At home and in harmony with Boyz II Men

Ebony, Feb, 1996 by Lisa Jones Townsel

Their plan worked. Bivins moved them from the school halls to the recording studios and snagged what would become a five-record deal with Motown. It was Bivins who decided on their preppy, collegiate style and who turned Unique Attraction into Boyz II Men, a clever play on the New Edition song similarly titled "Boyz to Men."

But it was the Boyz themselves who proved to be genuine stars. Their first album, Cooleyhighharmony, released in 1992, was a run-away success, selling nearly 8 million worldwide. The "End of the Road" cut, which Kenny (Babyface) Edmonds wrote for the and have been known to call their own press conferences "quiet and boring." Even an unauthorized biography of the group did little to mar their squeaky clean image.

"We feel very comfortable in what we're doing, but as far as feeling like superstars, we're just doing what we do," says 24-year-old Nathan (Alex Vanderpool) Morris.

"We've become successful. But we can be even more successful," Wanya adds. "We ask God every day how do we keep it this way to make it better."

God and spirituality are integral to the Boyz' private and public worlds. Both come up in conversation, in spite of the fact that their critics are often Christians. And they wouldn't consider beginning a concert without a moment of prayer with their band. "We know there are some Christians who may believe that we are doing the wrong thing by the lyrics we sing," says Nathan, acknowledging some of their suggestive themes. "But God gives us our own job to do while we're down here, and we feel that what we do as Boyz II Men is in glory to Him."

Such convictions get constant grounding from loving parents and close friends who remind the foursome off stage that they are still homeboys. Nathan's from South Philadelphia. Shawn grew up in Southwest Philly. Wanya called the Richard Allen Projects in North Philadelphia home during his formative years while Michael is from Logan on the city's north side.

Surviving on the streets of Philly wasn't always easy. "We had to learn how to fight and run," says Wanya,

"But we weren't bullies," Nathan adds.

Michael--the cane man--hopes the group can now make a difference in the lives of folk in the 'hood. He says he and other group members want people to know that "we didn't resort to the drugs or violence around us. We [got out of our situations] the right way."

Unfortunately, not all of their relatives or childhood friends were so lucky. All of the Boyz can readily name a buddy or family member who died because of drugs and street violence.

Today, they still call the Philadelphia/Jersey area home and put family first. Reared mostly by single mothers in modest-to-poor neighborhoods, the Boyz' first priority after stardom was to buy their parents nice homes and expensive cars . . . even before getting their own.

The Boyz were tough guys in the streets, but admittedly nerds in high school. "We weren't the guys women were knocking the doors down wanting to take to the prom," bespectacled Nathan says. "Most of them wanted the light-skinned guys with the curly hair and thin, pretty mustaches and we were nothing close to that."