Contributed by Ciana Moore

R&B icon Raphael Saadiq of Tony! Toni! Tone! announced in an interview with Sway Calloway last week that the group would be getting back together. Raphael Saadiq was doing a press run for his upcoming solo album, Jimmy Lee, named after his brother who lost his life to drug addiction. The album will serve as a message to listeners about the dangers of drugs.

Towards the end of his interview with Sway, Raphael Saadiq had a surprise announcement, that Tony! Toni! Tone! will be releasing new music soon.

“I think after this record we are gonna do like an instrumental record. I just think we should come back as an instrumental group for one record.”

He gave more insight about what he thinks the comeback record will sound like, using the phrases “African liberation” and “early Kool & the Gang” to describe his influences. In the interview, Raphael said the group has remained friends but as far as making music, they weren’t feeling inspired enough to create until now.

Tony! Toni! Tone! has previously released four studio albums and they have all charted in the Billboard 200 Top Albums Chart. Their highly anticipated fifth studio album is now in the works with the release date to be announced.