I checked SongKick recently, and I found that Boyz II Men are performing at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond on October 24. I remember my family deciding whether we should go to the Boys II Men concert at the PNE or TLC. While the Boyz II Men concert happened right after TLC we knew our feet  would be burning red if we stayed any longer.

Their songs, “I’ll Make Love to You” and “End of the Road” are the two that I know best. They really capture the essence of 90s R&B, and I can see why my sister says R&B’s her favourite genre. It’s soulful with smooth layers of vocals.

Boyz II Men

“End of the Road” was so big in 1992 that for 13 consecutive weeks, it remained number one in the US Billboard’s Top 100, which is almost as long as Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”.

This is a song that you’ll most likely play during a breakup, but you might also play this at a wedding, or a prom. Before I even tried to understand the lyrics, it just struck me as a romantic evening kind of song.

“End of the Road” was produced by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds for the Boomerang movie soundtrack, and he almost kept the song until Boyz II Men decided to record it. They were in a studio in Philadelphia, ready to record before their world tour when they heard that Wayne was having trouble singing. The problem was that they only had that night to finish the recording. 

Wanya then decides to sing at the back so he could sing louder over the pain. The pain he felt in his throat during the recording process is what you hear in the final cut. Especially near the end of the song, Wanya sings “Help me out a little bit, baby”, that’s one of the moments that capture the emotion because he was actually in physical pain with his hands on his throat. His voice was being pushed to the limit, but he delivered a very striking moment that really made the song stand out. While it was hard for them to watch, it was a really good delivery that sold the emotion of the song.

Now, whenever you listen to “End of the Road”, you’ll realize Wanya was truly suffering as he sang. Sometimes, a work of art demands real pain to have impact.