About Tank
Durrell Artaze Babbs , better known by his stage name Tank, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a backing vocalist for R&B singers Aaliyah and Ginuwine, and signed a recording contract with the former's record label, Blackground Records as a performing act in 1998. His 2001 single, "Maybe I Deserve" peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 and led his debut studio album, Force of Nature . It peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200, while his second album, One Man , peaked within the top 20 and was met with mixed critical reception.
Following a five-year hiatus, he entered a joint venture with Motown to release his third album, Sex, Love & Pain . Met with his furthest commercial success, it peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and was preceded by the Billboard Hot 100-top 50 single, "Please Don't Go". He parted ways with the labels in favor of Atlantic Records to release his following albums: Now or Never , This Is How I Feel , Stronger , Sex, Love & Pain II , and Savage , the latter of which spawned the platinum-certified single "When We". Following his ninth album Elevation , his tenth album, R&B Money was announced as his final due to hearing loss in his right ear, which hampered his musical ability.
In 2007, he formed the R&B trio TGT with contemporaries Ginuwine and Tyrese, with whom he released one studio album . Along with recording, Tank has been credited with songwriting and production for other artists including Kelly Rowland, Chris Brown, Monica, Jamie Foxx, Omarion, LeToya Luckett, NLT, and KeKe Wyatt. His other ventures include his record label R&B Money, which has signed frequent collaborator J. Valentine; the two began hosting a namesake podcast in 2022, which enlists prominent figures in the genre as guests. Tank has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, a Soul Train Music Award, and his podcast was nominated for Best Work of Music Journalism - Multimedia at the 2023 International Music Journalism Awards.
Babbs was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, then he moved with his family as a child to Baltimore, Maryland. He was a multisport athlete in high school and was offered the opportunity to play college football. However, Tank decided to focus on music, with his vocal talent being recognized to the point where R&B singer Ginuwine gave him an opportunity to sing background vocals for him during one of the latter's tours. Tank also became a backing singer for Aaliyah, whom he had met through Ginuwine in 1997.
Tank later signed as an artist with Aaliyah's record label Blackground Records.
In 2001, Tank released his debut album Force of Nature which spawned the moderate hit Maybe I Deserve". In 2002, Tank released his second album One Man and a single of the same name. Tank provided vocals for I Care 4 U, Aaliyah's posthumous compilation album, featuring on the album's final single, "Come Over".
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