Jodeci

An urban boy band with street swagger and hip hop attitude, Jodeci were tougher and cooler than the average pouting, fully-synchronised 1990s pop group, oozing with New Jack Swing arrogance and scores of slick, funky, R&B ballads. Made up of two sets of brothers, Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey, Joel "JoJo" Hailey, Donald "Devante Swing" DeGrate and Dalvin DeGrate grew up singing gospel songs in church choirs in Charlotte, North Carolina before landing a deal with New York's Uptown Records, where they were managed by a young Sean "Puffy" Combs. Their debut album Forever My Lady (1991) made the US Top 20 and produced the hit Come And Talk To Me, as the band became teenage heartthrobs and drew comparisons with Bobby Brown's group New Edition. Their follow-ups Diary Of A Mad Band (1993) and The Show, The After Party, The Hotel (1995) reached Number 3 and Number 2 in the US charts and singles Cry For You, Feenin' and their big anthem Freek'n You helped launch the careers of their collaborators Timbaland and Missy Elliott. The group slipped away in the 2000s, but K-Ci & Jojo released a string of albums together and DeVante Swing went on to write and produce for Sisqo, Mariah Carey, Montell Jordan and Michael Jackson.

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