NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� D鈥橶ayne Wiggins and Timothy Christian Riley didn鈥檛 realize that Raphael Saadiq was planting the seeds for a Tony! Toni! Ton茅! reunion when he arranged a photoshoot earlier this year.
鈥淗e said a few times before, so we never paid that much attention to it until this fool put up a big-ass billboard in Oakland, and I had to see it through social media,鈥� said vocalist and bass guitarist Wiggins, who wondered if the image was Photoshopped. 鈥淚 thought someone was playing tricks, morphing our picture.鈥�
Saadiq, the lead singer and guitarist of the beloved R&B group, gathered the trio together, free of any outside influence.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 tell any of the managers or team or anybody because I just wanted it to be us. 鈥� I wanted to be in a room where the only power structure was one, two and three,鈥� said Saadiq of his bandmates who are also family: Wiggins is his brother and Riley is their cousin. 鈥淲e have to be us first before we could talk to anybody because that鈥檚 what happened the last time.鈥�
Cut to last month, when Tony! Toni! Ton茅! kicked off their Raphael Saddiq Revisits Tony! Toni! Tone! Just Me And You Tour 2023, the first road trip featuring the three original members in nearly 30 years.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been really cool, like rehearsals and the actual shows, just playing together again on a stage,鈥� said Riley, who plays drums and keyboard. 鈥淎 lot of times, we do production and studio work. But just actually being together, you feel the energy, you feel the love.鈥�
But that鈥檚 not all: the Tonyies, as they call themselves, are currently planning a new project.
鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be another album 鈥� but I thought we need to really hone in on what we鈥檙e doing for touring and then go home and then take like two days off, and then start on the album,鈥� said Saadiq, who once served as a member of Prince's touring band.
"We got a lot of material and now we just want to make sure that we put out the right energy through our music,鈥� added Wiggins.
Blending R&B, jazz and traces of gospel, the Oakland, California, natives burst onto the music scene with their 1988 debut album, 鈥淲ho?鈥� with songs like 鈥淏aby Doll鈥� and 鈥淟ittle Walter.鈥� But it was their 1990 鈥淔eels Good鈥� record that gave the group mainstream success, peaking at No. 9 on Billboard鈥檚 Hot 100 chart.
They released two more studio projects together, with party hits like 鈥淟et鈥檚 Get Down," featuring DJ Quik, and timeless slow jams including 鈥淲hatever You Want,鈥� 鈥淚t Never Rains (In Southern California),鈥� 鈥�(Lay Your Head on My) Pillow鈥� and 鈥淎nniversary,鈥� a standard in the Black music romance canon.
鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted a song like 鈥楥hestnuts鈥� like Nat King Cole, something that everybody played at some point, and 鈥楢nniversary鈥� was that type of song. I knew the subject matter wasn鈥檛 one that I thought was dated, but you couldn鈥檛 tell me that it was going to be this type of song,鈥� said Saadiq. 鈥淲hen it comes on and couples grab each other, we know that it took on a whole different life that we couldn鈥檛 see.鈥�
The blood relatives also couldn鈥檛 predict how their success would affect their relationship. The Tonyies went their separate ways after their fourth album, 1996鈥檚 platinum-selling 鈥淗ouse of Music.鈥� Fame, finances, miscommunication and creative differences were unsustainable for the group. However, Saadiq is hesitant to use the word 鈥渂reakup.鈥�
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 call them and go, 鈥業 quit! I鈥檓 mad at you guys!鈥� It wasn鈥檛 even like that. We鈥檇 been around each other our whole life,鈥� said Saadiq. 鈥淲hat everybody saw as a breakup wasn鈥檛 really a breakup; we just noticed that we weren鈥檛 making music at that time.鈥�
Wiggins and Riley toured under the group鈥檚 name between 1998 and 2018, with Amar Khalil taking over lead singing duties. Riley played on tracks for artists like and and still collaborated with Saadiq on various songs. Wiggins also produced and helped grow young artists who would become some of today鈥檚 brightest young stars, including , , , and even
Saadiq achieved remarkable with five solo studio albums, fashioning hits like 鈥淎sk of You,鈥� 鈥淏e Here鈥� featuring D鈥橝ngelo, 鈥淕et Involved鈥� with Q-Tip and 鈥淟ove That Girl.鈥� He produced big records like 鈥淟ove of My Life鈥� and two of D鈥橝ngelo鈥檚 biggest songs, 鈥淟ady鈥� and 鈥淯ntitled (How Does It Feel),鈥� and also worked with and TLC. In 2000, he joined En Vogue鈥檚 Dawn Robinson and Ali Shaheed Muhammad from A Tribe Called Quest to form the supergroup Lucy Pearl, resulting in the popular song 鈥淒ance Tonight.鈥�
Saadiq and Riley, both 57, and Wiggins, 62, have put the past behind them and are relishing in their reunion. The family members vow not to let outside influences like managers, record executives and the entertainment business as a whole drive them apart again, realizing that time 鈥� at least in the professional sense 鈥� is no longer a luxury.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 been really cool to hear younger kids sample our music and make new songs with our music,鈥� Riley said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like it lives on and you have a whole new generation that actually knows about you.鈥�
Saadiq agrees and is trying to live in the moment.
鈥淲e did always feel the love from our peers and fans and people just in general 鈥� it felt really good,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut it feels different now 鈥� we feel the love. We can actually step outside of who we are, and then actually smell the roses.鈥�
RAPHAEL SAADIQ ON WORKING WITH BEYONC脡 AND WHAT SETS HER APART
Raphael Saadiq's brother and Tony! Toni! Ton茅 bandmate D鈥橶ayne Wiggins has helped develop numerous major artists, and her Destiny's Child groupmates.
But Saadiq is one of the few producers who鈥檚 worked with both Knowles sisters. He executive produced Solange鈥檚 critically acclaimed album, and was involved in helping write and produce 鈥淧URE/HONEY鈥� and the Grammy-winning 鈥淐UFF IT鈥� (its funky guitar rhythm was originally created for a potential Tony! Toni! Ton茅 song, he has said).
鈥淚f you watch her work, you could get tired. I mean, she鈥檚 probably the hardest working person in showbiz. 鈥� She knows what she wants visually, she knows what kind of sound she wants,鈥� said Saadiq, who has also earned Oscar and Emmy nods for his film and TV work. 鈥淪he鈥檚 like a power performer. And you just know when you hand something to somebody like Beyonc茅, she鈥檚 going to take care of it.鈥�
Aside from her pop star aesthetics and Beyonc茅 as a business, Saadiq praised how she approaches music. He remembers a younger Beyonc茅 asking to hear some of the music he was working on.
鈥淚 was doing 鈥業nstant Vintage鈥� and I was in a different room from her in the studio. And she saw me in the hallway and said, 鈥楥an I hear what you working on?鈥欌�� Saadiq recalled, saying that wasn鈥檛 common between artists. 鈥淪o, I think she鈥檚 very insightful.鈥�
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Follow Associated Press journalist Gary Gerard Hamilton at @GaryGHamilton on all his social media platforms.
Gary Gerard Hamilton, The Associated Press
