''II'' is the second studio album (discounting their Christmas album) - hence the title - by American R&B quartet

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan M ...

, released on August 30, 1994, on

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...

. It contained the No. 1 singles "

I'll Make Love to You "I'll Make Love to You" is a 1994 number-one hit single by American R&B group Boyz II Men for the Motown label. The song, which was written by Babyface, was the lead single from their second album, '' II'' (1994). It was a commercial success, sp ...

" and "

On Bended Knee "On Bended Knee" is a song by American R&B group Boyz II Men for the Motown label. The song, which was written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, was released in November 1994 as the second single from their second album, '' II'' (1994 ...

", the latter of which replaced the former at the top of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making the group the third artist to replace themselves at No. 1 in the United States after

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

and

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

and the first to achieve the feat in 30 years. "I'll Make Love to You" also spent 14 weeks at the top of the Hot 100 making them the first artist to achieve consecutive double digit runs at the top, with their prior single " End of the Road" topping the charts for 13 weeks and also equaled the record set by

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

's "

I Will Always Love You "I Will Always Love You" is a song written and originally recorded in 1973 by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. Written as a farewell to her business partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, expressing Parton's decision to pursue a solo career, ...

" for the longest run at the top, a record which they held previously with "End of the Road". Other singles released achieved major success, including "

Water Runs Dry "Water Runs Dry" is a 1995 single by Boyz II Men for the Motown label, written and produced by Babyface. The single, the fourth released from the album '' II'', reached number two in the United States and number four in the Canada. It also conta ...

", which reached No. 2, and "

Thank You "''Thank you''" (often expanded to ''thank you very much'' or ''thanks a lot'', or informally abbreviated to ''thanks'' or alternately as ''many thanks''Geoffrey Leech, ''The Pragmatics of Politeness'' (2014), p. 200.) is a common expression of ...

", which reached No. 21. "Vibin'", however, only reached No. 52. The spoken track "Khalil (Interlude)" is a tribute to their road manager

Khalil Rountree Khalil Ibn Rountree Jr. (born February 26, 1990) is an American mixed martial artist who currently competes in the light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Rountree was born in Los Angeles, California ...

who was shot in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

while the group was opening for

MC Hammer Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper, dancer, record producer and entrepreneur. He is known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit" ...

's ''

Too Legit to Quit ''Too Legit to Quit'' is the fourth studio album by Hammer (after removing M.C. from his name), released on October 29, 1991. Produced by Hammer and Felton Pilate, the album was released via Capitol Records and EMI Records. ''Too Legit to Q ...

'' tour. ''II'' became the inaugural winner of the

Grammy Award for Best R&B Album The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the R&B music genre. Honors ...

, first presented at the

37th Grammy Awards The 37th Annual Grammy Awards were presented on March 1, 1995, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Bruce Springsteen was the night's biggest winner with 4 awards, including Song ...

in 1995. According to producer Bob Robinson of the duo

Tim & Bob Tim & Bob (Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson), also known as Funktwons, were a songwriting and production duo. Tim & Bob have discovered and or worked on some of the biggest artists in the music industry and has helped develop the Atlanta music scene ...

, he and his partner Tim Kelley were asked by Boyz II Men to produce most of ''II''. However, Motown Records then-president

Jheryl Busby Jheryl Busby (May 5, 1949 – November 4, 2008) was an American recording company executive who was the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Motown Records. Biography Busby grew up in South Central Los Angeles, where he went to ...

did not feel comfortable with the idea of two unknown producers dominating a second album from a group that was one of the biggest acts in the world at the time. As a result, Busby brought in Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Babyface to deliver hit singles for the project. Busby insisted on "I'll Make Love to You" being the first single, despite objections from the group- who felt there were songs that could have been much stronger singles. The song became one of Boyz II Men's biggest hits. Over 20 songs were recorded for ''II'', but most of them never made the final track listing. Two of the songs Tim & Bob produced—"Now That We're Done" and "Can I Touch You"—ended up on

112 112 may refer to: *112 (number), the natural number following 111 and preceding 113 *112 (band), an American R&B quartet from Atlanta, Georgia **112 (album), ''112'' (album), album from the band of the same name *112 (emergency telephone number), t ...

's 1996 self-titled debut.

Reception

The album debuted at No. 1 in the ''Billboard'' 200 with 350,000 copies sold. It spent a total of five weeks at No. 1 and was the third best-selling album in 1995 in the United States and sold 12 million copies in the United States. It did not make a huge impact in the United Kingdom, where it only made No. 17 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. A

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

version, ''II: Yo Te Voy a Amar'', was also issued. The album also won Best R&B Album at the

. The album was ranked #495 on the September 22, 2020 edition of

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Track listing

Notes *"Thank You" contains a sample from " La-Di-Da-Di", performed by

Doug E. Fresh Doug E. Fresh (born September 17, 1966) is a Barbados-born American rapper, record producer, and beatboxer, also known as the "Human Beat Box". The pioneer of 20th-century American beatboxing, Fresh is able to accurately imitate drum machines an ...

, and written by Richard Walters and Douglas Davis. *"All Around the World" contains samples from "Kid Capri" by

Daddy-O ''Daddy-O'' is a 1958 B-movie starring Dick Contino, Sandra Giles and Bruno VeSota. It was directed by Lou Place and written by David Moessinger. The film is notable for its soundtrack as being the debut film score for John Williams. The fil ...

. *"U Know" contains a sample from "Don't Change Your Love", performed by

The Five Stairsteps The Five Stairsteps, known as "The First Family of Soul" and later "The Invisible Man's Band", was an American Chicago soul group made up of five of Betty and Clarence Burke Sr.'s six children: Alohe Jean, Clarence Jr., James, Dennis, and Kenn ...

. *"Jezzebel" contains a sample of "

Hootie Mack ''Hootie Mack'' is the second studio album released by R&B group, Bell Biv DeVoe. It was released through MCA Records on June 1, 1993, and featured production from the group itself and some of R&B's top producers such as Chris Stokes, L.A. Reid a ...

" by

Bell Biv Devoe Bell Biv DeVoe, also known as BBD, is an American music group from Boston, Massachusetts, formed from members of New Edition, consisting of Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe. The band is best known for their debut album, the multi-pl ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ii (Boyz Ii Men album) 1994 albums Albums produced by Tim & Bob Albums produced by Brian McKnight Albums produced by Dallas Austin Albums produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis Boyz II Men albums Motown albums Grammy Award for Best R&B Album