Dru Hill

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DRU HILL

Formed: 1992, Baltimore, Maryland

Members: Larry "Jazz," Anthony Jr., vocals (born Baltimore, Maryland, 23 April 1978); Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin, vocals (born Baltimore, Maryland, 21 January 1979); Mark "Sisqó" Andrews, lead vocals (born Baltimore, Maryland, 9 November 1978); James "Woody" Green, vocals (born Baltimore, Maryland, 10 September 1978); Rufus "Scola" Waller, vocals, (born Baltimore, Maryland, 2 March 1979)

Genre: R&B, Hip-Hop

Best-selling album since 1990: Enter the Dru (1998)

Hit songs since 1990: "Tell Me," "In My Bed," "How Deep Is Your Love"

Following the template set at the beginning of the 1990s by vocal quartets such as Jodeci and Boyz II Men, Dru Hill became one of the most successful R&B acts of the late 1990s. Although their gospel-influenced harmonizing over hip-hop beats added little innovation to the sound of their predecessors, they exhibited solid talent as singers, songwriters, and instrumentalists. Their skills attracted the industry's top producers and led to an impressive run of number one R&B hits and solo success for lead vocalist, Sisqó.

The four founding members of Dru Hill (Nokio, Jazz, Sisqó, and Woody) met while still in high school in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1992, after a summer spent entertaining tourists with impromptu performances while working at a fudge shop in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, they formed Dru Hill. Their name was inspired by Baltimore's historic Druid Hill Park. Victories at local talent shows earned them a manager, who in 1996 scored them an audience with the Island Records executive Hiriam Hicks. Hicks needed a group to record the song "Tell Me" for the soundtrack to the 1996 movie Eddie. Not only did Dru Hill get the job, but the song became a top-five R&B hit, and they released their self-titled debut later that year.

Dru Hill was executive-produced by Keith Sweat, one of the pioneers of New Jack Swing, the late-1980s movement that brought rap rhythms and an edgier, more "street" sound to R&B. The album grounds itself firmly in this tradition, offering a collection of mid-tempo R&B songs that showcase aggressively soulful lead vocals backed by the group's tight harmonizing. "Never Make a Promise" makes sentimental declarations of love, whereas "Tell Me" (re-released on this album) approaches "bedroom ballad" territory. Dru Hill also highlights the band's studio and songwriting skills, giving them co-writing and co-producing credits on a number of tracks. Dru Hill spawned a string of number one R&B singles and sold more than 1 million copies.

Extensive touring, including a performance at South African president Nelson Mandela's eightieth birthday party, allowed Dru Hill to prove their skills as showmen and instrumentalists while expanding their fan base. Their 1998 sophomore album, Enter the Dru, debuted at number two on the Billboard album chart and yielded the hits "How Deep Is Your Love" and "These Are the Times," the latter featuring Sisqó delivering the infamous couplet: "Tear you up in little pieces / Swallow you like Reese's Pieces." The album eventually went double platinum.

By this time Sisqó had emerged as the de facto front-man of the group. He sang lead vocals on the majority of Dru Hill's hits, and his platinum blonde-dyed hair, extensive tattoos, and flamboyant clothes further distinguished him from his band mates. In November 1999 he released a solo album, Unleash the Dragon. The first single, "Got to Get It," charted respectably, but it was the second single that turned Sisqó into a bona fide superstar. A bombastic, jittery tribute to skimpy beachwear, "The Thong Song" hit the Top 10 pop charts and was proclaimed "the official anthem of Spring Break 2000" by MTV. That summer Sisqó toured with *NSYNC, then at the peak of their popularity. That fall "The Thong Song" won Best Hip-Hop video at the MTV Video Music Awards. Unleash the Dragon went quadruple platinum. "The Thong Song" proved to be the apex of Sisqó's solo career, and in 2002 he reteamed with Dru Hill (including a new member, Scola) to release the group's long-awaited third album, Dru World Order.

Although scarcely innovators, Dru Hill expertly applied their considerable vocal and songwriting talents to the standard hip-hop-laced R&B of the time. Their succession of hit singles and albums helped push hip-hop toward the mainstream and contributed to its emergence as a major commercial force in the 1990s.