I wasn't THERE-there for New Edition, but I have "Word up" magazines with them on there, and a grip of cousins/older friends who tell me how huge they were. Boyz II Men didn't appeal to Black youth nearly as much as NE or Jodeci. But I figure Jodeci and NE never hit that Mainstream White market the same way.

Boyz II Men had more watery songs, and a lot that were more in that Diane Warren/Ballad lane along with the usual Babyface slow jams. But they owned that era and that sound. Also, the 80's had more competition to cross over, and NE never seemed to make a real attempt at doing that. I never heard them do a New Wave or Rock style of song.