You don’t realize how quickly time moves, at first the passing of a month seems like a day then a decade seems like a couple years. Fortunately as time elapses, we build a catalog of life experiences and ever-lasting memories. For Wanya Morris’ brain bank, he traces the path of the current legacy he started as a high school student in Philadelphia as a member of Boyz II Men.
Everybody loves to celebrate when a numeral of ten hits; Boyz II Men is celebrating ‘Twenty’ years in music with a brand new album of the same name. Wanya discussed with Singersroom how he and the group continues to garner success each day of their journey.
Goals of the Past and Present... When we were coming up, we didn’t have a perception of success. The only thing we thought about was getting our voices heard and singing. It was not even about getting a record deal because we were high school students; we would walk down the street and sing. I guess that was enough gratification for us. Once we became entertainers, we didn’t know what to expect because it happened so fast. It wasn’t about a record or radio star, it was just about music.
Lasting More than Most Marriages… That is because we have an understanding, we recognize each other’s idiosyncratic. We believe in each other’s ability, respect one another, agree to disagree…We allow each other’s ideas to flourish, everybody has a chance to shine and when you think about it, it is a democracy how we run things. It is better that way; it’s great to have relationships.
Competing with Today’s Acts… It wasn’t about competition. We realized then that the industry has changed and there are a lot different sounds out there. If Boyz II Men would have tried to jump on certain things, it might not be as believable as the records we are normally known for. So we tried to maintain the integrity of the group and get into a studio and do what feels good.
Burden of Veteran Artists/Groups… The music industry is about trends. It is about what song is going to fit after a song by Kanye West & Jay-Z. Will a nice Boyz II Men love song or a nice Boyz II Men up-tempo with a message behind [work]? Will that actually fit after a Kanye & Jay-Z or would it fit after a Beyonce & Jay-Z, or a Beyonce song or even a Chris Brown song? It is really a demographic thing. It is what tastemakers feel make the criteria. It is unfortunate for artists.
Today’s Obstacles for Male Groups… Selfishness is the key, it is blocking them. A lot of times the male groups that come together, they’re like four or five solo artists [placed] to form a group contrived by a trend or record label or management company. So what happens is when they come together as a group, when success hits they instantly revert back to their solo aspirations. It becomes a selfish type thing, it becomes really about thinking about their self. Now I have become an entity of the group, people know my name, let me jump and become this great solo artist. The idea of a group is that they are a team; a team cannot win a championship or game if they are not cohesive. The obstacle is selfishness. —— By: Interview By Staff
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