SWV

SWV made their entrance in 1992 with the album It's About Time, a project that yielded multiple Top Ten R&B singles and quickly positioned the act among the decade's leading R&B ensembles. The trio, whose name stands for Sisters with Voices, consists of longtime schoolmates Coko (born Cheryl Gamble), Taj (born Tamara Johnson), and Lelee (born Leanne Lyons). Each singer had performed in church during childhood, where they first developed their harmonic skills. A demo they put together drew the interest of producer Teddy Riley, the Guy member widely credited with pioneering new jack swing and the same figure who had earlier launched the careers of Jodeci and Mary J. Blige. Riley remained instrumental for SWV, shaping It's About Time into a double-platinum success inside its opening year on the market.

Ahead of the full album, the group issued "Right Here" in fall 1992; although it climbed only to number 13 on the R&B chart, the follow-up "I'm So Into You" reached number two and confirmed their commercial arrival by early 1993. Two consecutive number-one R&B singles came next: "Weak" and the remix "Right Here/Human Nature," the latter built around samples from Michael Jackson's "Human Nature." "Weak" also topped the pop chart, while the remix peaked at number two there. Late in 1993, It's About Time supplied one further Top Ten R&B entry, "Always on My Mind." In spring 1994, SWV contributed "Anything" to the Above the Rim soundtrack, another Top Ten R&B hit, and simultaneously released The Remixes, which earned gold certification before year's end. During summer 1995 the singers added harmonies to Blackstreet's Top 40 R&B single "Tonight's the Night." SWV returned in 1996 with New Beginning, fronted by the number-one R&B track "You're the One," then issued Release Some Tension in 1997 before parting ways soon afterward.

The members reconvened in 2005 with recording plans that stayed dormant until they joined Mass Appeal and delivered I Missed Us in 2012, an album that refreshed their signature sound and entered the R&B chart at number six. The release sparked the two-season WE TV reality series SWV Reunited, after which the group's fifth studio album appeared in 2016.