The comp featured such Motown luminaries as Smokey Robinson and the Temptations, as well as Jones' composition "Spirit Control Me." The sound the group came up with was a more street-minded take on gospel, intertwining R&B influences in the same way as contemporaries like Kirk Franklin. The group issued its self-titled debut in 1999, dressed on the cover in gangster garb but offering over a dozen selections of hopeful devotional fare, delivering Jones' songs with a hybrid of mellow R&B, West Coast hip-hop rhyme routines, and traditional gospel choir arrangements. The group returned in 2002 with Beautiful, an album that scored a massive hit with "Midnight," a tune featuring SWV member Coko. Third album The Ultimate Weekend was released in 2007 and, after a hiatus, Jones returned in 2014 with the softer, more soulful tones of Joy Comin'. ~ Fred Thomas