When you think of R&B in the 21st century, romance, sex, love, and Tank instantly come to mind. However, he leaves the game with one more magnum opus, delivering his tenth and final full-length offering, R&B Money.
With vocal fireworks lit enough to heat up any bedroom and an instantly recognizable presence, the nine-time Grammy Award-nominated multiplatinum singer, producer, actor, comedian, and label founder has defined two decades of the genre with one seminal record after another. Along the way, he’s gathered hundreds of millions of streams, picked up platinum plaques, and sold out shows around the world.
“For me, I’ve adjusted and lived through the changes with R&B,” Tank explains. “R&B is back in an amazing place. There are so many R&B artists who have incredible careers. The title R&B Money speaks to how lucrative the R&B business is and how expensive the music is. However, relationships and love are expensive in terms of how much you have to emotionally and spiritually invest. The investment is worth it though. R&B is about relationships. Nothing gives you the blues like a relationship when it goes wrong. Nothing gets you more excited than a relationship when it goes right. It’s never changed for me. I’m still making R&B.”
Throughout 2021, Tank assembled what would become R&B Money as his most ambitious body of work yet. “I’ve got more songs than ever,” he says. “I wanted to give it all I’ve got. For the first half of the album, it’s a vibe. You’re either making up or making out. There’s a song for any groove you’re in. It’s a ride, so pack a lunch.”
Tank, whose moniker refers to his physique, recorded solo albums sporadically, beginning with his 2001 debut Force Of Nature, and became increasingly busy behind the scenes as a songwriter, musician, and producer. For several years, he busied himself as a songwriter, musician, and producer. His credits over this time period included songs on Aaliyah, Dave Hollister, Brian McKnight, Jon B, Fantasia Barrino, Omarion, Marques Houston, Charlie Wilson, Jamie Foxx, Donell Jones, Ruben Studdard, Tyrese, Monica, Kelly Rowland, and more.
His third album, 2007’s Sex, Love & Pain, was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best R&B Album, and the track "Please Don't Go" was nominated for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance. In late 2009, he switched labels from Blackground to Atlantic, the same year he appeared on Chris Brown's Grammy-nominated "Take My Time." His first effort for Atlantic, 2010's Now Or Never, included the hit single "Sex Music" and featured Brown on the equally carnal "Foreplay." The singers reunited in 2012 on the single "Lonely," a track that landed on Tank's 2012 album, This Is How I Feel. Along with Tyrese and Ginuwine, Tank formed TGT, who released the album Three Kings, which debuted at number three in 2013. He quickly resumed solo activity with Stronger, his sixth album, the following year.