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Dru Hill Information
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'Dru Hill' was an American singing group, most popular during the late 1990s, whose repertoire included R&B, soul, and gospel music. Founded in Baltimore, Maryland and active from 1992 to 2005, Dru Hill recorded seven Top 40 hits, and is best known for the R&B #1 hits "In My Bed", "Never Make a Promise", and "How Deep is Your Love". Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin was the group's founder and leader; his bandmates included main lead singer Mark "Sisqó" Andrews, Larry "Jazz" Anthony, and James "Woody" Green. Signing to Island Records through Haqq Islam's University Records imprint, Dru Hill released two successful LPs before separating for a period from late 1999 to 2002, during which time Sisqó and Woody released solo albums. In 2002, by then part of the Def Soul record label, the group reunited and added fifth member Rufus "Scola" Waller to the lineup for their third and final LP, Dru World Order.
History
Formation
All four original members of Dru Hill were natives of Baltimore. Mark Andrews and James Green met each other in middle school, and both later became acquaintances of Tamir Ruffin when all three began pursuing careers in the music industry. Ruffin, nicknamed "Nokio" (Nasty On Key In Octave) enlisted Andrews and Green (whose respective nicknames of "Sisqó" and "Woody" came from their childhood) to form a singing group. The trio added Larry "Jazz" Anthony, an opera student, to complete their lineup. The group was named "Dru Hill" after Druid Hill Park, a section of Baltimore.
The quartet made a name for itself by getting jobs at a local fudge factory, where they sang to entertain guests while making the candy. Most of their early repitoire was made up of gospel music; the group eventually switched to the more commercially viable genre of R&B.
Big break and Dru Hill
Dru Hill's big break came in 1996, when manager Haqq Islam arranged for them to perform at the Impact Convention in May. The group was signed to Island Records shortly afterward through a production deal with Islam's University music and immediately began recording their debut album. The self-titled Dru Hill was released on November 19 1996, and became a gold-selling album. The group's first single, "Tell Me", was featured on the soundtrack to the Whoopi Goldberg film Eddie, and was a Top 5 R&B hit in the United States.
Stylistically, Dru Hill was the middle-ground between the smooth, gentlemen-like Boyz II Men and the self-proclaimed "bad boys of R&B", Jodeci. Dru Hill received a lot of criticism, especially from the members of Jodeci, for what was perceived was a direct rip-off of Jodeci's style, particularly in frontman Sisqó's K-Ci Hailey-esque lead vocals. Other major influences for the group included Stevie Wonder and 1980s boy band New Edition.
Both the group themselves and songwriters/producers such as Daryl Simmons and Keith Sweat wrote the songs for the Dru Hill album, with the group themselves writing the single "5 Steps". Nokio also did some co-production, and would become the group's main producer by 1998.
All four members took turns singing lead, with Sisqó making the biggest impression on audiences with his dancing style, David Ruffin-styled emoting, and bleached-blond hair. The Sisqó-led "In My Bed" was the group's first Top 5 pop hit and first #1 R&B hit. Jazz took the lead on the third single, "Never Make a Promise", which became a second #1 R&B hit. "Never Make a Promise's" music video starred Michelle Thomas as Jazz's girlfriend, and was noted for its message against child molestation.
Between their first and second albums, Dru Hill contributed "We're Not Making Love No More", a #2 R&B hit, to the Soul Food soundtrack. "We're Not Making Love No More" was written and produced by star producer Babyface. Dru Hill and rapper Foxy Brown recorded "Big Bad Mama", a remake of Carl Carlton's 1981 hit "She's a Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked)", which was the main single for the soundtrack to the 1998 Bill Bellamy film Def Jam's How to Be a Player.
The group was also instrumental in writing and producing for new University artist Mya, whose first two singles "It's All About Me" and "Movin' On", were co-written by Sisqó, who also performs guest vocals on "It's All About Me".
Enter the Dru
Dru Hill's second Top 5 pop hit came in the form of 1998's "How Deep is Your Love", a hip hop styled track which was included on the soundtrack to the Chris Tucker film Rush Hour, set the tone for the group's second LP, Enter the Dru. The album featured several other mid-tempo tracks in the vein of "How Deep", as well as the R&B Top 5 single "These are the Times", co-written and co-produced by Babyface.
Enter the Dru eventually sold two million copies by 1999. That year, Dru Hill recorded a version of "Enchantment Passing Through" for the soundtrack to the Broadway play Aida.
The Dru World Order project
Among the press and the public, Sisqó was singled out as a de-facto solo act, and the other three members were reguarded as sidemen. When Dru Hill made a high-profile guest appearance on Will Smith's #1 pop hit "Wild Wild West", the lead single from the soundtrack to Smith's 1999 film of the same name, it made a star out of Sisqó alone. Both the song and its video prominently featured Sisqó alongside Smith, with the other three members relegated to the background.
During the "Wild Wild West" video shoot in April 1999, Woody quit the group, feeling a need to return to his gospel music roots. At first, Island decided to keep Dru Hill a trio, and shot a video for a hip-hop-styled remix of Enter the Dru's "You are Everything" with only Sisqó, Jazz, and Nokio, who performs a rap with Def Jam artist Ja Rule. Def Jam artist Case was subsequently enlisted to sing backgrounds on a remix of "Beauty" from Enter the Dru, whose video was shot but not released.
