Ginuwine

Is there a classic R&B banger that says the nineties quite like Ginuwine’s ‘Pony’. The beat, lyrics and delivery are all smoother than smooth, and made all the more remarkable by the fact that they’re coming from a man born Elgin Baylor Lumpkin, which sounds like a name more befitting some kind of elfin children’s character than an impossibly debonair ladies’ man. Even if he’s struggled to scale the same heights as he found himself at in the nineties in the years since, he’s still plugged away throughout the noughties, releasing new records and touring the UK several times, most notably on a joint jaunt with fellow smooth operator Joe. In fact, it was the collaborative nature of his tours that would ultimately lead to his latest project; last year, he dropped the record Three Kings, as one-third of TGT alongside Tyrese and Tank, who hail from that same nineties scene and go a way back (Tyrese was best man at Ginuwine’s wedding). They toured the UK last year, too, performing their new cuts as well as delving into their own solo catalogues to delight female audiences across the land. They’re likely to be back before long - Ginuwine has been a regular fixture on these shores for a while - but in the meantime, check out Three Kings from some genuinely superb harmonisation.