98 Degrees revisits the ’90s on new single ‘Where Do You Wanna Go’
Everything ’90s is new again. Slip dresses and puffer jackets are on trend. Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are back together. Willow Smith’s new album features a duet with pop-punk queen Avril Lavigne.
98 Degrees is hoping to ride that wave to renewed success. The four-man outfit — brothers Nick and Drew Lachey, Jeff Timmons and Justin Jeffre — has a new single, “Where Do You Wanna Go,” whose sound and video is a cheeky throwback. It previews a forthcoming EP that will feature new songs, remixes of past hits and a collaboration with an unnamed country artist.
98 Degrees scored several hits in the late ’90s and early aughts, including “I Do (Cherish You),” “The Hardest Thing” and “Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche).” From the start, this wasn’t your average boy band. The Ohio natives came together independently before signing to Motown Records. There was no slick choreography, and they were decidedly beefier than their counterparts.
The group has recorded sporadically since 2000. Nick Lachey went on to hosting gigs and won the most recent season of “The Masked Singer.” He became a pop-culture fixture alongside ex-wife Jessica Simpson on the MTV reality series “Newlyweds” and scored a solo hit with 2006’s “What’s Left of Me.”
Drew Lachey won “Dancing With the Stars” Season 2 and starred on Broadway in “Rent” and other productions. Timmons co-created Men of the Strip, sort of a Rated-PG version of Chippendales. Jeffre ran for mayor of Cincinnati and largely stayed out of the spotlight.
All four members spoke via Zoom about the group’s new music and ’90s memories.
Q: Why did you go the throwback route with “Where Do You Want to Go?”
Timmons: You gotta find the right song. When we first came back, we didn’t know what that was. We probably were overthinking a little bit and not being true to ourselves completely. With this song, it was a no-brainer. This sounds like a 98 Degrees song with a fresh twist, fresh production. We just thought it sounded like a summer hit.
Q: The video features lots of ’90s fashion. Did it take you back to that era?
Drew Lachey: We’ve never left that time. There was a sense of nostalgia. You’re putting on the baggy clothes, wearing the tank tops and the bucket hats and all that stuff. But a lot of those trends are current again now, and that was part of why we felt like it was a good fit for this song.
Q: Do you see old photos and think, “Why did I wear that?” Drew Lachey: Every day. Jeffre: Looking back, it’s hard to believe that we actually agreed to wear some of that stuff.
Nick Lachey: The style is coming back. But some of it probably should never come back based on the pictures I’ve been looking at. I think we’ve always been a group that’s at least tried not to take ourselves too seriously. The video was a chance to go back and be a little bit selfdeprecating and have some fun with it.
Q: Did anyone pull pieces from their closet for the new video?
Nick Lachey: The basketball jersey I wore, I think, is probably the same one I wore in the late ’90s. That just shows I need to go ahead and clean my closet.
Drew Lachey: It might have been a little tighter through the …” (wraps hands around waist)
Q: You got back together during the pandemic?
Jeffre: We had been wanting to do new music when the lockdown happened. We were doing shows, and everything just got put on hold. We got the opportunity to get together and create a (COVID-19) bubble in Vegas and recorded some songs.
Drew Lachey: We’re still able to sound like 98 Degrees, but they are current-sounding songs. In the past, we’ve experimented with some stuff, and it almost seemed like we were going too far away from who we were as singers. This one seems to be sitting right in the pocket and has a really great feel to it.
Q: What are the remixes like of your older songs?
Drew Lachey: If you didn’t know the originals, they would be hits on their own. We didn’t just go and put (heavy bass) underneath it and that’s the remix. DJ Lux played with some of the structures, some of the melodic elements, brought out different lines that were afterthoughts in the original songs and made them featured parts.
Q: Was it easy to fall back into your old roles and reignite the chemistry?
Drew Lachey: Well, we don’t like each other, anyway, so it’s really easy just to keep going with that. The old cliché about riding a bike, it’s true. When we sing together, the sound comes back really quickly. We still tell the same jokes we told in the late
’90s.
Nick Lachey: It really is all about, we pop a couple of beers and everything feels normal again. Off and running.
Q: You scored a No. 1 hit alongside Mariah Carey and Joe on “Thank God I Found You.” What was it like working with the ultimate ’90s diva?
Nick Lachey: I just remember being blown away that she wanted us to be on it. Just so honored and flattered to be a part of that project. And we were also huge fans of Joe — still are.
Q: What’s everyone’s favorite Mariah Carey song?
Timmons: Can you pick the one with Boyz II Men? Or does it have to be a solo one? “One Sweet Day” is probably my favorite one.
Jeffre: I’m a big fan of Mariah, so it’s hard to pick one.
Drew Lachey: Was it “Vanishing?” Is that on the first album? I always liked that one. Also, the Journey cover, “Open Arms.”
Nick Lachey: I like the song “The Roof.” That’s one of my favorite ones.
Q: Jeff, you hosted a “Free Britney Radio” day on stations across the country in support of the #FreeBritney movement. Why was that important for you?
Timmons: I think anybody that watched the “Framing Britney” documentary probably was taken aback by just how crazy everything is. That was bananas to me. We didn’t expect to do anything earth-shattering but show our support toward her and hoping that she gets away from the constraints that she’s under as quick as possible.
Q: I imagine a lot of acts from her era, when labels were cranking out pop stars, can relate to what she’s going through.
Timmons: I think that any artist can relate to what she’s been through. Or anybody in the spotlight can relate to what she’s been through as well. As you have more success, sometimes the people that surround you, your inner circle and your outer circle, begins to change, and their behavior changes toward you. We experienced that, I think, at a much smaller level than she has, obviously.
Q: How quickly did any of you know that was Nick on “The Masked Singer?”
Drew Lachey: He’s got this really irritating, grating voice that once you hear it, you just know. It’s kinda like nails on a chalkboard. You know exactly what that sound is.
Nick Lachey: It’s such a bizarre concept and such a bizarre thing to be a part of. But because of that, it’s one of the more fun things that I’ve gotten to do.
Q: What memories do you have of Houston?
Drew Lachey: Growing up, my knowledge of Houston was the Oilers. I think of, like, Warren Moon and the old Oilers helmet.
Timmons: We also performed at AstroWorld. That was one of our first, big amusement-park performances.
Nick Lachey: We did the rodeo, too. Another concert I remember doing there was we performed at an outdoor amphitheater (the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion). It was, like, in the woods. It was so hot and muggy. I just remember sweating like I’d never sweat before.