In 2007, three successful R&B male artists, Tyrese, Ginuwine and Tank, first announced that they would be coming together to give R&B fans the best of the best in a super-trio titled TGT. R&B fans have been anxiously awaiting the group’s album arrival ever since.
Unfortunately, TGT’s plans to release an album were pushed back due to the challenges of all being signed to different record labels.
The album was worth the wait. “Billboard” announced Three Kings debuting at No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart less than two weeks after its August release date. It really isn’t a surprise; in this album TGT takes you back to the ‘90s by adding even the smallest of details from this decade. That’s right; the album has interludes — those short songs or skits between the main songs.
This album was rumored to become the ultimate R&B comeback.
In “OMG,” TGT’s voices intertwine perfectly. Admittedly, some of the auto-tune on the phrase “OMG” was not necessary. Leave the auto-tune to those who can’t sing. It is often true that sex sells, and because of this, fans were afraid the album would just cover “baby-making music.” Luckily, those fans came to find that TGT took it upon itself to explore many of the things experienced during relationships through their music: regret (“Next Time Around”), admitting guilt (“I Need”), starting over (“Tearing it Down”) and, of course, love and commitment (“Our House”).
Despite each member being a successful individual artist with his own reputation to uphold, TGT really worked hard to make its audience see it as a male R&B group rather than individuals.
There has been talk about R&B’s strong decline, but TGT has proven that life can be returned to R&B once again. How strong that heartbeat will stay is dependent on the listeners.
Overall, the album is, as Tyrese points out in a recent interview, “R&B through and through, with all the conviction about love, sex, energy, challenges and conflicts that come out of relationships—it’s everything.”
