Jodeci
Encyclopedia
Jodeci is an American
band
, whose repertoire includes R&B
, soul music
, and new jack swing
. The group consists of two pairs of brothers from Hampton
, Virginia
and Charlotte
, North Carolina
: Cedric & Joel Hailey and Donald & Dalvin DeGrate, all respectively known by their stage names: K-Ci & Jojo, DeVante Swing
and Mr. Dalvin
.
The group's name is a combination of the names from the three original members: Jo-Jo, DeVante, and K-Ci.
The group had a successful string of hit singles and platinum albums until the group went on hiatus after 1998. The Hailey brothers continued to perform together under the pseudonym K-Ci & JoJo, and had success on the pop charts beyond that of the original band. In 2009, the group rebanded for H-Town's song
, "Knockin' Your Heels."
DeVante traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota
when he was sixteen to audition for Prince's band, but was turned down. He then returned to Charlotte, North Carolina
to record a song JoJo was performing. Soon, the two went to New York City
to shop their demo tapes in hopes of getting signed. K-Ci and Dalvin both decided to tag along, and joined their respective brothers for the trip. Eventually, hip hop
artist and record producer
Heavy D heard one of the tapes and loved it. He talked Uptown Records
CEO Andre Harrell
into listening to the tape, who was impressed enough to sign the group.
The group was assigned to Uptown executive Sean "Puffy" Combs, who took on the task of developing the new act. He helped the group create its rough hip-hop
-based image. Jodeci were exposed to the public by singing background vocals on a number of singles by Father MC
. K-Ci also contributed background vocals (alongside Uptown labelmates Terri Robinson and Tabitha Brace) on some tracks for Ralph Tresvant
, produced by Kyle West, and Jasmine Guy
's solo debut album, produced by D.J Eddie F of Heavy D and The Boyz. Jodeci made their live performance debut on the June 11, 1991 episode of Soul Train
, while their first television
interview was on BET
's Video Soul
a few months earlier.
and Teddy Riley
, with an important influence being the work of Riley's three-man group Guy. Other influences which, while less obvious, were instrumental to their style, included the works of Bobby Womack
, Stevie Wonder
, The Temptations
, Bobby Brown
,
and New Edition
.
Artists and producers heavily influenced by Jodeci were those were directly or indirectly associated with them, including Mary J. Blige
and a number of the members of DeVante's Swing Mob collective who he discovered and nutured: Missy Elliott
, Timbaland
, Nealante, Magoo, Ginuwine
, Playa
(who R&B singer & producer Static Major
was a part of with Smoke E. Digglera, Suga (who R&B act Tweet
was a part of), and Darryl Pearson.
The R&B group II D Extreme
's demo deal which led them to getting signed was in part responsible by DeVante, who was a friend of band member D'Extra Wiley. While hanging out in a hotel after a Jodeci show in Washington D.C., D'Extra asked DeVante' to check out his new group, outfitted with Johnny Gill
's brother Randy. That impromptu audition for DeVante led them to New York and meeting with Devante's consultants and business partners who owned Savage records, and imprint on RCA records
, then on to Gasoline Alley/MCA records.
Mariah Carey repeatedly mentions Jodeci in her song 'The Impossible'.
Jodeci's last manager was Damon "Smooth" Hart from Newark,New Jersey who is associated with their former manager Bert Padell.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
, whose repertoire includes R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
, soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, and new jack swing
New jack swing
New jack swing or swingbeat is a fusion genre spearheaded by Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle which became extremely popular from the late-1980s into the mid-1990s. Its influence, along with hip-hop, seeped into pop culture and was the definitive sound of the inventive Black New York club scene...
. The group consists of two pairs of brothers from Hampton
Hampton, Virginia
Hampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
: Cedric & Joel Hailey and Donald & Dalvin DeGrate, all respectively known by their stage names: K-Ci & Jojo, DeVante Swing
DeVante Swing
Donald Earle DeGrate, Jr. , better known by his stage name DeVante Swing, is an American record producer, singer, rapper and songwriter. Swing rose to fame in the 1990s as the founding member of the trendsetting R&B group Jodeci, one of the more popular R&B acts of its time...
and Mr. Dalvin
Dalvin DeGrate
Dalvin DeGrate is an R&B/soul musician, singer and rapper, one-quarter of the R&B group Jodeci. He is the younger brother of Jodeci founder DeVante Swing...
