''Guy III'' is the third and most recent

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

from American R&B group Guy, released January 25, 2000 on

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

. The album reached number five on the

R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

chart and peaked at number thirteen on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart.

Background

The origins of ''Guy III'' started as far back as 1995, when the trio reunited to record the song "Tell Me What You Like" for the soundtrack to the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

television series ''

New York Undercover ''New York Undercover'' is an American police drama that aired on the Fox television network from September 8, 1994, to February 11, 1999. The series starred Malik Yoba as Detective J.C. Williams and Michael DeLorenzo as Detective Eddie Torre ...

''. The recording prompted the group to record another album. While recording in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

, the album plans came to a halt when lead singer Aaron Hall refused to record the song "

No Diggity "No Diggity" is a song by American R&B group Blackstreet as the first single for their second studio album, '' Another Level'' (1996), featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen. Released on July 29, 1996, the song reached number one on the US ''Billboard ...

", which would end up becoming a huge hit for Teddy Riley's second group

Blackstreet Blackstreet (often stylized as BLACKstreet) is an American R&B group founded in 1991 by record producers Chauncey "Black" Hannibal, and Teddy "Street" Riley. The group has released four albums with Interscope Records until 2003. They achieved ...

the following year. The group reunited for a second time in 1999, recording the song "The Best" for the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

to the

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...

film ''

Wild Wild West ''Wild Wild West'' is a 1999 American steampunk Western film co-produced and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and written by S. S. Wilson and Brent Maddock alongside Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, from a story penned by brothers Jim and John ...

''. At the time of its release, not all of the members were on the same page for the release of ''Guy III''. Founding member Teddy Riley remained hopeful that his group

would record another album despite the friction between him and group member

Chauncey Hannibal Blackstreet (often stylized as BLACKstreet) is an American R&B group founded in 1991 by record producers Chauncey "Black" Hannibal, and Teddy "Street" Riley. The group has released four albums with Interscope Records until 2003. They achieved ...

. Aaron Hall insisted on recording another solo album, while his brother Damion Hall was interested in an acting career. However, in a 2012 interview with ''

Vibe Magazine ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down production ...

'', Riley blamed the failure of the album on the label. In the interview, he said:

''"We tried to do a Guy reunion album. But I don’t think the record company did the third album any justice. MCA didn’t really get us at that point. And they were promoting us like we were jazz artists. They took us everywhere else, but to our audience. You have to know your demographics for that group. They didn’t get us on BET like they were supposed to. They were trying to get us on VH-1, but they weren’t checking for us. We had our radio record, ‘Dancin’’, that couldn’t get on BET. It was just a failure."''

Their reunion turned out to be short-lived. By the time they released the second single "Why You Wanna Keep Me From My Baby", Riley left the group again. Only Aaron and Damion appeared in the video for the song. In an ironic twist on the album, a few of the songs were co-produced by Walter "Mucho" Scott and Daryl "Dezo" Adams. The two men were former members of Basic Black, a group discovered by Riley's former mentor/manager Gene Griffin a decade earlier. Guy initially derided the group as being copycats on the song "Gotta Be A Leader"- a song from Guy's second album '' The Future''.

Release and reception

''Guy III'' reached number five on the

chart and peaked at number thirteen on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Keith Farley of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

stated that "''Guy III'' equals the extraordinary expectations that any new material from Guy provokes, occasionally exceeding their work in the past."

Track listing

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Personnel

Information taken from

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. *art direction – Drew FitzGerald *assistant engineering – Joe Woods *design – Drew FitzGerald *engineering – George Mayers, Julian McBrowne, Teddy Riley, Franz Verna *executive production – Teddy Riley *management - Life of Riley Entertainment & Erik "E Smooth" Hicks (Information taken from Billboard® magazine)Billboard - Google Books, Guy III Billboard Article: https://books.google.com/books?id=hggEAAAAMBAJ&q=GUY&pg=PA80 *guitar – Richard Williams *hair stylist – Karim Oarnge *make-up – Karim Oarnge *mastering – Herb Powers *mixing – George Mayers, Julian McBrowne, Teddy Riley, Franz Verna *photography – Norman Jean Roy *production – Edward "DJ Eddie F" Ferrell, Aaron Hall, Damion Hall, Wesley Hodges, Darrin Lightly, Rich Lightning, Darryl Marshall, Walter "Mucho" Scott, Leon F. Sylvers III, Eric Williams *stylist – June Ambrose *vocals – Joi'e Chancellor, Aaron Hall, Damion Hall, Markell Riley, Teddy Riley *vocals (background) – Darryl Adams, Terrell Burnside, Delvis Damon, Guy, Aaron Hall, Damion Hall, Kazual, Clifton Lightly III, Veronica McKenzie, Balewa Muhammad, Terrell Phillips, Teddy Riley, Jaamal Smith, Leon F. Sylvers III, Eric Williams, Michael Woolard

Notes

External links

* *
Guy III
' at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

{{Authority control 2000 albums Guy (band) albums MCA Records albums Albums produced by Teddy Riley Albums produced by Leon Sylvers III Albums produced by Eddie F