photo by steed media service

August 26, 2007, was a monumental day for Willie, Qwanell, Brian A., Michael and Robert. It’s the date the “Making The Band 4” live season finale aired on MTV, revealing to over five million viewers the fate of their favorite singers.

“August 26 is the day we became a band, the day we got signed to Bad Boy and the day that changed our lives,” says Brian A. “So, we chose Day 26 as the name of our group. Out of all the things that we heard before, it just kind stayed with us. We really like it because it holds a lot of meaning.”

After the finale, the boys moved into a house with label mates Danity Kane and began taping season two, with cameras catching all the drama that went into recording their self-titled debut album.

“It’s a masterpiece. Not to take anything away from the artists that are out now, I just feel like this is real R&B and very soulful singing,” explains Qwanell. “There hasn’t been real singing like this since the ‘90s. We like to put ourselves in our own little category. We don’t like to call it R&B; we don’t like to call it pop. We like to call it Raw & B. There’s no studio help or anything like that. It’s all us.”

With the huge ratings of both their seasons, the challenge now is convert viewers into consumers.

“MTV is huge for us. The best thing about that is we’ve already turned into TV stars. I think it’s going to do a huge thing for our sales,” assures Willie. “With a hit single [‘Got Me Going’] and the music that we have behind it, I think it’s going to be a huge promotional tour.” –adam jones

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