By the time Tyrese came out in the late ‘90s, R&B was already crowded with contenders.
Ginuwine had the cool, Usher had the crossover appeal, Joe had the consistency, and groups like Next were dominating radio with personality. Tyrese, who is set to face off against his contemporary Tank in the next VERZUZ, felt like something older.
Tyrese, who started out as a model—who can forget that iconic Coca-Cola commercial?—came to music with a voice pulled directly from the emotional DNA of Teddy Pendergrass and Marvin Gaye. It's a voice that's full, pleading, a little dramatic, and unafraid to sound like he actually cared. Songs like "Sweet Lady" and "Lately" worked because they defined what late ‘90s R&B romance sounded like when you stripped the ego and left the feelings front and center.
Going into the 2000s, when the most popular R&B artists were leaning into sounds that were more polished, more digital, and more image-driven, Tyrese didn’t pivot. Records like “How You Gonna Act Like That” and “Signs of Love Makin’” allowed him to stay rooted in traditional R&B storytelling: same emotions, newer problems.
At the same time, his acting career—first Baby Boy, then the Fast & Furious and Transformer universes—turned him into a different kind of star altogether. Not just an R&B singer, but a personality people felt like they knew.
And even as Tyrese's music career has taken a backseat, what can't be overstated is the fact that he's one of the few artists from his era who never abandoned the core of what made R&B work in the first place. Whether solo or as part of TGT with Tank and Ginuwine, Tyrese stayed committed to true traditional R&B.
His VERZUZ with Tank is going down on Thursday, March 26, streaming live from Apple Music Studios in Los Angeles at 5:30 p.m. PT / 8:30 p.m. ET. Fans around the world can watch the full event live, in real time and via Apple Music—and after the original stream, the full performance will be available on demand, including exclusive audio.
In preparation for the performance, here is our ranking of the 10 best Tyrese songs of all time. Out of fairness to both artists, we didn't include any TGT songs. What do you think of our ranking? If you disagree, you can make your own by using the rerank feature at the top of the page.
10."Lately" (1998)
Producer: Derek Allen
Album: Tyrese
"Lately" is a song that aged so well even Anita Baker even covered it years later. The beat is stripped back yet emotional, sitting in that late '90s R&B space where vulnerable vocals and lyrics carried more weight than production. The video features Maia Campbell—who also appeared in "Sweet Lady"—adding a charged intimacy, given their rumored relationship at the time.
9."Nothing On You" (2011)
Producer: B.A.M.
Album: Open Invitation
"Nothing On You" is one of the quiet standouts from his fifth studio album Open Invitation. Released in 2011, when the most popular R&B artists were drifting toward hazy alt and EDM-influenced territory, this landed in the opposite direction: a sweet, straight-up old school traditional R&B jam. There's a real structure here: verses, a fully developed hook, and an actual bridge that functions.
8."Signs of Love Makin'" (2002)
Producer: The Underdogs
Album: I Wanna Go There
On “Signs of Love Makin’,” Tyrese leans on a Latin guitar, cinematic rain effects, and a slow-burn tempo built for late-night R&B sets.
It’s sensual without trying too hard. But he still finds room to be cheeky. The opening line starts with, “Are you that zodiac freak?” before weaving astrology through the hook. It’s smooth, a little playful, and just memorable enough to stick.
7."Wildflower" (2024)
Producer: B.A.M. and David Foster
Album: Painfully Beautiful
Pulled from Beautiful Pain, "Wildflower" leans all the way into traditional soul—soft and rooted in the kind of emotional phrasing you'd trace back to Marvin Gaye and Donny Hathaway. It's a cover of “Wild Flower” by The New Birth, a song that's traveled across generations, including as the backbone of Jamie Foxx's "Unpredictable." Tyrese doesn't try to modernize it. He keeps it warm, unhurried, and completely in his body.
6."I Like Them Girls" (2001)
Producer: The Underdogs
Album: 2000 Watts
The first single from 2000 Watts, "I Like Them Girls" is Tyrese at his most accessible—clean, catchy, and built for radio. While most of his catalog leans into slow jams and emotional ballads, the record shows how naturally he could slide into a lighter, more playboy lane—which he also displays on the Da Brat classic "What'chu Like" which was out at around the same time.
5."Nobody Else" (1998)
Producer: Jake
Album:Tyrese
What a debut. "Nobody Else" is a song that has the right mix of youthful energy and polished delivery you'd find on a classic New Edition record. The single even featured a brief rap from Tyrese, a nod to hip-hop's growing influence on the genre.
The song, which charted on the Billboard Hot 100, marked the singer's arrival during one of the most competitive eras in modern R&B. Tyrese found ways to stand out, boosted in part by his appearance in Usher's "My Way" video as his on-screen rival.
4."Stay" (2011)
Producer: Tyrese and B.A.M.
Album: Open Invitation
Tyrese at his most controlled vocally here—an unadorned, deeply felt performance rooted in Southern soul. The song is a showcase for a Tyrese living with regret over the dissolution of a relationship, the singer hitting notes full of yearning. The video also reunites him with his Baby Boy costar Taraji P. Henson, adding a layer of familiarity that fits the song's tone perfectly.
3."Shame" (2015)
Producer: Tyrese and Warryn Campbell
Album: Black Rose
"Shame" is Tyrese fully locked into that grown, barroom soul space he's leaned into in his later career. The production is slower, more deliberate, and leaves enough room for the vocals to actually breathe. It's also one of his most direct records emotionally, with songwriting that is straightforward without being simple.
More than anything, this is probably his closest nod to Teddy Pendergrass. The phrasing, the pacing, even the use of background vocalists all pull from that lineage without feeling like imitation.
2."Sweet Lady" (1998)
Producer: The Characters
Album: Tyrese
Written by Johntá Austin, Troy Taylor, and Charles Farrar, "Sweet Lady" was Tyrese's breakout moment and biggest single from his debut album. The chorus alone is one of the most memorable of the late '90s: a passionate, genuine earworm powered by Tyrese's emotive delivery. The moment set the tone for the kind of artist he'd be—emotionally direct, but also firmly rooted in the tradition of romance and R&B love songs.
1."How You Gonna Act Like That" (2002)
Producer: The Underdogs
Album: I Wanna Go There
This is Tyrese's biggest record for a reason.
The lead single from I Wanna Go There, "How You Gonna Act Like That" features the polished production of the early 2000s but is also grounded in Tyrese's strong R&B roots. It is produced by The Underdogs, and their fingerprints are all over it—carried by the clean, direct production style they'd later bring to Chris Brown's Exclusive. And even as a crossover hit, Tyrese remains centered, delivering one of the standout bridges of his career. "Keep it that way!" has taken on a life of its own, the kind of line that gets passed around because it captures something true about the feeling of a relationship slipping away.
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