''Level II'' is the fourth album by R&B 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 ...

, released on March 11, 2003. It was their first and only album released on record label

DreamWorks Records DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label operated until 200 ...

. The album's title was a reference to its members' best known line-up during their most successful album, 1996's '' Another Level''. Two of the members returned for the recording of ''Level II''.

Mark Middleton 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 ...

returned to the fold after he was replaced by Terrell Phillips on 1999's ''Finally'' to launch a gospel music career. Dave Hollister returned on the song "Bygones", as he also left the group to start his solo career. Founding members Teddy Riley and Chauncey Hannibal patched things up to record ''Level II''. A few years earlier, they were involved in a very public dispute that signaled the group's demise at the end of 1999. After Blackstreet's eventual dissolution, Riley entered into a short-lived reunion with his previous group Guy. Hannibal attempted a solo career, while Eric Williams returned to writing and producing for other artists such as Dave Hollister,

Donell Jones Donell Jones (born May 22, 1973) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is most notable for the hits "U Know What's Up", " Where I Wanna Be", and his cover of Stevie Wonder's "Knocks Me Off My Feet". Jones' first studio alb ...

and

Jaheim Jaheim H. Hoagland (born May 26, 1978), known mononymously as Jaheim, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer. He was signed by Naughty by Nature's Kaygee to Divine Mill Records in 2000, and released his debut album ''Ghetto Love (album), Ghe ...

. Riley also attempted a solo career as well, with a deal with

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

in 2000. His solo recording ''Black Rock'' was shelved despite promotional copies of the album being issued. Another project that he worked on was the

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

singer Michael "Mike E." Etheridge, a former member of

The Neptunes The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provides additional vocals on records and appears in the duo's music videos, ...

. His debut album ''Master Plan''- which was executive produced by Riley- was also shelved, and as a result, several songs on the unreleased albums made their way on ''Level II''. "Look In The Water" was originally recorded by Mike E. for his album, but Riley re-recorded the song with Blackstreet's vocals. Several songs from Riley's unreleased album ''Black Rock'' ("Friend Of Mine", "You Made Me", "Deep" and "Bygones") were also re-recorded for this album. ''Level II'' was released with little to no promotion, as DreamWorks Records was on the verge of being absorbed by their previous label

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

. The artwork for the edited version has the logo colored blue as opposed to the red color on the uncut version.

Track listing

Samples

* "Ticket To Ride" contains a sample of "Earth, Wind & Fire", as performed by

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million re ...

* "Don't Touch" contains a sample of "Brick House", as performed by

Commodores Commodores are an American funk and soul band, which were at their peak in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1968, and signed with Motown in ...

* "She's Hot" contains an interpolation of "Warning", as performed by

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

* "Ooh Girl" contains an interpolation of "Ooh Boy", as performed by

Rose Royce Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B group. They are best known for several hit singles during the 1970s including "Car Wash", " I Wanna Get Next to You", " I'm Going Down", "Wishing on a Star", and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore". Career Th ...

* "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye" contains a sample of "My Love", as performed by

Gene Chandler Gene Chandler (born Eugene Drake Dixon; July 6, 1937) is an American singer, songwriter, music producer, and record-label executive. Chandler is nicknamed "the Duke of Earl" or, simply, "the Duke." He is best known for his most successful son ...

* "Why, Why" contains an interpolation of "Human Nature", as performed by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

* "Look In The Water" contains a sample of "

Holding Back the Years "Holding Back the Years" is a song by British soul and pop band Simply Red, released as the third single from their debut studio album, ''Picture Book'' (1985). It reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number two on the UK Sin ...

", as performed by

Simply Red Simply Red are a British soul and pop band formed in Manchester in 1985. The lead vocalist of the band is singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall, who, by the time the band initially disbanded in 2010, was the only original member left. Since the ...

Personnel

* Teddy Riley, Jean-Marie Horvat - recording engineers, mixing * Brian Turner, Jim Quarles - assistant engineers * David Campbell - string arrangements & conducting *

Tony Dawsey Tony Dawsey is an American mastering engineer at Masterdisk in New York City. He has been active since 1980.Blackstreet albums 2003 albums DreamWorks Records albums