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Jodeci is the combination of two performing gospel families, the Haileys and the DeGrates. Brothers Cedric and Joel Hailey, aka K-Ci and JoJo respectively, had previously performed as Little Cedric & the Hailey Singers and released three albums “Jesus Saves”, “I’m Alright Now”, and “God’s Blessings”. The DeGrate family also performed and toured as a family band, with members Donald DeGrate (DeVante Swing) and Dalvin DeGrate (Mr. Dalvin) combining to form Jodeci in 1988.
With only a modest amount of money the group travelled to New York City to accost Uptown Records CEO Andre Harrell. Following a live audition in which Jodeci performed “Come and Talk to Me” and “I’m Still Waiting”, Andre Harrell, taken back by the performance, signed the band that day. Placed in the capable hands of then-intern Sean “Puffy” Combs the group augmented their bad boy image, later making their debut on the Father MC song “Treat Them Like They Want to Be Treated”.
Jodeci made their live performance debut In June 1991 on an episode of Soul Train, after which the group issued their debut album “Forever My Lady” in August 1991. The record was marked by its bold approach, featuring distinctive soul and new jack swing production, and seductive songwriting. The album won over fans and critics alike, peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard 200, and remarkably spawned the five singles: “Gotta Love”, “Forever My Lady”, “Stay”, “Come and Talk to Me”, and “I’m Still Waiting”. Despite a distinct lack of promotion due to Jodeci threatening to leave Uptown, the band’s sophomore album “Diary of a Mad Band”, peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. Aided by the singles “Feenin’”, the R&B No. 1 “Cry for You”, and “What About Us”, the record features contributions from Timabland, Missy Elliot, and Redman.
Surpassing the success of its predecessors, Jodeci’s third full-length album “The Show, the After Party, the Hotel” was issued in July 1995. Selling over a million copies and supported by the singles “Freek’n You”, “Love U 4 Life”, and “Get on Up”, the record peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Following the a 20 year hiatus in which members pursued their own interests, Jodeci returned to the spotlight, with Timbaland at the production reigns, to release their fourth studio album “The Past, The Present, The Future” in 2015. Led by the single “Nobody Wins”, the album debuted at No. 23 on the Billboard 200, and earned a host of positive reviews from the critical press.
There’s a seriously exclusive list of tracks, in terms of nineties hip hop and R&B, that are really on their own level of unrivaled smoothness; I’d say that Ginuwine’s ‘Pony’ is one such classic, and you’d have to say that the entirety of D’Angelo’s Brown Sugar LP deserves a place on there too, but perhaps the pick of a genuinely sensational bunch would have to be ‘Freek’N You’ by Jodeci. It’s an iconic track that brings together all the classic touchpoints of nineties R&B in four and a half perfect minutes; it’s so good, in fact, that you might well argue that the four-piece from Charlotte, North Carolina never quite matched its success over the course of a career that’s now spanned almost a quarter of a century. Despite the fact that they’ve not released an album since 1995’s platinum-selling The Show, The After-Party, The Hotel, they’ve continued to enjoy the trappings of the touring lifestyle that were described by that album’s title. Retaining their original lineup - remarkably, they’ve had no reshuffles over the past twenty-five years - their most recent UK show saw them play Wembley Arena with the likes of SWU and Dru Hill, although their muddled set was met with a decidedly mixed reception on Twitter; their shows in their home country of late have been far better received.
Joeg_67
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