.
The group's name is a combination of the names from the three original members: Jo-Jo, DeVante, and K-Ci.
The group had a successful string of hit singles and platinum albums until the group went on hiatus after 1998. The Hailey brothers continued to perform together under the pseudonym K-Ci & JoJo, and had success on the pop charts beyond that of the original band. In 2009, the group rebanded for H-Town's song
H-Town (band)
H-Town is an American R&B/hip hop vocal group. It was originally founded by twin brothers Keven “Dino” Conner, Solomon “Shazam” Conner, and their longtime friend Darryl “G.I.” Jackson in 1992.-Formation:...
, "Knockin' Your Heels."
The Haileys meet the DeGrates and Uptown Records
Both from a Pentecostal background, the Haileys and DeGrates originally performed and recorded with both appearing on the locally produced "Charlotte's Furious Black Family Gospel Songs" compilation. They would eventually meet each other through their respective girlfriends.DeVante traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
when he was sixteen to audition for Prince's band, but was turned down. He then returned to Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
to record a song JoJo was performing. Soon, the two went to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to shop their demo tapes in hopes of getting signed. K-Ci and Dalvin both decided to tag along, and joined their respective brothers for the trip. Eventually, hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
artist and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Heavy D heard one of the tapes and loved it. He talked Uptown Records
Uptown Records
Uptown Records was an American record label, founded by Andre Harrell in 1986. It went on to become one of the most popular Hip-Hop and R&B labels of the late 1980's and early 1990s. Featured on the roster were such luminaries as Guy, Heavy D & The Boyz, Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, and Soul for Real...
CEO Andre Harrell
Andre Harrell
Andre Harrell is founder of the now defunct record label, Uptown Records. Harrell also served as president/CEO of Motown Records. He was also the first half of the hip hop duo Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde.-Biography:...
into listening to the tape, who was impressed enough to sign the group.
The group was assigned to Uptown executive Sean "Puffy" Combs, who took on the task of developing the new act. He helped the group create its rough hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
-based image. Jodeci were exposed to the public by singing background vocals on a number of singles by Father MC
Father MC
Father MC African American rapper Timothy Brown achieved success in the early 1990s on the Uptown Records label. Discovered and signed by then-Uptown executive Sean "Puffy" Combs, he is best known for introducing the public to Uptown's successful R&B act Jodeci in the track, "Treat Them Like They...
. K-Ci also contributed background vocals (alongside Uptown labelmates Terri Robinson and Tabitha Brace) on some tracks for Ralph Tresvant
Ralph Tresvant
Ralph Tresvant , aka Rizz, is an American tenor singer, best known as one of the lead singers in New Edition.-New Edition:Tresvant sang lead on many of the New Edition lead singles including "Candy Girl", "Cool It Now" and "If It Isn't Love"...
, produced by Kyle West, and Jasmine Guy
Jasmine Guy
Jasmine Guy is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is best known for her starring role as Whitley Gilbert in the television sitcom A Different World.-Biography:...
's solo debut album, produced by D.J Eddie F of Heavy D and The Boyz. Jodeci made their live performance debut on the June 11, 1991 episode of Soul Train
Soul Train
Soul Train is an American musical variety show that aired in syndication from October 1971 to March 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists have also appeared.As a nod to Soul Trains...
, while their first television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
interview was on BET
Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
's Video Soul
Video Soul
Video Soul was a 2-hour long American music video program that aired on BET from 1981 to 1996.-History:Video Soul premiered in June 1981 and was originally a half hour show. It was devoted to helping showcase new R&B/soul recording artists and performers...
a few months earlier.
Return
According to an October 2009 interview with Devante Swing, Jodeci is signed to what Swing feels is an unfavourable contract with record label Interscope. DeVante claims they are trying to get out of this contract. Swing also mentioned that he will be releasing a solo album in the near future.Influences and followers
Most of the elements that were eventually combined to form what became known as the "Jodeci style" originated with the work of new jack swing pioneers Keith SweatKeith Sweat
Keith Sweat is an American R&B/soul, singer-songwriter, record producer, radio personality and a major contributor to the new jack swing era.-Music career:...
and Teddy Riley
Teddy Riley (new jack swing)
Edward Theodore Riley , professionally known as Teddy Riley, is an American singer-songwriter, musician, keyboardist, and record producer credited with the creation of New Jack Swing. Through his production work with Michael Jackson, Bobby Brown, Doug E. Fresh, Today, Keith Sweat, Heavy D., Jane...
