HOLLYWOOD — Everybody, Blackstreet's back. No, not Backstreet as in the Boys, Blackstreet as in "No Diggity."
New Jack Swing pioneer Teddy Riley revealed at Tuesday's BET Awards that he and Chauncey Hannibal have put aside their bitter rivalry and re-formed the group with singers Mark Middleton and Eric Williams.
Those four have also reunited with past Blackstreet members Levi Little, Dave Hollister, Joseph Stonestreet and Terrell Phillips for a ballad fittingly titled "Bygones," according to a spokesperson for their new label, DreamWorks.
Blackstreet are recording an album now and plan to release it October 22. "The name of the album is Level Two, though we're not really sold on the name yet, but Level Two is the idea," Riley said.
So far the group has recorded with Havoc from Mobb Deep and hip-hop legend Erick Sermon, who produced a portion of the band's 1994 self-titled debut. "We have more people coming," Riley said. "They want to get in on the project because they hear what the first single is sounding like, so they love it."
The kickoff single, the party track "Wizzy Wow," features guest vocals from Mystikal. Blackstreet are shooting a video for the track late next month in Toronto. "It's just an unbelievable track," Riley said. "Everybody loves it. We tested it everywhere. We were gonna drop it at the end of August, but they pushed it up to
August 1st." (THAT IS SUCH A GREEEEEEEEAT DAY
-- I accept $$$)
The group, which had gone through several lineup changes, split bitterly in 1999, with Riley suing Hannibal for slander over comments he made on a solo album.
Since then Riley has maintained his status as a top producer, working with 'NSYNC, Michael Jackson and Joe, including his #1 hit "Stutter."
Blackstreet won a Grammy for their 1996 single "No Diggity," which featured guest vocals from Dr. Dre.
—Corey Moss