Written by | Ray Cornelius
In the late 1990’s, a young aspiring singer-songwriter from the Washington D.C. area entered the music industry with one goal in mind—to become the next R. Kelly. Little did he know that his own star would soon rise and he would later establish himself as one of the leading male R&B vocalists and songwriters of the 2000s. While many of his fans may not know him as Durrell Babbs, they definitely know him as Tank.
The 39-year-old Grammy-nominated singer, who can still make the ladies swoon with just one rift of his voice, stopped by Rolling Out’s Star Studio over the weekend for an exclusive conversation with RO Publisher, Munson Steed and dished about his musical career, which is slowly approaching the 20-year-mark.
During the hour long interview, Tank spoke candidly about his early days as a background singer for Genuwine and the lessons he learned as his protégé. He also recalled the day when he became an official artist for Barry Hankerson’s BlackGround Records. He also chatted about how much R. Kelly influenced his style and how Kenneth “Babyface” Edmond’s classic album, Tender Lover “shaped his path as an R&B artist.”
Tank also joked about a missed opportunity of touring with Janet Jackson during the 90’s because of his then-strict Christian beliefs. Apparently he was apart a male singing group, who had been approached by Virgin Records to be a “Boyz II Men-type” opening act for Ms. Jackson. According to Tank, they refused because “they only wanted to sing for the JESUS,” not realizing (as he put it), that “God was in that music too.” The mere thought of the situation tickles him to this day.
After the interview portion, Tank performed two of his biggest hits, “Please Don’t Go” and “I Deserve,” which he revealed was written in his mother’s basement after cheating on his then girlfriend. He later answered some questions from the audience where he revealed that he was releasing a part two to his classic album, “Sex, Love and Pain” due out this summer.
Look for Rolling Out’s Star Studio featuring Tank to air this spring!
Photo Credit: RayCornelius.com