Boyz II Men

The '90s was just blasting off when Boyz II Men tucked the world of new-school R&B securely into their pockets, replacing their own record-breaking single — the high-harmony heart-tugger/13-week chart-topper "End of the Road" — with "I'll Make Love to You," a satiny vocal seduction that settled into the #1 spot for another 14 weeks. So, how do you follow up a feat like that? If you're the Boyz, you get together with superstar diva Mariah Carey, record the swoon-bait ballad "One Sweet Day," and spend another 16 weeks ruling the world.

It's not the end of the road yet — see Next Steps for more Boyz II Men brilliance.

Sure, Boyz II Men ruled the charts, but a group this huge doesn't live on monster hits alone. Nathan, Michael, Shawn, and Wanya left their good-as-gold Midas touch on everything they did, blending their four special voices into one standout sound whether they were steppin' it up for fresh dance tracks ("Vibin'"), breathing new soul into old favorites ("Sarah Smile"), or even trading tongues to reinterpret classics for a whole new audience with a dazzling, Spanish-language take on "Yesterday."

There's still more Boyz II Men magic to go in Deep Cuts.

Catch the vocal flow that threads through the hot beats of a jam like "Sympin'," or feel the cool Caribbean breeze blowing through the soulful ode to a "Beautiful Woman." It's crazy to think that the four guys who light a match under those hip-hopped tracks are the same ones rollin' out the slow-jam ache of "Doin' Just Fine" and the holy harmonics of the lush and sacred "Silent Night." But that's just second nature for the real-deal R&B phenomenon that is Boyz II Men.

What do you get when you meld the fresh-faced energy of four Philly classmates with the new jack swing of "Motownphilly," the retro-dream harmonies of "In the Still of the Nite (I'll Remember)," and a nation ripe for the next great sound? The "hip-hop doo-wop" of Boyz II Men, who altered the face of urban music in the early '90s by droppin' buttery ballads that, like "Water Runs Dry," drove girls and grown-ups crazy. We've combed through the group's two decades of music to bring you everything from the powerhouse hits ("On Bended Knee") to the singular one-offs (a jazzified jam on "Too High" with Norman Brown and Stevie Wonder) to the hot 'n' heavy rap come-ons ("Hey Lover," with LL Cool J) — all of them great, all of them Boyz II Men Essentials.