Allure

Formed in New York, the urban soul vocal group Allure became the first act signed to Crave Records, the imprint launched by Mariah Carey. Those ties delivered strong promotional backing for the quartet’s self-titled 1997 debut, which featured appearances by Nas, L.L. Cool J, Raekwon, 112, Q-Tip, and Carey herself; even so, the project registered only as a moderate seller, pointing to commercial promise without fully capitalizing on it.

The members’ story began in the early ’90s when Alia Davis, Lalisha McLean, and Akissa Mendez attended LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts in New York. They completed the lineup by bringing in Davis’s friend Linnie Belcher, then a student at Julia Richmond High School. After two years of intensive rehearsals, management contacts led them to Poke of the Track Masters production team. Poke shaped the still-unnamed ensemble, placed them under the Allure banner at Track Masters, and guided the subsequent deal with Crave Records.

The group’s first single, “Head Over Heels,” included a verse from Nas and reached moderate R&B audiences in April 1997; the full album arrived the following month.