Jodeci
is an American musical group, 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: the DeGrates (Donald "DeVante Swing" DeGrate, the group founder/leader, and Dalvin DeGrate) and the Haileys (main lead singer Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey and second lead singer Joel "Jo-Jo" Hailey). The group's name is a combination of the names of all of its members: Jo
-Jo, De
Grate (including both Dalvin and DeVante) and K-Ci
.
Jodeci was the starting point for the careers of artists such as Missy Elliott, Timbaland, and Ginuwine. The group had a successful string of hit singles and platinum albums until the group went on indefinite hiatus after 1998. The Hailey brothers continued to perform together under the name K-Ci and Jo-Jo, and had success on the pop charts beyond that of the original band.
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JODECI TICKETS
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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 Sweat 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.
The acts most heavily influenced by Jodeci were those that they directly trained and developed, including
Mary J. Blige and a number of the members of their Swing Mob collective:
Missy Elliott,
Timbaland, Nealante,
Magoo,
Mary J. Blige,
Ginuwine,
Playa (who R&B singer & producer
Static Major was a part of), 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.
History
The Haileys meet the DeGrates
Both from a
Pentecostal background, the Haileys and DeGrates originally performed and recorded, and eventually met each other through their girlfriends. However, it turned out that Dalvin DeGrate was dating K-Ci Hailey's girlfriend. This led to a small confrontation between the two in which K-Ci allegedlly pulled out a gun on Dalvin, according to DeVante Swing in an interview. The Hailey brothers and DeVante eventually became friends and discussed possibly recording songs together.
Signing to Uptown Records
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, reminiscent of that of
Teddy Riley's group
Guy. 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.
Discography
Albums
- 1991: Forever My Lady
- 1993: Diary of a Mad Band
- 1995: The Show, The After Party, The Hotel
Compilations
- 2005: Back to the Future: The Very Best of Jodeci
- 2007: The Best of Jodeci: 20th Century Masters The Millennium Collection
- 2008: Playlist Your Way
Singles
- 1991: "Gotta Love" (R&B #79)
- 1991: "Stay" (US #41, R&B #1)
- 1991: "Forever My Lady" (US #25, R&B #1)
- 1992: "Come and Talk to Me" (US #11, R&B #1)
- 1992: "I'm Still Waiting" (Radio Single ONLY)
(US #85, R&B #10)
- 1992: "Let's Go Through The Motions" (US #65, R&B #31)
- 1993: "Lately" (US #4, R&B #1)
- 1993: "Cry for You" (US #15, R&B #1)
- 1994: "Feenin'" (US #25, R&B #2)
- 1994: "What About Us" (R&B #14)
- 1995: "Freek'n You" (US #14, R&B #3
- 1995: "Love U 4 Life" (US #31, R&B #8)
- 1996: "Get On Up" (US #22, R&B #4)
- 2001: "Slip N Fall" [ K-Ci and JoJo "X" ]
K-Ci and JoJo albums
- 1997: Love Always
(Peaked at #6 on US Billboard 200) 3XPlatinum
- 1999: It's Real
(Peaked at #8 on US Billboard 200) Platinum
- 2000: X
(Peaked at #20 on US Billboard 200) Platinum
- 2002: Emotional
(Peaked at #61 on US Billboard 200)
- 2005: All My Life: Their Greatest Hits
(Peaked at #52 on US Billboard 200)
- 2007: 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of K-Ci & JoJo
- 2008: ''Love (K-Ci and JoJo album) (Japan Retail)
- 2008: Playlist Your Way (compilation album)
Dalvin DeGrate albums
K-Ci Hailey Albums
See also
References