After Island merged with Def Jam to become The Island Def Jam Music Group in mid-1999, all four members, Woody included, signed new contracts with Def Jam's R&B imprint Def Soul, creating what was termed the "Dru World Order" project. Between November 1999 and November 2000, each member would release a solo album: Sisqó a pop album, Jazz a traditional R&B/soul album, Nokio a hip hop album, and Woody a gospel album. All four members would then reunite and record Dru World Order, a new Dru Hill album to be released in November 2000.
Sisqó released his debut Unleash the Dragon LP, and had a minor hit with his first single, "Got to Get It". His second single, a playful novelty record entitled "Thong Song", became a major hit during the spring of 2000, and his third, "Incomplete", became a number-one hit during the fall. As a result, the Dru World Order project schedule was continually pushed back, and, by November 2000, none of the other solo albums had been released.
In the early fall of 2000, Def Soul had Dru Hill re-enter the studio to record the Dru World Order album, and the song "Without Me" was chosen as the lead single. However, the time the group had spent apart created tension and conflict: Sisqó walked out of a November 2000 Dru Hill photo shoot for VIBE magazine, and the group broke apart completely shortly afterward.
Dru World Order was placed on indefinite hold, and Sisqó began work on a second solo LP, Return of Dragon. "Without You" was issued as an album track on Return of Dragon, which performed below expectations after its June 2001 release. By the end of the year, Sisqó and Nokio had begun plans to reassemble Dru Hill.
Woody was responsive to the idea of re-joining the group, but Jazz decided not to return. Dru Hill enlisted Baltimore associate Rufus Waller, who performed under the name "Ruscola", as Jazz's replacement. During the recording of Dru World Order, Jazz re-thought his decision and returned to the group, making it a quintet.
Dru World Order
Dru World Order was released on November 26 2002, two years after its original planned release date. Nearly all of the album's tracks were produced by Nokio, who sung lead on the tracks "She Said" and "Men Always Regret". Producers such as Brian Michael Cox and Kwame also made contributions. Most of the album's tracks featured Sisqó, Jazz, Woody, and Scola sharing the leads, including the lead single "I Should Be...". "I Should Be..." was a Top 30 pop hit and a Top 10 R&B hit, while its follow-up "I Love You" failed to make a strong impression.
Beyond Dru World Order
By 2005, Dru Hill had been released from their Def Soul contract and had disappeared from public view. As of current, both Sisqó and Jazz have returned to their solo careers. Def Soul released a greatest hits compilation, Dru Hill: Hits, on October 11, along with a corresponding DVD collection of the group's music videos. Both collections included Sisqó's biggest solo hits, "Thong Song" and "Incomplete" alongside the Dru Hill songs. No new material is included on either the CD or DVD. Initially, the members of Dru Hill knew nothing about a greatest hits CD being released, therefore when contacted it was reported that the information was false. There are rumblings about the fact that they are not pleased, and it's rumored that there could be a lawsuit.
Personnel
* Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin (1992-2000; 2002 - 2005)
* James "Woody" Green (1992-1999; 2002 - 2005)
* Mark "Sisqó" Andrews (1992-2000; 2002 - 2005)
* Larry "Jazz" Anthony (1992-2000; 2002 - 2005)
* Rufus "Scola" Waller (2001- 2005)
Discography
Albums
* 1996: Dru Hill (platinum)
* 1998: Enter the Dru (2x platinum)
* 2002: Dru World Order (gold)
* 2005: Dru Hill: Hits (compilation)
DVDs
* 2005: Dru Hill: Hits - The Videos
Singles and music videos
* 1996: "Tell Me" (R&B #5, US #18)
* 1996: "In My Bed" (a 1997 remix features Jermaine Dupri and Da Brat) (R&B #1, US #4)
* 1997: "Never Make a Promise" (R&B #1, US #7)
* 1997: "5 Steps" (R&B #5)
* 1997: "We're Not Making Love No More" (R&B #2, US #13)
* 1998: "Big Bad Mama" (Foxy Brown featuring Dru Hill) (US #53)
* 1998: "How Deep is Your Love" (the Rush Hour soundtrack version features Redman) (R&B #1, US #3, UK #9)
* 1999: "These Are The Times" (R&B #5, US #21, UK #4)
* 1999: "Wild Wild West" (Will Smith featuring Dru Hill and Kool Moe Dee) (US #1)
* 1999: "The Love We Had (Stays on My Mind)" (charting album track, R&B #48) (*)
* 1999: "You Are Everything [Remix]" (featuring Ja Rule, later included on Sisqó's first solo LP, Unleash the Dragon) (US #84)
* 1999: "Beauty" (R&B #24, US #89) (*)
* 2002: "I Should Be..." (R&B #6, US #25)
* 2003: "No Doubt (Work It)" (R&B #34) (*)
* 2003: "I Love You" (R&B #27, US #77)
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