Everyone loved their boybands in the late 90s and early 2000s. You were either obsessed with Backstreet Boys or NSYNC, but you always picked a side. Even before that, there was New Kids On The Block. However, none of those groups likely exist if it wasn’t for R&B groups paving the way first. Acts like New Edition, Jodeci, and Boyz II Men proved that great harmonies and undeniable hooks equaled smash hits on the charts. Surely, that can work if you plugged in white pop artists too.
Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men fame claims this is precisely what happened in the making of Backstreet Boys. In an interview with Christian rapper Lecrae, he recalled how NSYNC and Backstreet Boys’ former manager, Lou Pearlman, held auditions for group members. However, it was done with the explicit purpose of recreating what made Boyz II Men great, just with white singers instead.
“People don’t like to talk about it for some reason. But America is racist,” Shawn Stockman said. “It didn’t even start with [Boyz II Men]. You can go back to Pat Boone and artists like that who would take Little Richard songs… Because Little Richard couldn’t step foot in these white establishments, they took a Pat Boone… Now it’s accepted.”
Were Backstreet Boys Only Created to Counter Boyz II Men? Shawn Stockman Thinks So
“Lou Pearlman…with his audition, he said he wanted the guys to look basically white, but sound like us,” Stockman continued. “He even understood. That white skin is different, it hits different.”
Lecrae argued that it’s likely white people wanted to see some representation of themselves. They wanted Black music but through white avatars. Shawn Stockman took it even further, adding that the system is specifically catered to white audiences. “They saw something that worked, and they pulled down the lever of that machine,” he said. “’We’ll just whitewash it and add the harmonies.’”
Lou Pearlman would obviously succeed in helping establish NSYNC and Backstreet Boys. However, he would eventually go to prison for 20+ years for essentially scamming his creations out of their rightful money.
“There’s this moment when Lou and The Backstreet Boys are singing The Commodores’ ‘Easy’ at the piano,” Lance Nichols, executive producer of the 2024 Netflix documentary Dirty Pop, said. “It’s like this guy is running a Ponzi scheme and somehow he’s easy like Sunday morning at the piano with these kids. It’s just surreal to me.”
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