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Jodeci
Jodeci (/ˈdʒoʊdəsi/ JOH-də-see) is an American R&B quartet consisting of members DeVanté Swing, Mr. Dalvin, K-Ci, and JoJo. Formed in 1988 in Charlotte, North Carolina, Jodeci began as a duo of DeVanté Swing and JoJo but later both added their brothers. After signing with Uptown Records in 1990, the group finished work on their debut album, Forever My Lady (1991), which brought them mainstream success with three straight Billboard R&B No. 1 hit singles: the album's titular track, "Stay" and "Come and Talk to Me".
The group's critical and commercial success continued with the releases of Diary of a Mad Band (1993), which includes the Billboard hit singles "Cry for You" and "Feenin'", and The Show, the After Party, the Hotel (1995), which includes the additional Billboard hit singles "Freek'n You", "Love U 4 Life", and "Get On Up". The group experimented with various musical styles typically not associated with traditional R&B. Jodeci would incorporate hip hop soul, gospel and new jack swing into their music, which led to the group featured prominently with hip hop artists during the 1990s. Each album released by the group during this period attained platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and helped to redefine the genre, allowing for developments in thematic and musical content within R&B.
In 1996, they announced a hiatus – though continuing to work on music as a group – which prompted K-Ci & JoJo to branch off as a duo, releasing five albums until 2013, when the group re-united for their fourth studio album, The Past, the Present, the Future (2015). Jodeci has sold more than 20 million records worldwide to date. Complex magazine ranked the group 1st on their "1990s Male R&B Group Pyramid of Excellence" list in 2014, one of the most influential groups of the 1990s, and the best R&B group of all time.
Raised in an extremely religious Pentecostal family, brothers K-Ci and JoJo – then known as Little Cedric & the Hailey Singers – originally performed and recorded as a gospel group, releasing three albums: Jesus Saves, I'm Alright Now, and God's Blessings. K-Ci would later draw comparisons to Michael Jackson during his gospel career. Separately, Mr. Dalvin and DeVanté Swing performed and toured in their own family's gospel group called the Degrate Delegation. The studio is where the duos later made acquaintances through relationships the members were in at the time. In a 2011 interview, Dalvin stated, "there was this girl gospel group called UNITY and then the Don DeGrate Delegation, which Devanté and I played in. So we met some of the girls from UNITY and [one] was dating K-Ci before we even met [and she] would always tell us that we need to meet K-Ci and JoJo." A short time after meeting, the brothers started living together after leaving their families to pursue musical careers.
At 16, DeVanté Swing traveled to Minneapolis, hoping to visit Paisley Park in order to audition to Prince. Swing would later say, "I was up at Paisley Park every day begging for a job, asking people to listen to my tape. The receptionist kept saying she couldn't help me". The rejection motivated Swing to relocate back to North Carolina, and work to improve his songwriting and production skills. Upon arriving, Swing continued to record with the group's additional members, eventually forming Jodeci, and began work on a demo tape to present to label executives. The name Jodeci is an abbreviation of all the members' names. "Jo" comes from JoJo, "De" comes from Devante, and Ci comes from K-Ci, with Dalvin joining the group afterwards.
The members soon drove to New York City with a 29-song, three-tape demo, anticipating a signing deal with upstart Uptown Records. Upon arriving to New York, and without the knowledge of the whereabouts of the MCA subsidiary, the group used a phone book to find the company's address, located on Clinton Street in Brooklyn. Swing later commented on the signing, "we didn't have an appointment but I knew what Uptown was, and I wanted us to be there." The group was quickly denied an audition until Andre Harrell agreed to hear the demo. In skepticism of the high quality production, Harrell requested the group to perform, where they performed "Come and Talk to Me" and "I'm Still Waiting", in the presence of Jeff Redd. Hip hop artist Heavy D overheard the performance and consulted Harrell, eventually taking the group out to dinner and awarding them a recording contract.
Jodeci was assigned to Uptown intern Sean Combs, who took on the task of developing the new act. Counteracting the refined styles prominent in R&B showcased by New Edition and Boyz II Men, Mr. Dalvin created the group's image. Combs helped get the image through to Andre Harrell, perpetuating hip-hop fashion, such as baseball caps and Timberland boots, to the group in order to establish a different aesthetic in the genre. The group was introduced after providing background vocals on the 1990 song "Treat Them Like They Want to Be Treated", and performed live on Soul Train on June 11, 1991.
Landing a recording deal in 1990, the group released their debut album Forever My Lady the next year. Writer Ronin Ro maintained, "They no longer resembled gospel singers… Puffy also asked them to build their mystique by posing for photos with their backs to the camera, which he borrowed from Guy's stage show." The album's seductive energy showcased DeVanté's songwriting, establishing a uniqueness in his production that mixed old-fashioned soul singing with New Jack Swing, creating a production of great boldness. It featured the number 1 R&B singles "Forever My Lady", "Stay", and "Come and Talk to Me". Mr. Dalvin recalls how the album Forever My Lady was created, "The last version of the album that was released only took us a week to finish because we had already written the songs. It was about getting our sounds right because the vocals were already done. It was us going back in the studio recreating the beats and the melodies... Most of the songs were written before we left North Carolina. My brother was 16 and I was 14 when we wrote the songs..." The album went on to sell over three million copies.
