Chicago vocal quartet Subway scored a million-selling debut release with "This Lil' Game We Play," a track that spotlighted guest vocals from Motown labelmates 702. Eric McNeal, Keith Thomas, Trerail Puckett, and Roy Jones had been brought aboard by Michael Bivins—veteran of New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe—for his Biv 10 imprint, which operated under the Motown umbrella. Their opening full-length, Good Times, borrowed both its title and artwork from the classic 1970s CBS sitcom of the same name that had showcased a preteen, pre-stardom Janet Jackson.
Crafted and helmed by Gerald Levert alongside Edwin Nicholas, the single appeared under the billing "Subway featuring 702," earned gold status, and climbed to number four on Billboard’s R&B chart by the close of 1994. A second Levert-Nicholas composition, "Fire," reached number 34 on the same tally during spring 1995, while Levert himself contributed background vocals to the fall 1995 cut "This Is Not a Goodbye."
