If you know, you know! And you better know who TGT is. The legendary R&B supergroup TGT only gave us one incredible album during their years together, but there legacy will live on forever. It’s not everyday that three of the smoothest men to ever walk the planet, collaborate to bring us all a gift that has stood the test of time.
I’m talking of course about TGT. The R&B Group featuring Tyrese, Ginuwine, and Tank. The name, came from the initials of the three members of the group. All of whom were successful artists in their own right, before combining their powers together out of mutual respect and a love for the craft of music.
The Legend Behind the Legends
In the late 90s early 00s, Tyrese, Ginuwine and Tank were all on top of the charts in their own rights. Tyrese dropped his debut album in 1998 to critical acclaim, and produced the singles “Sweet Lady,” “Lately,” and “How You Gonna Act Like That.” He also simultaneously started acting, with roles in hit movies like Baby Boy, and later The Fast and the Furious franchise.
Ginuwine made a name for himself in 1996 and found true success with his hit single “Pony” produced by Timbaland.
And Tank made a name on his debut album Force of Nature, which proved that he was incredibly talented. He was also a successful producer and songwriter in his own right. He penned songs for stars like Omarion, Aaliyah and Beyoncé, among others.
Beginning of An Era
Tyrese was the first one who brought the idea to the others in order to bring back “grown and sexy music.” It didn’t take long before they were everyone’s favorite trio.
“We are like the merger of Fed Ex and Kinkos, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell,” Tyrese shared of their union. “We are stronger together. This is the ultimate R&B experience. ‘Three Kings’ is amazing. I’m a fan of Ginuwine and Tank so I love listening to it not just because I’m a member of the group.”
However, since all three were signed to different labels it made it tricky to navigate a group and caused logistical and legal delays. Tyrese announced in 2012 they had been signed by Atlantic Records as a group and a debut album would be forthcoming.
Successful Years
While they got together in 2007, it took them six years to finally release their debut album Three Kings in 2013.
“This is the most important R&B album in 10 years,” Tyrese boasted to TheDrop.fm. “It’s the timing. We are saving R&B and reminding people why they fell in love with true R&B. Sales are low. R&B singers feel like they have to put a rapper on every song. and radio won’t play R&B songs without a rapper. R&B has lost its passion.”
The album debuted at number three on the Billboard Top 200 chart, and hit number one on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. However, critics did not have a great response. Many of them believed the album wasn’t a big departure from any of their solo work and didn’t bring anything new to the R&B world.
The reality was, the album was produced almost completely by The Underdogs, who have long produced for Tyrese. Tyrese and Ginuwine don’t write as much as they might have used to, so that also played a factor with the overall sound. It’s often easier to remain consistent than to try new things when working on a collab album like this.
The Drama That Plagued the Group
Sadly, TGT didn’t have a chance to follow-up with a second album because drama soon infiltrated the group. In 2015, in a since deleted Instagram post, Tyrese shared that the group was parting ways.
“I’m sorry to break the news………….. TGT is done………. It’s not about fault….. Business is business….. Me and Tank are still movin….. We will forever love our brother G as brothers…. We’ve got TOO much history to turn this into anything negative…. Even 112 are still together, NEXT, DRU HILL is still together and TROOP and New Edition….. It’s only 3 of us we did one album it was epic……. And now it’s over……. We have been forced to start looking into someone else…… Or me and T just might do it solo…. The reason it worked is because of our history and mutual respect……. I don’t know I’m just shocked and disappointed that I’m even putting up this post……. #ThreeKingsNoMore but I guess…. #LSG only made one album….. Damn..,” he shared.
The news may have shocked fans, but even more surprising it shocked Ginuwine. The artist responded to Tyrese on X, formerly Twitter, in a scathing post.
“Tyrese wow really to post personal Bizns shit is a p***y move n*gga why would you do that and since you wanna do that keep it going and we will expose it all DIVA lets get it!!!!!!be a f***ing man not a lil boy talk to me call don’t try and manipulate the situation publicly wack wack wack of you. Exactly why it is the way it is,” he wrote.
Should be noted, that Tyrese’s original post included a couple errors. 112 did break up, and get back together, but they have since broken up again. Dru Hill has had several members leave and has several additions over the years. And most importantly, LSG (legendary group Levert Sweat and Gill, which TGT was trying to emulate) has 2 albums. The group only ended their run because of the passing of Gerald Levert.
The Public Fallout
While things seemed to calm down after that, later that year Tyrese got his former bandmate angry again during an appearances on The Breakfast Club where he seemed to imply that Ginuwine got greedy.
“I want to make this short and sweet. At the end of the day I feel like we’re all brothers, we’re all family and all of the above, but let’s say if Chris [Ludacris] for example is getting $200,000 a show and I’m getting $30,000 a show I think my motivation to split with Chris would be pretty obvious,” he shared. “Because if I’m splitting with Chris then I’m getting way more at the end of the day per show. It’s business. Outside of brotherhood, and you my dude and my family, it’s business.”
Ginuwine was not very happy with Tyrese airing his perceived dirty laundry out in public. He called him out on X once again and expressed his disappointment.
Tank even got involved in Ginuwine’s defense writing, “What’s crazy to me is that Ginuwine is the most accomplished artist in TGT, but being talked bad about in this interview as if he hasn’t earned his keep.”
Where Are They Now?
The trio has kept each other’s names out of their mouths in the intervening years for the most part, but Tank still says the stress of the process may have made them break apart.
“What happened the first time around is we fought to make that album. It was a hell of a process. Literally, the only thing that kept me from fighting Tyrese was J. Valentine, my manager,” Tank said. “That was just two alphas. Me and Ty are both Capricorns, and we bumped heads every step of the way… That’s my brother, so I can say that. I just felt like he was doing too much.”
Still, Tyrese went on Tank’s R&B Money Podcast in 2023, and that began what appeared to be the first steps of the healing process. Tank and Tyrese talked about what it would take for them all to get back in the studio together, and not long after they were able to have a private conversation with Ginuwine before 2023 was over. They even publicly proclaimed that moving forward, the money would be split evenly all three ways, and that an album was on the way. All three members have since joined forces on several tour dates around the country, not always as TGT, mostly as separate artists, but just the fact that they are able to do that is a sign of great progress.
We mentioned before, it took a number of years for them to drop their first album. Won’t be surprised if another album does come… but it may take some time to get it right.