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Jodeci
Jodeci (/ˈdʒoʊdəsi/ JOH-də-see) is an American R&B quartet consisting of members DeVanté Swing, Mr. Dalvin, K-Ci, and JoJo. Formed in 1988 in Charlotte, North Carolina, Jodeci began as a duo of DeVanté Swing and JoJo but later both added their brothers. After signing with Uptown Records in 1990, the group finished work on their debut album, Forever My Lady (1991), which brought them mainstream success with three straight Billboard R&B No. 1 hit singles: the album's titular track, "Stay" and "Come and Talk to Me".
The group's critical and commercial success continued with the releases of Diary of a Mad Band (1993), which includes the Billboard hit singles "Cry for You" and "Feenin'", and The Show, the After Party, the Hotel (1995), which includes the additional Billboard hit singles "Freek'n You", "Love U 4 Life", and "Get On Up". The group experimented with various musical styles typically not associated with traditional R&B. Jodeci would incorporate hip hop soul, gospel and new jack swing into their music, which led to the group featured prominently with hip hop artists during the 1990s. Each album released by the group during this period attained platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and helped to redefine the genre, allowing for developments in thematic and musical content within R&B.
In 1996, they announced a hiatus – though continuing to work on music as a group – which prompted K-Ci & JoJo to branch off as a duo, releasing five albums until 2013, when the group re-united for their fourth studio album, The Past, the Present, the Future (2015). Jodeci has sold more than 20 million records worldwide to date. Complex magazine ranked the group 1st on their "1990s Male R&B Group Pyramid of Excellence" list in 2014, one of the most influential groups of the 1990s, and the best R&B group of all time.
Raised in an extremely religious Pentecostal family, brothers K-Ci and JoJo – then known as Little Cedric & the Hailey Singers – originally performed and recorded as a gospel group, releasing three albums: Jesus Saves, I'm Alright Now, and God's Blessings. K-Ci would later draw comparisons to Michael Jackson during his gospel career. Separately, Mr. Dalvin and DeVanté Swing performed and toured in their own family's gospel group called the Degrate Delegation. The studio is where the duos later made acquaintances through relationships the members were in at the time. In a 2011 interview, Dalvin stated, "there was this girl gospel group called UNITY and then the Don DeGrate Delegation, which Devanté and I played in. So we met some of the girls from UNITY and [one] was dating K-Ci before we even met [and she] would always tell us that we need to meet K-Ci and JoJo." A short time after meeting, the brothers started living together after leaving their families to pursue musical careers.
At 16, DeVanté Swing traveled to Minneapolis, hoping to visit Paisley Park in order to audition to Prince. Swing would later say, "I was up at Paisley Park every day begging for a job, asking people to listen to my tape. The receptionist kept saying she couldn't help me". The rejection motivated Swing to relocate back to North Carolina, and work to improve his songwriting and production skills. Upon arriving, Swing continued to record with the group's additional members, eventually forming Jodeci, and began work on a demo tape to present to label executives. The name Jodeci is an abbreviation of all the members' names. "Jo" comes from JoJo, "De" comes from Devante, and Ci comes from K-Ci, with Dalvin joining the group afterwards.
The members soon drove to New York City with a 29-song, three-tape demo, anticipating a signing deal with upstart Uptown Records. Upon arriving to New York, and without the knowledge of the whereabouts of the MCA subsidiary, the group used a phone book to find the company's address, located on Clinton Street in Brooklyn. Swing later commented on the signing, "we didn't have an appointment but I knew what Uptown was, and I wanted us to be there." The group was quickly denied an audition until Andre Harrell agreed to hear the demo. In skepticism of the high quality production, Harrell requested the group to perform, where they performed "Come and Talk to Me" and "I'm Still Waiting", in the presence of Jeff Redd. Hip hop artist Heavy D overheard the performance and consulted Harrell, eventually taking the group out to dinner and awarding them a recording contract.
Jodeci was assigned to Uptown intern Sean Combs, who took on the task of developing the new act. Counteracting the refined styles prominent in R&B showcased by New Edition and Boyz II Men, Mr. Dalvin created the group's image. Combs helped get the image through to Andre Harrell, perpetuating hip-hop fashion, such as baseball caps and Timberland boots, to the group in order to establish a different aesthetic in the genre. The group was introduced after providing background vocals on the 1990 song "Treat Them Like They Want to Be Treated", and performed live on Soul Train on June 11, 1991.
Landing a recording deal in 1990, the group released their debut album Forever My Lady the next year. Writer Ronin Ro maintained, "They no longer resembled gospel singers… Puffy also asked them to build their mystique by posing for photos with their backs to the camera, which he borrowed from Guy's stage show." The album's seductive energy showcased DeVanté's songwriting, establishing a uniqueness in his production that mixed old-fashioned soul singing with New Jack Swing, creating a production of great boldness. It featured the number 1 R&B singles "Forever My Lady", "Stay", and "Come and Talk to Me". Mr. Dalvin recalls how the album Forever My Lady was created, "The last version of the album that was released only took us a week to finish because we had already written the songs. It was about getting our sounds right because the vocals were already done. It was us going back in the studio recreating the beats and the melodies... Most of the songs were written before we left North Carolina. My brother was 16 and I was 14 when we wrote the songs..." The album went on to sell over three million copies.