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tilo and tweet better known as r b Trio next blazed up the charts in the late 90s and early
2000s with several hits that had everyone moving their feet and their hearts feeling some kind of
way but at the same time that their star was Rising behind the scenes conflicts among the
members were threatening to destroy everything for good the Brown Brothers Raphael AKA Tweety
and Terry AKA tilo were raised along with their sister by a single mother in Gary Indiana both
tweet and tilo were very candid in their 2016 unsung episode about the physical abuse they
suffered at the hands of their mother growing up they both found solace in the church where
they developed a love for gospel music after a move to Saint Paul Minnesota though things
went from bad to worse the boy's mother remarried and they ended up inheriting a wicked stepfather
who would lock them in the basement or attic for long periods of time to control their movements
then when tilo was 15 and tweet was 12 they were kicked out of the family home big brother
tilo made sure his little brother continued to go to school while he hustled on the street so
they could eat close by in Minneapolis RL was growing up in a very different environment with
both parents in the household that Dynamic still didn't prevent him from having to deal with his
own share of issues his father didn't understand the passion his son was developing for music and
as RL grew into his teens and began singing in local groups and performing in talent shows the
two began to clash rl's father constantly told him that he wasn't going to amount to anything
in life and put him on punishment for coming home late from doing shows in an effort to
make his dream come true to make matters worse RL also suffered from low self-esteem since he was
a small child as an engineer rl's father knew the value of an education and wanted his son to focus
on his studies which he believed would serve him much better in life than music as a result of the
constant put Downs RL decided he'd had enough one day and was going to end his life he proceeded to
his parents bedroom with a picture of his deceased grandfather in hand picked up his mother's gun and
pointed it to his head for whatever reason he didn't go through with it police were called and
RL was handcuffed placed in a straight jacket and put in a padded room for several hours arel and
tilo would eventually meet in the early 90s while still in their teens at the home of a
mutual friend after hearing what the other had to offer they decided to officially come together as
a foursome with tweet and another member under the name straightforward using the number four
to represent the number of members while making their rounds singing in local talent shows the
group connected with Sounds of Blackness singer Ann nesby she became instrumental in helping the
guys learn about projection breathing and how to command the stage when it was time to begin
recording in the studio the group decided to go from 4 to 3 when it became apparent that one
member sound wasn't blending in with the others as well as it should have now since there weren't
four members anymore they needed a new name next seemed perfect as the group's demo began
to circulate it eventually fell into the hands of Naughty by Nature member djkg he was on the
lookout for ax to sign to his own production company and once he heard Nexus sound he knew
they had something special kg set up a Showcase with Arista records president Clive Davis after
the Showcase ended Clive signed them immediately next released their debut single but a love in
September 1997 which became a big r b hit for the group peaking at number four and made it into the
top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. later that same month their debut album rated next was released
the group's second single would completely blow their career out of the water two clothes which
hit number one on both the r b and Hot 100 charts would also go on to become their biggest hit ever
is right it was the Catalyst they needed to push the sales of their album to new heights eventually
becoming certified double platinum and winning them numerous Awards including eight at the 1998
Billboard Music Awards a record that still stands today a third single a romantic ballad called I
still love you Garner the group another top five hit on the r b chart and another top 20 placement
on the hot 100. even though on the outside things seemed like they couldn't get any better
internally there was a major divide happening with the brown Brothers on one side NRL on the
other RL claimed that he always felt like the odd man out while the brothers insisted that they did
their best to make him feel like he was a brother in 1999 RL branched out from the group and hooked
up with several other r b artists he recorded we can't be friends with labelmate Deborah Cox
for her second studio album one wish it became a gold hit making it into the top 10 on the Hot 100
100 as well as capturing the number one spot on the r b chart then he collaborated with genuine
Tyrese and case for the top 20 r b hit the best man I can be for the romantic comedy drama film
The Best Man in their unsung episode tilo insisted that the brothers were excited for RL since his
success outside of the group still trickled down to next as a whole RL on the other hand didn't
feel like they were very supportive at all next released their second album welcome to next to C
the following year it became certified gold on the strength of the lead single and number one
r b hit wifey that album's success seemed to help soothe some of the hurt going on among the members
until news broke about a major change happening at their label Clive Davis was leaving Arista to
start his own label J Records he asked next to come with him and the guys didn't hesitate to
make the move especially since they were led to believe that their album would get double
the backing by Arista and Jay that didn't end up being the case after the album cycle the group
took a break leading RL to record and release his debut solo album are elements in April 2002. it
achieved lackluster sales and no singles charted the Brown Brothers made a point of voicing their
displeasure not over RL going solo but the timing of him doing so they felt that the focus should
have remained On the Groove at the moment since they were still on the rise next was back by
the end of that year with the release of their third album The Next Episode putting the album
together was quite the task though since things were far from copacetic between the members at
the time of recording after the album failed to bring in strong numbers the group had a meeting
with Clive where they asked to be released from their contract more drama followed in 2003 when
tweet officially left the group while blaming his brother NRL of ripping him off financially
tilo denied all of his brother's accusations around the same time tweed's personal life took
a hit when his then wife took him to court on domestic violence charges after she gave birth
to their first child she would go on to accuse him once again several years later after the
birth of another child in response to her accusations the second time around tweet
filed a 250-page document in which he refers to his non-black wife as a racist lying stripper
according to TMZ he claimed that she flew into a jealous rage after she saw photos of him on
vacation with his girlfriend a while back and has been on a mission to destroy him ever since tweet
finally reunited with his brother NRL in 2011 and they began to perform together as next Once More
unfortunately things quickly went downhill after negotiations started surrounding the group signing
a new record deal and according to tilo and tweet aurel made coming to an agreement difficult with
his outlandish demands such as requesting a bigger cut of their profits RL insists he did
no such thing Tweed said that the next time he saw RL he was going to catch these hands
just days before the contract was to be signed rl's management reached out to the
Brown Brothers to let them know that he was backing out of the deal done with next and
plan to pursue a solo career again tweet and tilo forged ahead replacing RL with
new vocalist Aaron de Ponce and doing shows around the country like in the late 90s RL
went off to do more collaborations with other artists he along with Q from 112
and wingo from Jagged Edge formed a new Trio called wqrl they released a single
called All I Want Is You which has apparently been scrubbed from the internet a leak could
possibly be found on Soundcloud if one looked hard enough but you ain't heard that from me
a news story was also circulating around this time about RL being broke and having filed for
bankruptcy his publicist however released a statement confirming the bankruptcy filing but
chalking the reason up to getting robbed by his accountant years prior and not the result of him
squandering his fortune next and their number one hit two close blew up all over again in
2015 thanks to a viral video calling out Liars everywhere a catchy song called why you always
lying by Nicholas Frazier and Dunn to the tune of two clothes took over social media racking
up millions of views and turned into countless memes Nicholas even got the opportunity to meet
RL who was a good sport about taking a photo with him as well as performing together but
later admitted that he was angered by the parody he told you know I got soul.com you
are making a parody of my life's work and on one end I don't want to be a stickler and you
know seem like I am bitter or anything but you are kind of making a parody of something that
I really worked hard with it is something that I continue to get residuals from and you know
it is part of my identity I try to make light of it but it is getting to the point of Overkill by
2018 all three original members of next were back together and independently released their first
single in 16 years called wanat Next continues to perform together on occasion while simultaneously
pursuing their own individual projects like tweet who now goes by tweet is PRS for Prince Raphael
Chauhan who released a couple of solo singles in 2022 and rl's latest work NEP titled the letter
J that dropped in 2020. all members are also enjoying married life and raising their children
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