→ Brien:這篇訪問很棒，裡頭說了很多以前沒聽過的事。 11/29 00:52
R&B group Boyz II Men is as synonymous with Philadelphia as soft pretzels and
cheese steaks. After all, it’s where members Wanya Morris, Nathan Morris (no
relation), and Shawn Stockman grew up - and where they first met as students
at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts.
But for much of the past two decades, Wanya Morris - known as the "emotional
boy" of the group - has lived full-time in South Jersey, preferring the region
’s suburban vibe to the hustle-and-bustle city where he grew up.
A married father of five, Morris says Southern New Jersey is not only a great
place to raise his children, "but it’s also close enough to Philly, where I
have friends and family, and not far from the airport, where I spend a lot of
time when Boyz II Men is on the road."
"I’ve been content living here," says Morris, a Mount Laurel resident. "It’
s got everything I need."
In listening to Morris talk, it’s clear that one of the most precious things
to him is enjoying the peaceful life he’s worked so heard to create. And it
hasn’t always been an easy journey for the
35-year-old singer, who grew up in the projects in Philly, the son of a
single mother. While his father was around - or, rather, wanted to be - Morris
’ mom’s abusive live-in boyfriend prevented him from seeing Wanya much as a
youngster.
"Morally, this boyfriend was a bad guy," Morris recalls. "He wasn’t too good
to me, and he didn’t like my father. He picked on me a lot; there were times
he beat me for no reason. But my mom was blinded by love, and she couldn’t
really see what was happening. It was a tough situation, but it made me a
stronger person in the long run."
And a more assertive one, too - like when, as a second-grader, he performed
at his teacher’s wedding, preferring to sing a song he knew unaccompanied
than conforming to one the wedding band was familiar with.
"My teacher told the emcee that I could sing - they called me "Little
Luther," for Luther Vandross, back then - so I climbed these stairs where I
was about 10 feet above the audience on a platform," Morris recalls. When
asked what song he wanted to sing for his newlywed teacher, Morris suggested
"If You Believe," from The Wiz.
"The guy said to me, ‘Well, we don’t know that one,’ so I said I would
sing it without the music." And at that very moment, the future R&B superstar
got a taste of the power of his own voice.
"The place went completely quiet when I was singing. It was like they were in
awe," he recalls. When the last note was finished, the entire audience
erupted into applause.
Morris sang throughout elementary school and junior high for fun. When
representatives from the High School for Creative and Performing Arts came to
his middle school to recruit applicants, Morris impulsively decided to try
out.
"I sang for them a cappella and they told me if I could get my grades up to
par, I was in. So I did, and that’s where I started high school."
While the High School for Creative and Performing Arts was "everything I
could have ever wished it would be," academics didn’t come easily to Morris,
and problems at home resulted in his acting out in the classroom. At age 15,
Morris joined forces with fellow students Nathan Morris, Marc Nelson, Shawn
Stockman and Michael McCary to create Boyz II Men, which took its name from a
song by their idols, New Edition. Within months, the group was making girls
swoon with their silken-smooth vocal harmonies and crisp dance steps. (Nelson
dropped out of the group before they began their recording career; McCary
retired in 2003 because of ongoing medical problems).
Morris was still a student at the performing arts high school when his mother
’s increasing drug habit - first cocaine, then crack - escalated. "Those
were the worst times of my life, when she was using," he recalls. "We were
fighting back and forth all the time. It was a mess." Seeking stability,
Morris - who by then had reconnected with his father - moved into his dad’s
home in Willingboro. Each day, his father would drive young Wanya to the
school on his way to work in the city.
"I loved the vocal classes, but I remained a pretty bad student," Morris
recalls. Kicked out of his arts high school in the tenth grade, he
transferred to Willingboro High School, graduating from there in 1991.
He was still a high school student in Philly, though, when Boyz II Men snuck
backstage after a 1989 concert by New Edition spin-off group Bell Biv DeVoe.
There, they performed an a cappella rendition of New Edition’s "Can You
Stand The Rain" for singer Michael Bivins. Impressed, Bivins helped them land
a contract with Motown Records and was listed as executive producer of their
debut effort, 1991’s new jack swing-styled Cooleyhighharmony.
From there, it was a rocket ride to the top of the charts for the
then-quartet. Between the 60 million albums sold over the past 18 years, Boyz
II Men has also won four Grammy awards and was the inadvertent prototype of
so-called "boy bands" that followed like the Backstreet Boys, ’N Sync and 98
Degrees.
"The major difference is that we were not manufactured by any impresario - we
put ourselves together," Morris says. "We just fell in love with the sound we
could make together singing, and it grew from there."
The group’s clean-cut, "retro-nouveau" image - coupled with the fact that
all its members were distinctive lead singers, as well as being great
harmonizers - made Boyz II Men an immediate standout. And while McCary’s
later departure was a blow, the remaining threesome decided to carry on as a
trio once they realized they could still succeed.
"That was a traumatic time and we thought maybe that was it. But we got our
second wind and we’re going strong," Morris says, adding that the other two
Boyz II Men members are "totally my family."
"I was only 15 when we got together; they’ve been a huge part of my life - we
’re like brothers," says Morris. "I truly believe the Lord placed them in my
life to let me see how music really is and how wonderful it can be."
Last November, Boyz II Men released its third album as a trio, Motown: A
Journey Through Hitsville USA.
An ambitious and challenging effort, Morris said the group was determined to
"bring people back to their remembrance" of the original versions of the
songs, while still giving them a modern twist.
"This record is a musical history lesson," Morris says. "Our approach was to
not take away from the integrity of the original versions, but hopefully to
add a little something with our own sound. More than anything, we wanted to
pay tribute to the artists that were such an influence on Boyz II Men."
Produced by American Idol’s Randy Jackson, Motown has earned kudos for the
group, entering the charts at the No. 27 spot on the Billboard 200 and
selling more than 42,000 copies in its first week of release.
In July, Boyz II Men got a "true thrill," as Morris puts it, when chosen to
perform during the "Welcome America!" Independence Day weekend celebration in
Philadelphia.
"There’s nothing like playing for our hometown audience," he says. "Philly
can be tough; they expect a lot from us, but we were happy to give them our
all."
On the road about nine months a year with Boyz II Men, Morris says he’s
always happy to return to South Jersey to relax with his wife, Traci, and his
kids, who range in age from six months to14 years.
"I was a city guy for so long, but I love freedom of movement I have here,"
he says. "I don’t have to hide; people know me and say ‘hi.’"
While Morris says he doesn’t know what the future will hold for his career,
he can’t envision ever not performing as a member of Boyz II Men - even when
they’re old men.
"I guess we’ll be the elder statesmen of R&B groups," Morris says. "I can
certainly handle that."
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