''The Future'' is the second studio album by American R&B group Guy, released in November 13, 1990, on

Uptown Records Uptown Records is an American record label, based in New York City, founded in 1986 by onetime rapper Andre Harrell. From the late 1980s into the early 1990s, it was a leader in R&B and hip hop. During the 1990s, aided by its A&R worker Sean ...

. It was their last album before their reunion a decade later.

Background

''The Future'' had a much darker tone in stark contrast to their debut. Most of it had to do with things going on behind the scenes. A year after the release of their debut album, they fired their manager Gene Griffin—who they claimed allocated funds from the group. This revelation angered all of the members, and particularly infuriated lead singer Aaron Hall—so much so that he didn't sing on half of the album. Hall revealed:

"''There came a time where I just did not want to sing a single note. To be honest, it was the money. It just became too depressing. We were the biggest group in the world and we were flat broke. It took its toll''".

As a result,

Teddy Riley Edward Theodore Riley (born October 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer credited with the creation of the New Jack Swing genre. Riley credits Barry Michael Cooper with giving the genre its name.Hogan, Paul. "Tedd ...

assumed the duties of lead vocals for the remainder of ''The Future''. Also on a tour with their MCA labelmates

New Edition New Edition is an American R&B/Pop group from the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1978 by Bobby Brown. Their name is taken to mean a 'new edition' of the Jackson 5. The group reached its height of popularity in the 19 ...

, things got out of hand between the two acts. Although New Edition were headliners, Guy happened to upstage them a few dates into the tour. This created a rivalry backstage that turned deadly. One of New Edition's production managers Ronald Boyd shot and killed Anthony Bee—a member of Guy's security detail. Guy would dedicate the song "Long Gone" to the memory of Bee- as well as

Wreckx-n-Effect Wreckx-n-Effect (originally Wrecks-n-Effect) is an American new jack swing group from Harlem, New York City most known for their No. 1 Rap songs, "New Jack Swing" & their multi-platinum hit " Rump Shaker". History Wrecks-n-Effect was founded i ...

member Brandon Mitchell, who was also killed in the same year. ''The Future'' contained songs where they attacked their former manager Gene Griffin and his then-proteges, Motown Records recording group Basic Black. By the time they released the fifth single "Let's Stay Together" in early 1992, Guy called it quits and embarked on separate endeavors, with Aaron and Damion Hall releasing solo albums and Riley starting the 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 ...

Covers

A couple of the songs from ''The Future'' have been covered.

Priority Records Priority Records is an American distribution company and record label known for artists including N.W.A, Ice-T, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Big L, Silkk the Shocker and Westside Connection. It also distributed hip hop record labels including Death Row ...

singer Toni Estes covered the song "Let's Chill" from her 2000 debut ''Two Eleven''. Singer Charlie Wilson also covered "Let's Chill" from his 2005 album ''

Charlie, Last Name Wilson ''Charlie, Last Name Wilson'' is the third studio album by American singer Charlie Wilson (musician), Charlie Wilson. It was released by Jive Records on August 23, 2005, in the United States. The album includes production from several R&B hitmake ...

''. R&B singer Case covered the song "Smile" on his 2009 album '' The Rose Experience''.

Release and reception

''The Future'' peaked at sixteen on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 and reached number one 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. By January 1991, it was certified platinum in sales by the RIAA after sales exceeding one million copies in the United States. Although Alex Henderson 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 databa ...

felt ''The Future'' was not as strong an album as its predecessor, he still gave a positive note to the work, calling it "one of the more appealing—and certainly more authentic—examples of " new jack swing."

Track listing

*"Where Did The Love Go", "Yearning for Your Love" and "Smile" are not available on the vinyl release of ''The Future''. *"Wanna Get With U" lub Versionis not available on the cassette release of ''The Future''.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the CD liner notes.

Vocals

* Tammy Lucas – background vocals (7, 11, 15) * Mary Brown – background vocals (7, 15) * Marsha McClurkin – background vocals (15)

Technical

– producer, all instruments, programming * Guy – co-producers (1-3, 5-7, 9-16), background vocals (1-3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13-16) * Aaron Hall – co-producer (8), keyboards (6, 12, 14) *

Wreckx-N-Effect Wreckx-n-Effect (originally Wrecks-n-Effect) is an American new jack swing group from Harlem, New York City most known for their No. 1 Rap songs, "New Jack Swing" & their multi-platinum hit " Rump Shaker". History Wrecks-n-Effect was founded i ...

– co-producers (9), background vocals (1, 9) *

Bernard Belle Bernard Belle (November 12, 1964 – June 23, 2022) was an American composer, producer, and musician. After starting his career as an R&B guitarist, Belle became known as a songwriter for Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston and a producer of go ...

– co-producer (5, 12), background vocals (5, 15) * David "DJ" Wynn & Steve "Cut Technician" Thomas –

scratching Scratching, sometimes referred to as scrubbing, is a DJ and turntablist technique of moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable to produce percussive or rhythmic sounds. A crossfader on a DJ mixer may be used to fade between two record ...

Dave Way Dave Way is an American producer, mixer and audio engineer based in Los Angeles, California, United States. He has worked with Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow, Kesha, Pink, Christina Aguilera, Macy Gray, Ringo Starr, Shakira, Phoebe Bridgers, John Doe, Sa ...

– engineer, mixing at Soundworks Studio, New York City * Mike Fossenkemper, Jim Kvoriack, Rich July, Kevin Kelly, Scott Canto, Dave Lebowitz – assistant engineers * Chris Trevett – additional mixing (1, 5, 9) * Herb Powers – mastering at Hit Factory, New York City

Artwork

* Carol Kim – personal assistant * Jeannie Bradshaw – art direction and design * Todd Gray – photography * Stuart Wilson – logo and additional photography * Keith Holman – stylist * Guy & Charles Darrisaw – hair stylists * La-Lette Littlejohn – makeup * Sammy & Mike at Gallery 2000 – jewelry

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* *
The Future
' 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 ...