Released: November 9, 2004

Songwriter: Ralph Tresvant Johnny Gill Ricky Bell Michael Bivins Ronnie DeVoe Brooke Payne Ron “NEFF-U” Feemster Shannon “Slam” Lawrence

Producer: Ron “NEFF-U” Feemster Big Chuck

[Operator]
Hello Mr.Payne this is the digital bell conference operator

[Brook Payne]
How you doin'

[Operator]
I have all the parties on the line with the exception of
Mr.Combs

[Brook Payne]
Cool

[Operator]
Would you like me to do a roll call?

[Brook Payne]
Yeah

[Operator]
Ricky Bell

[Ricky Bell]
Yo what up

[Operator]
Ralph Tresvant

[Ralph Tresvant]
Yo I'm here

[Operator]
Ronnie DeVoe

[Ronnie DeVoe]
Yello

[Operator]
Johnny Gill

[Johnny Gill]
Yeah I'm here

[Operator]
Michael Bivins

[Michael Bivins]
Yeah I'm here, what up [?]

[Brooke Payne]
What up Mike

[Operator]
I don't mean to sound unprofessional, but are you guys New Edition?

[Ronnie DeVoe]
Yeah that's us baby

[Operator]
Oh cool
Okay if you could please hold , I'll try Mr.Combs again

[Brook Payne]
So what's up , how y'all feeling about this Bad Boy

[Ronnie DeVoe]
Man , I'm excited Bad Boy and NE , come on man that's history making

[Ricky Bell]
Eh yo , y'all know how I feel about it
We need to stop playing and go get this money

[Ronnie DeVoe]
That's what I'm saying Rick

[Ricky Bell]
That's what I think
If everything's right it will be big

[Johnny Gill]
What y'all really don't realize is that , I mean this shit
Sounds exciting and everything right now man, but you just wait till uh
We get to that point where we have some disagreements and y'all gonna
Really realize that y'all dealing with a whole different mothafucka man

[Michael Bivins]
Yo I hear what everybody's sayin , you know
On the real when I spoke to him last night you know
He called he was like yo what y'all doing
Like man we ain't doing nothing we trying to make an album
He was like yo I'm in put me in the bidding war

[Ricky Bell]
That's what I'm saying Mike you know
Let's just make this happen and it's all positive you know
Word

[Operator]
Excuse me Mr.Combs has just been added to the call if you
Need any assistance dial 0

[Sean Combs]
Ey yo what up fellas
Y'all ready to make history
Let's do this

New Edition

New Edition is a Boston-based R&B group that was seen as the inspiration of the boy bands that followed them during the 1980s and 1990s. The group initially consisted of Ralph Tresvant, Bobby Brown, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Ronnie DeVoe. They released their debut album Candy Girl in 1983 after being discovered by producer Maurice Starr. This album yielded the hits “Candy Girl,” “Popcorn Love,” and “Is This the End.” After a financial dispute, New Edition cut ties with Starr and released their second album New Edition in 1984, which features two of their biggest “Cool It Now” and “Mr. Telephone Man.” In November 1985, they released All for Love featuring the hits “Count Me Out” and “A Little Bit of Love (Is All It Takes)” and one month later released Christmas All Over the World.

Before the end of 1985, the group decided to vote Bobby Brown out of the group for his disruptive behavior. After their 1986 doo-wop cover album Under the Blue Moon, lead singer Ralph Tresvant was considering a solo career as the group’s direction was in question. In 1987, Johnny Gill was added to the group and the quintet went on to create their most popular album Heart Break with producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis in 1988. This album was released on June 20, 1988—the same day as Bobby Brown’s Don’t Be Cruel—and features two more of their biggest “If It Isn’t Love” and “Can You Stand the Rain.”

In 1990, Ralph Tresvant, Johnny Gill and Bell Biv Devoe all went on to have successful hits. Among these hits was the remix to BBD’s “Word to the Mutha,” which was the first song to feature all six members. After a hiatus, all six members came together in 1996 to create the album Home Again, which hit #1 on the Billboard 200 and was a multi-platinum success. After some friction on the Home Again tour, Bobby Brown decided to depart the group again. In 2004, after leaving their longtime label MCA Records, New Edition signed with Bad Boy Records and released the album One Love but they left Bad Boy a year later due to a lack of promotion. The group continues to tour together and sell out shows after 30 years in the business. The group was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 23, 2017—one day ahead of the BET premiere of their 3-night mini-series The New Edition Story.