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Alben
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Jodeci
 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 its members: Jo-Jo, 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 1996. 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.
Early success
On May 28, 1991, Jodeci released their debut album, Forever My Lady, which included the singles "Gotta Love", "Forever My Lady", "Stay", "Come and Talk To Me", and "I'm Still Waiting". Three of these singles hit #1 on the R&B charts and the album sold over three million copies. Jodeci won an American Music Award for Come and Talk to Me.
On most of the tracks on Forever My Lady and subsequent releases by the group, K-Ci and Jo-Jo share lead vocals, and all four members contribute backgrounds. DeVante and Uptown labelmate Al B. Sure! produced the album, while DeVante wrote every song with help from K-Ci on "Gotta Love" and Al B. Sure! on the title track. K-Ci and Jo-Jo also worked with Al B. as background vocalists when Al B. and Kyle West produced a few tracks on T.E.V.I.N., Tevin Campbell's debut LP. DeVante went on to co-produce tracks on Al B.'s Sexy Versus album in 1992.
On February 6, 1993, Jodeci, along with Uptown labelmates Father MC, Heavy D, Mary J. Blige, and Christopher Williams, recorded the "Uptown Unplugged" episode of MTV Unplugged, which aired on MTV on May 31, 1993. After performing live versions of "Forever My Lady," "Come & Talk to Me" and "Stay," the group closed their session with a cover of Stevie Wonder's 1980 single "Lately". The song became their first and only Top 5 pop hit.
During this same year, a woman filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against K-Ci and DeVante. She had met K-Ci at a nightclub, and went home with him, where allegedly DeVante pointed a gun at her while K-Ci fondled her breasts.
As it came time to release the second Jodeci album, there was dispute between Uptown and the band, who felt they were being treated unfairly by the label. Diary of a Mad Band was finally released on December 21, 1993, with very little initial promotional backing from the label, but eventually went platinum. The album spawned such hits as "Feenin'" and the #1 R&B hit "Cry For You"; the video for the latter was directed by a then-relatively unknown Sean "Puffy" Combs. It was around this time that Death Row Records CEO, Suge Knight approached the group and signed them to Suge Management as a part time manager and consultant.
Expansion and collaborations
By 1992, the success of the first album allowed DeVante to found the "Swing Mob", a collective of artists, songwriters, and producers who were signed to Elektra Records through his "Swing Mob" imprint. A number of the members formed Jodeci's touring band, including guitarist Darryl Pearson. All of the twenty-plus members of Swing Mob lived in a single two-story house in New York City, and often did songwriting, production, and guest vocal work on Jodeci records.
Many of the artists signed to Swing Mob were Jodeci fans who auditioned for DeVante backstage before or after Jodeci concerts, including the female quartet Sista. Among the members of Sista was a young singer/rapper named Missy Elliott; she brought her friends Tim "DJ Timmy Tim" Mosley and Melvin "Magoo" Barcliff along with her when she and Sista moved to New York after getting signed to Swing Mob. DeVante liked Mosely's unusual production style, and, dubbing him "Timbaland", began working with the young producer on material for Jodeci, Sista, Playa, and Swing Mob members Elgin "Ginuwine" Lumpkin and Suga, another female quartet that included Tweet. Playa was discovered in 1991 by Devante, backstage, during a Jodeci show in Louisville. He was so impressed by Smoke ([1]) & Black singing a capella that he came back in 1994 to sign them. They worked a lot with Devante and contributed to the special "Jodeci vocal harmonies".
The Swing Mob members recorded dozens of records, including an entire Sista LP, chiefly written by Missy and produced by DeVante and Timbaland. 4 All The Sistas Around Da World was scheduled for a 1994 released, but was shelved. However, the album had moderate success with the hit "Brand New".
Other frequent Jodeci collaborators during this period included K-Ci's then-girlfriend Mary J. Blige and hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur, for whom DeVante produced a number of tracks.
In 1995, Jodeci also did remixes for UK RnB band MN8 for their hit single release "Happy".
Albums
* 1991: Forever My Lady
* 1993: Diary of a Mad Band
* 1995: The Show, The After Party, The Hotel
* 2009: TBD
[edit] 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
[edit] 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" ]
[edit] 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
[edit] Dalvin DeGrate albums
* 2000: Met.A.Mor.Phic
[edit] K-Ci Hailey Albums
* 2006: My Book
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