Behind the Music

Song stories you never heard. The writers, the swaps, the studio twists behind the R&B hits.

Behind the Music · 702 · 1999

How 702 got the TLC song Missy Elliott wrote, “Where My Girls At?”

Missy Elliott wrote "Where My Girls At?" with TLC in mind. Left Eye wanted it, but the other members did not, so 702 took it to No. 4 on the Hot 100.

By Jason, Editor-in-Chief · Nov 5, 2026 · 3 min read

Usher's first 8701 single began as a song for “Hustle Child”

Edmund "Eddie Hustle" Clement wrote "U Remind Me" with his sister Anita McCloud for his own group. L.A. Reid heard the demo and promised them Usher's first single.

Nov 5, 2026 · 3 min read

Aaliyah faces the camera in a cave setting in the official Are You That Somebody? video, with a hawk beside her shoulder.

Behind the Music · Aaliyah · 1998

A four-hour deadline, a Willy Wonka rhythm and the baby sample on “Are You That Somebody?”

Timbaland and Static Major wrote Aaliyah's Dr. Dolittle single against an 8am deadline. Its baby coo came from an Elektra sound-effects LP released in 1964.

Nov 5, 2026 · 4 min read

Boyz II Men walk towards the camera in matching plaid coats in the official End of the Road video.

Behind the Music · Boyz II Men · 1992

Boyz II Men recorded End of the Road in three hours, then spent “13 weeks at No. 1”

Shawn Stockman says Boyz II Men cut "End of the Road" in three hours during a break from the MC Hammer tour. The Boomerang ballad then led the Hot 100 for 13 weeks.

Nov 5, 2026 · 3 min read

Maxwell on the Fortunate single artwork, 1999

Behind the Music · No. 4 · 1999

Maxwell's highest-charting Hot 100 hit was written by “R. Kelly”

R. Kelly wrote and produced "Fortunate" for the Life soundtrack. It gave Maxwell eight weeks at No. 1 on the R&B chart and a No. 4 Hot 100 peak.

Nov 5, 2026 · 3 min read