[Editor's note: This story has been extended with online bonus content.]

What is it about Motown that is so appealing to disparate groups of people who have nothing else in common?
Shawn Stockman: It’s the only era, or I guess, record company, that has a sound. The Motown sound. You’d never say “the Arista sound” or “the Columbia sound.” Motown is the only record label that has a sound. You know it, you hear it, and that sound basically shaped music. Not just R&B music, but rock music, too.
Nathan Morris: You’d be surprised, because we went to one rock station in Philadelphia and they were talking about how a lot of rock bands would come up and do interviews and say they were influenced by Motown artists. It surprised us, anyway. It influences all genres.

If a person were to start a serious Motown habit, where would they start?
Wanya Morris:
A Motown habit? I think you would start with documentaries. Or Marvin Gaye.
NM: I would actually start with Michael Jackson. The youth of Motown, because that’s what the label was founded on. They brought in a young Stevie Wonder, a young Michael Jackson. Diana Ross was also very young when she started. I would go way back to their first recordings. Those are the pioneers. Also, digging into the songs that a lot of people didn’t know were Motown sounds—like “Money,” for example. A lot of people know the Beatles did that song, but that was a Motown record! They just kind of popularized it. But the history goes so deep with that label, and it has made so many different styles of soul music, that a lot of people would be very surprised to hear certain songs are Motown.

Do you guys find it daunting to be associated with all that history?
WM: Not at all, not at all. The one thing that’s beautiful about being a part of it, and being able to do this album, is the nostalgia behind it. Just being able to consider ourselves a part of that legacy is an incredible feeling. It just makes us feel like we’re a part of something. A lot of artists can’t say that.

Do you ever look back at how young you guys were when you recorded “Motownphilly” and think, Wow?
[Laughs] All the time!

Back then, is this where you ultimately wanted to be?
NM: You know, it’s crazy. We never had a vision into the future, 17 years from the start. It’s a wonderful place to be. When we started singing, we happened to be a little different from what was going on. We kind of still have our own thing 17 years later, and it’s a beautiful thing.

So I have to ask, what happened to Sudden Impact?
NM: They were managed by Mike Bivens for a while. He never quite got them in the studio. We sprung off maybe four years after that and started our own label. We actually signed them to us. We went in and recorded a whole album with them. And it’s amazing, because this was right before the whole boy-band craze took off. And we had a deal with Epic Records. We finished the record, presented it to the label…but they weren’t ready for a so-called boy or “white guy” group, and not even three and a half months later, the Backstreet Boys hit the scene.

Well, like a lot of great acts, you guys have spawned some not so great imitators. How do you feel about that?
NM: It’s a good thing, because it’s the best form of flattery, obviously. We are the type of group that we don’t ask for much from anyone. We do what we do and give our talent to the people. Early on, we noticed that a lot of groups were, you know, kind of being a part of the style we created, but they had no problem saying that Boyz II Men was part of the reason that they were in the industry. And if that’s what it is, we’ll take it. It gets a little bothersome sometimes when you can tell that it’s almost a sheer rip-off. But I mean, we’re a spin-off too. We don’t mind saying that we’re from the Temptations or New Edition. That’s where we come from.

But you guys seem more organic…
WM: Exactly. And that’s why you can’t consider us a boy band, because with Boyz II Men we put ourselves together. Music put us together. We weren’t recruited by Maurice Star or anything like that.

So, who is the funny one?
[Fingers immediately point to Wanya Morris] He’s mobile laughter on wheels.

Where can you get a good cheese steak in New York?
SS: In New York? Well, you can get a good pizza in New York. You can get a good cheese steak in Philly on South Street.

Is Randy Jackson a tough boss?
WM: Actually, no. He’s pretty cool. He allowed us to be us. He knew what our potential was and he allowed us to do what we do. He scaled it back if we went a little too far, but the main thing was that Boyz II Men be Boyz II Men. He was very good to work with. We’d love to do it again.

Which of your songs makes women melt the quickest?
NM: “I’ll Make Love to You” is big. “End of the Road” is a big record for us, but when it comes to the heartstrings, it’s definitely between “On Bended Knee” and “I’ll Make Love to You.”

So…will you?
[Collective groan]

Boyz II Men’s new album, Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville, USA, is out now. The group will be appearing at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill Tue, Jul 15 and Wed 16.

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