MUSIC
Bringing Back Bedroom Ballads
WHEN END OF THE ROAD, A SOULFUL BALlad by the group Boyz II Men, topped the pop-singles chart for 13 straight weeks last fall, it did more than break a record held by Elvis Presley. It certified the arrival, among young black musicians, of a soothing yin to the rambunctious yang of rap. Now album after album is filled with street-corner harmonies and bedroom ballads from groups with names like Portrait and Silk. At the head of this wave is SHAI, a quartet of former Howard University students whose hot-selling debut album is called If I...