14 May Next: Real Music Never Gets Old

Veteran R&B group Next recently performed live in London, treating fans with their classics, including “Wifey” and “Too Close,” as well as debuting new material. The live show marks the return for the trio, who are set to release a new album - seductively titled Next, Lies & Videotape – early next year. Nowadays authentic R&B music is noticeably scarce in the mainstream charts. I remember growing up in the '90s; you’d hear a lot of credible R&B on the mainstream music channels. It had a soulful edge to it, with elements of swing, jazz and even hints of reggae mixed in. But these days R&B chart music barely resembles its rhythm and blues origins. It’s now watered down to cater to a more commercial audience, creating a new R&B/pop sound in the process – one that’s a million miles away from the genre’s previous generations. In the late '90s urban boybands – or male vocal groups, as some like to call them – were really big: from the likes of Jodeci, 112, Blackstreet and Dru Hill, to Damage, Boyz II Men and H-Town. One band that was riding high in the late '90s/early '00s were Next. Formed in 1997 by Robert Lavelle "R.L." Huggar and brothers Raphael "Tweety" Brown and Terry "T-Low" Brown,