, with an important influence being the work of Riley's three-man group Guy. Other influences which, while less obvious, were instrumental to their style, included the works of Bobby Womack
Bobby Womack
Robert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
, Bobby Brown
Bobby Brown
Robert Barisford "Bobby" Brown is an American R&B singer-songwriter, occasional rapper, and dancer. After success in pop group New Edition, Brown began his solo career in 1987 and had a string of Top 10 Billboard hits, culminating in a Grammy Award. He was a pioneer of New Jack Swing music, a...
,
and New Edition
New Edition
New Edition is an R&B group formed in Boston in 1978. The group reached its height of popularity during the 1980s. They were the progenitors of the boy band movement of the 1980s and 1990s and led the way for groups like New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men, Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync...
.
Artists and producers heavily influenced by Jodeci were those were directly or indirectly associated with them, including Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
and a number of the members of DeVante's Swing Mob collective who he discovered and nutured: Missy Elliott
Missy Elliott
Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...
, Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
, Nealante, Magoo, Ginuwine
Ginuwine
Elgin Baylor Lumpkin , better known by his stage name Ginuwine is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Signed to Epic Records since the mid-1990s, Ginuwine had released a number of multi-platinum and platinum-selling albums and singles, becoming one of R&B's top artists during the late 1990's...
, Playa
Playa (band)
Playa was an American R&B/hip-hop group. Composed of Smoke E. Digglera , Digital Black , and the late Static Major , Playa is best known for their 1998 hit album, "Cheers 2 U", produced by longtime collaborator Timbaland...
(who R&B singer & producer Static Major
Static Major
Stephen Ellis Garrett also known as Static Major, was a Grammy Award-Winning American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer from Louisville, Kentucky. He was a member of the R&B trio Playa. Static Major gained posthumous fame for appearing on Lil Wayne's 2008 album Tha Carter III on the...
was a part of with Smoke E. Digglera, Suga (who R&B act Tweet
Tweet (singer)
Tweet is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter.-Early years:The youngest child of Tom and Shirley Keys, Tweet was born in Rochester, New York on January 21, 1972, and grew up singing in the church along with her parents and her four older siblings...
was a part of), and Darryl Pearson.
The R&B group II D Extreme
II D Extreme
II D Extreme was an American new jack swing/urban R&B group from the early 1990s that included D'Extra Wiley, Randy Gill and Jermaine Mickey...
's demo deal which led them to getting signed was in part responsible by DeVante, who was a friend of band member D'Extra Wiley. While hanging out in a hotel after a Jodeci show in Washington D.C., D'Extra asked DeVante' to check out his new group, outfitted with Johnny Gill
Johnny Gill
Johnny Gill is an American R&B singer-songwriter. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B supergroup New Edition, and was also a member of another supergroup called LSG; with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. His signature song "My, My, My" has been included on numerous romantic...
's brother Randy. That impromptu audition for DeVante led them to New York and meeting with Devante's consultants and business partners who owned Savage records, and imprint on RCA records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
, then on to Gasoline Alley/MCA records.
Mariah Carey repeatedly mentions Jodeci in her song 'The Impossible'.
Jodeci's last manager was Damon "Smooth" Hart from Newark,New Jersey who is associated with their former manager Bert Padell.
Discography
- Forever My LadyForever My LadyArion Berger of Entertainment Weekly gave the effort a good review, calling the work "sophisticated beyond the band members' years" and noting that "if they can keep up the momentum of this commercially successful debut , Jodeci will be a force to be reckoned with."-Track...
(1991) - Diary of a Mad BandDiary of a Mad Band-Album:-Singles:"—" denotes releases that did not chart.-Personnel:Information taken from Allmusic.*arranging – Dalvin DeGrate, Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey, DeVante Swing*assistant engineer – Steve Fitzmaurice*creative director – Brett Wright...
(1993) - The Show, the After Party, the HotelThe Show, the After Party, the Hotel-Album:-Singles:"—" denotes releases that did not chart.-Personnel:Information taken from Allmusic.*Arranging: Dalvin DeGrate, Missy Elliott*Art Direction: Robert Reives*Bass: Darryl Pearson...
(1995)