you can see the views of each video increasing. It’s only a matter of time before this group will be famous.
As with many other groups, they were manufactured by their manager with the intent to bring back the classic boyband. Very smart too, as there isn’t really any competition in this field right now. The members cite groups like Jodeci, Boyz II Men, Az Yet, New Edition as their inspiration, as well as Chris Brown and Ne-Yo, but for some reason I can really pick up on the influence of the older groups and am missing the influence of current artists. I’m sure that will develop in time, when members start acting out and dyeing their hair blonde or red. Until then, it’s kind of cool to see a group still be in that stage that they are loving everything. Time will tell if it’s really mean to be.
