GlobalGrind.com:
Three kings are always better than one!
Back in 2007, R&B singers Tyrese, Ginuwine, and Tank formed their supergroup TGT. The trio's first song together was a remix of Tank's "Please Don't Go." And after officially signing to Atlantic Records back in 2012, the guys are ready to bring their respective fans even closer as one cohesive unit with their upcoming debut album, 3 Kings.
GlobalGrind linked up with TGT to discuss touring, the chemistry within the group, their thoughts on the direction of R&B today, and more.
Check out the exclusive interview below!
GlobalGrind: You guys are on "The 3 Kings" Tour, do you have a few more tour dates underway?
Tyrese: We have a few more shows left, and then it’s time for us to go heavy into radio promotions…the album releases August 20th with these 17 missiles, these 17 R&B missiles.
How is "The 3 Kings" Tour different? How is it touring together?
Tyrese: There’s nothing in the world that can compare to this. First of all, we’ve all been solo. We’ve all been on stage by ourselves. To now looking to your left and right, and be on stage with your family, your brothers. We’ve all been the best of friends for over 10 years. I was the best man at Ginuwine’s wedding. Tank got in the business singing background for Ginuwine in 2007…it’s just been love.
You guys seem like you have a good time and play around. Do you prank each other on tour?
Tyrese: Yeah, it’s non-stop action. It’s crazy! We barely get anything done because we’re always laughing and having too much fun. I think if you do anything that’s significant and special without the foundation of friendship, it could definitely compromise the execution of something this big. I’ll be honest, we’ve realized at a certain point that this TGT album isn’t about us. It’s really about R&B. Right now, R&B is very insecure. A lot of singers feel like they can’t do a full album without 12 rappers on it, collaborations…I never heard of Marvin Gaye featuring Kurtis Blow. And a lot of R&B singers jump ship. They’re doing House, Techno, and EDM because nobody’s been selling albums. The R&B budgets at labels are slim, or have disappeared completely. We feel like this is the most important R&B album in the last 10 years because of the state of R&B.
What do you think some of the artists in the genre have to do to get R&B back at the forefront? One of the bigger issues with R&B is that people love the evolution of sound, and I think R&B artists haven’t figured out the evolution of sound in R&B without sort of selling out.
Tyrese: With all due respect, you have to go where the money is. At the end of the day, when you have kids and family and nobody’s selling any records, who wants to waste time doing R&B, if that’s the situation? This R&B album is R&B through-and-through. It wasn’t an opportunity. It was a responsibility to do this R&B album. We’re on tour, and we have Ginuwine, Tank, and Tyrese fans all under one roof, experiencing the greatest night of R&B ever. Close to two hours on stage doing our thing – no AutoTune – just really doing our thing live, back the way R&B used to be.
Who do you think has the craziest fans out of TGT?
Ginuwine: I think there’s no one who has the craziest fans. I think we all have some crazy fans. I get a lot of fans that give me things. I don’t know what happens to Tank or Tyrese. But if you want to call that crazy.
Tank: Yesterday, I had a fan that had a tattoo of me on them.
Ginuwine: With the tattoo thing, that has already happened to me back in the day quite a few times. So I don’t look at it as being crazy.
Tank: Well, it’s happening now.
Ginuwine: I’m pretty used to it.
Tyrese: Tank, to be honest, the tattoo didn’t really look too fresh. The tattoo was not only ugly, but it looked like it happened at least 17 years ago.
It was like a jailhouse tattoo?
Tyrese: Exactly!
What’s one thing the ladies can expect from you guys on tour?
Tank: Being the gorilla of the group, my shirt comes off nightly. There’s no telling when I’ll be shirtless.
Tyrese: When you ain’t smashing the stage every night, you gotta take your shirt off for additional screams. You gotta pull out all the antics you have left.
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