Originally, they were a quartet known as Straight4ward, and at one point managed by Sounds of Blackness' Ann Nesby, but changed their name to Next after one of their members left.
[1] After their demo tape caught the attention of Naughty by Nature's KayGee, he took the group to his Arista label Divine Mill, and they began work on their debut album.
[citation needed] They released their KayGee-produced debut single "Butta Love" in September 1997, which became a big R&B hit for the group peaking at No.
After the album's cycle, the group took a break, leading RL to record and release his debut solo album RL:Ements for Clive Davis' then-new J Records label in 2002, which achieved moderate success with the singles "Got Me a Model" and "Good Man".
[citation needed] The group also joined the J Records label, and released their third studio album The Next Episode in December of that same year.
Also, they collaborated with Jaheim on his single "Anything" off his debut album Ghetto Love which earned the group another Top 10 R&B hit.
The group later broke up due to internal conflicts and member T-Low suffering from a career-ending throat condition, but eventually reunited in 2011.