Joe’s “More & More” was the lead single from his fifth album, And Then…. The song was written and originally recorded by R. Kelly for his Loveland album, but when Kelly’s project was shelved, “More & More” was offered to Joe. The description of endless nights of physical intimacy was a perfect fit for Joe’s voice and his love for the romantic core of R&B. Chicago guitar player Donnie Lyle provided the song’s warm, rolling acoustic lines and subtle mandolin textures, while engineers Abel Garibaldi and Ian Mereness laid down the signature, hypnotic mid-tempo groove that helped make the track a major comeback success.
While Joe’s 2001 album, Better Days, was no disappointment to his fans, it lacked a crossover hit with the massive pull of “I Wanna Know” from his 2000 release, My Name Is Joe. Internationally, “More & More” was packaged as a double A-side single with the G-Unit-assisted “Ride wit U,” and this success led Joe back to high-profile hip-hop collaborations, reminiscent of his classic work with Big Pun on “Still Not a Player.” And Then… went Gold ten months after its release, reminding R&B fans of Joe’s status as one of the staple vocalists of his generation. Decades later, his legacy remains intact; he released his 13th album, My Name Is Joe Thomas, in 2016 and delivered a standout NPR Tiny Desk concert for Black Music Month in June 2026.
