Formed in 1990, Playa was originally an R&B and hip-hop trio comprised of Jawaan
‘Smokey’ Peacock, Benjamin ‘Digital Black’ Bush, and Stephen ‘Static Major’
Garrett. They are best known for their 1998 album Cheers 2 U, produced by
Timbaland. The trio met while still in high school. They joined up with another
few friends and formed the R&B vocal group A Touch of Class. They met Jodeci
member DeVante backstage and performed a capella versions of Jodeci songs. This
led to the group being signed to Devante’s Swing Mob label. Changing their name
to Playa and dwindling down to the cor...