Boyz II Men and Proud of It

For Boyz II Men, there’s certainly been a rainbow at the “End of the Road.”

The Philadelphia-based vocal quartet was already hot before that melancholy single became a big hit last year. Its 1991 “Cooleyhighharmony” album sold more than 5 million copies and helped open the door for such other smooth, harmonizing R&B; groups as Silk, Shai and Jodeci.

Still, Boyz II Men wasn’t a household name in pop until “End of the Road,” a song on both the “Boomerang” soundtrack and a Motown compilation, “East Coast Family Vol. 1.” An L.A. Reid & Babyface production, the single spent 13 weeks at the top of the national pop charts, setting a record that was subsequently broken by Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.”

All this was a dream come true for a group that just four years ago was crooning its sweet soul music at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts.

While still in school, the foursome--Shawn Stockman, Michael McCarey, Nate Morris and Wanya Morris (no relation)--sneaked backstage at a local talent show to meet the show’s host, Michael Bivins of Bell Biv DeVoe. After a spontaneous audition, Bivins signed the group to a management contract and subsequently got a Motown Records deal. (The band is now managed by Dick Scott, who also manages New Kids on the Block.)

Despite the group’s sizable following in the R&B; community, its tame, mainstream-pop sound is often dismissed as “bleached soul.” Stockman, 20, acknowledges that Boyz II Men has a squeaky-clean image but denies any attempt to downplay its R&B; roots to court mainstream pop fans.

In an interview, he spoke about Boyz II Men’s role in the vocal group resurgence, its image and its second album, “Christmas Interpretations,” due in stores on Tuesday.

Question: Does it make any difference to you that the market is so crowded with other R&B; vocal groups?

Answer: When we first came out, this was a new sound and it was a lot easier. We had a sort of novelty going for us but not anymore. People will look at this record differently. They’ll expect more.

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Q: What have you done to distinguish your sound?

A: We didn’t try to change it. All we can do is make the best record we can. We have a special harmony style that separates us from the other groups but I don’t know if everybody recognizes that. I don’t know if many people can listen to a record of ours that they’ve never heard and say for certain that’s Boyz II Men and not Shai or someone else.

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Q: Do you think your wholesome image is part of your appeal?

A: I think it is. A lot of artists get into trouble with the law or have rowdy images or have drug problems. That’s fine for those artists and their fans but all fans don’t like that sort of thing. Some people prefer artists like us who are clean-cut and who have old-fashioned, traditional values.

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Q: Have you ever done anything that would tarnish that image?

A: Never--and we probably never will. Not that we’re saints--we do have our faults. But we try to be as positive as we can and do the right thing at all times.

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Q: Are you religious?

A: Very. God is a huge part of our lives--every day, in everything we do. We wouldn’t be where we are without him.

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Q: Is this feeling reflected in your music?

A: Definitely. There’s a spiritual feel to our music. We sing about love--finding love, enjoying love, dealing with not having love. You won’t find us singing anything hard-core--something violent or overly sexual. We’re romantic balladeers.

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Q: Have you considered branching out from the ballads into up-tempo songs?

A: We’re not up-tempo writers. If we do write one occasionally, we’ll listen to it for a few weeks and then decide we don’t like it. And we prefer to sing ballads. They suit our vocal style better.

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Q: Do you believe that style and your wholesome image have distanced you in any way from the black community?

A: Not really. Not everybody in the black community likes raunchy music or artists with a hard-core street image. We feel we’re accepted by the people in the black community who like this kind of music. Kids who are into rap or some hard-core music probably wouldn’t like our ballads. But our style suits our music. If we behaved like some of the hard-core rappers, people might not accept us.

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Q: What about the notion that you downplay your blackness?

A: That’s just ridiculous. We’re young black men who grew up in the ‘hood and we’re proud of it.

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Q: Have you intentionally cultivated a strong group image at the expense of spotlighting a soloist?

A: Yes. No one dominates in this group. We share the lead singing and give every one a chance to express themselves through writing. Groups break up because some members don’t get a chance to express themselves--which is not going to happen in this group.

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Q: What’s the toughest thing about being a successful artist?

A: Not having much of a social life--which is the opposite of what people expect. Ladies are after us all the time but we have to be so careful because you don’t know who’s after you because you’re a celebrity.

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Q: Has stardom changed you?

A: It’s had a good effect on me in one sense. I had this serious inferiority complex. It’s hard to grow up in a ghetto and not feel some of that. So when I suddenly got all this attention, I felt funny about my looks and about how I come across to people. I feel more confident about myself now.

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Q: What inspired you to do a Christmas album of nearly all original songs?

A: We just wanted to express our views of Christmas, reflecting what it meant to us growing up and what it means to us. We’re incredibly touched by the whole idea of Christmas. We just wanted to share those feelings.

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Q: Musically what’s your next step?

A: We’re going in the studio this month to start putting together an album--a regular album of songs--that should come out by March. If this Christmas album doesn’t do well, we may need it sooner than that.