Az Yet

Az Yet, a smooth contemporary R&B ensemble, originated in Philadelphia during the late 1980s. Babyface discovered their demo several years later, which secured a recording contract with the LaFace label. The group nonetheless made their first appearance on Def Jam’s soundtrack for The Nutty Professor. Babyface and Mervyn Warren produced Az Yet’s track “Last Night,” highlighting the members’ refined harmonic chemistry. As one of 1996’s biggest ballads, the single topped Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop chart and reached number nine on the Hot 100. While the song continued its climb, the self-titled debut album arrived and included an almost a cappella cover of Chicago’s “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” featuring Peter Cetera; that recording returned the group to the pop Top Ten and later received a Grammy nomination. The album earned platinum certification by the end of June 1997. Az Yet faced several setbacks, among them membership turnover, and experienced stretches of inactivity while continuing to perform and record only sporadically. Their second proper album, She’s Magic, came out in 2016 on Goldenlane.