Guy
Artist
Guy is a Harlem, New York-based R&B group formed in 1987 and comprised of producer Teddy Riley, Aaron Hall and Timmy Gatling, who was later replaced by Aaron’s brother Damion Hall after their self-titled debut album was released in 1988. They were one of the top groups in the New Jack Swing movement with Riley being the leading producer of the sound. Their first album yielded the hit singles “Groove Me,” “Teddy’s Jam,” and “I Like” as well as the popular album cuts “Piece of My Love” and “Goodbye Love,” leading this album to peak at #1 on the R&B album chart and double platinum status.
After providing the R&B hit “My Fantasy” to the Do the Right Thing soundtrack in 1989, Guy released their second album The Future in 1990. The album featured the singles “Wanna Get Wit U,” “Let’s Chill,” and “Do Me Right” featuring Uptown Records labelmate Heavy D. The group disbanded after this album due to issues with their manager Gene Griffin but reunited for the album Guy III in 2000. The trio reunited over the years for shows such as the New Jack Reunion Tour in 2006 and the BET Awards in 2009.
In an April 2012 interview with Soul Culture, Teddy Riley revealed the origins of the group’s name, stemming from a clothing store called Two Guys:
I told him we were going to the store to get some clothes and shoes. Timmy and I took him to this store named Two Guys. It was here where we found our style for the group. At this store, we found the name for our group also. We took the ‘s’ off of Guys and removed the ‘Two’ and that’s how we came up with the name Guy for our group.
