Biography
With their sensual and richly harmonized slow jams, Jodeci reshaped 1990s R&B, forging an influence that reaches forward to newer acts while keeping the quartet a consistent concert attraction. The ensemble, built from two sets of brothers steeped in gospel, debuted in 1991 via the consecutive number-one R&B/hip-hop singles “Forever My Lady,” “Stay,” and “Come and Talk to Me,” which propelled the parent album Forever My Lady to triple-platinum certification. Two years afterward the emboldened foursome intensified the mood on Diary of a Mad Band, another multi-platinum effort that yielded the hits “Cry for You” and “Feenin’.” Their 1995 platinum double album The Show, The After Party, The Hotel reinforced their “bad boys of R&B” reputation as “Freek’n You,” “Love U 4 Life,” and “Get on Up” extended their string of Top Ten R&B/hip-hop singles. Lead vocalists K-Ci and JoJo Hailey later pursued a separate path as a duo, while DeVante Swing and Dalvin DeGrate focused on production and solo projects. The original lineup reconvened for the 2015 release The Past, The Present, The Future and resumed prominent touring throughout the 2020s.
The group’s name merges the members’ given names: Joel “JoJo” Hailey (“Jo”), Donald “DeVante Swing” and Dalvin DeGrate (“de”), and Cedric “K-Ci” Hailey (“ci”). Raised in devout Pentecostal homes in North Carolina, the DeGrates and Haileys began in gospel music. DeVante and Dalvin appeared with the Don DeGrate Delegation under their pastor and televangelist father, while Little Cedric and the Hailey Singers launched K-Ci and JoJo through the ’80s albums Jesus Saves, God’s Blessings, and I’m Alright Now, the final two of which reached the upper tier of Billboard’s gospel chart. After meeting through a mutual acquaintance, the DeGrates and Haileys bonded over plans to enter secular music and officially formed Jodeci in 1988. DeVante, already writing and producing, drew extra drive from a failed audition attempt for Prince at Paisley Park in Minneapolis, and together with Dalvin, K-Ci, and JoJo they assembled a three-cassette demo of twenty-nine songs. The quartet carried the tapes to New York and located Uptown Records, Andre Harrell’s MCA-distributed imprint. Impressed by the polished recordings, Harrell requested an in-office performance, after which Jodeci secured a contract.
Jodeci first gained notice through appearances on two charting singles by Uptown label mate Father MC: 1990’s “Treat Them Like They Want to Be Treated” and early 1991’s “Lisa Baby.” In February 1991 the group released its own debut single, the uptempo new jack swing track “Gotta Love,” which climbed to number 79 on Billboard’s R&B/hip-hop chart. Three months later Forever My Lady arrived, and the act quickly established itself with the chart-topping ballads “Forever My Lady,” “Stay,” and “Come and Talk to Me.” The album itself became Jodeci’s first Top 40 pop entry, peaking at number 25 on the Hot 100, while “Come and Talk to Me” reached number 11. Beyond spotlighting the contrast between K-Ci’s raw power and JoJo’s smoother delivery, Forever My Lady showcased DeVante as a defining producer of the period, with only Al B. Sure! contributing co-production on roughly half the tracks following his own 1990 release Private Times...and the Whole 9! One of the year’s strongest debuts, the album eventually achieved triple-platinum status.
Diary of a Mad Band surfaced in December 1993 as the successor to Forever My Lady. The project supplied an early showcase for members of DeVante’s Swing Mob collective, including Timbaland and Misdemeanor (later known as Missy Elliott) along with the vocal group Sista. Other future notables tied to the collective were Ginuwine, Playa, and Tweet. Mr. Dalvin, already credited with programming on the debut, took production reins on several Diary tracks. The album generated further hits, most prominently “Cry for You,” Jodeci’s fourth number-one R&B/hip-hop single (number 15 pop), and “Feenin’,” which nearly matched that mark (number two R&B/hip-hop, number 25 pop). Entering the Billboard 200 at number three—fifteen spots higher than the debut—it earned platinum certification within three months. Also in 1994, Jodeci appeared on the Murder Was the Case soundtrack with Tha Dogg Pound’s “Come Up to My Room,” co-produced by DeVante, a far more characteristic contribution than their earlier cover of the Association’s “Cherish” for the Fried Green Tomatoes soundtrack.
Issued in July 1995, the conceptual double album The Show, The After Party, The Hotel became Jodeci’s third release to top Billboard’s R&B/hip-hop chart. The varied set of singles—“Freek’n You,” the devotional “Love U 4 Life,” and the midtempo “Get on Up”—each landed in the Top Ten R&B/hip-hop and Top 40 pop categories. Despite the album’s breadth and numerous interludes, DeVante again produced most of the material, with additional contributions from Dalvin, Timbaland, and Stevie J. Although the project debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and went platinum within two months, internal fractures appeared. DeVante placed “Gin & Juice” on the Dangerous Minds soundtrack and continued occasional production for Al Green, 2Pac, and Montell Jordan. K-Ci & JoJo launched as a duo, appearing on 2Pac’s number-one pop single “How Do You Want It” and “Toss It Up,” then scoring their own late-’90s hits such as “All My Life” and “Tell Me It’s Real.” Dalvin secured a major-label solo deal and issued his first album in 2000.
Throughout the remainder of the 2000s and into the early 2010s the members kept a low profile. More than a decade separated K-Ci & JoJo’s fourth and fifth albums, Emotional and My Brother’s Keeper, the latter arriving after a TV One reality series. Inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2012, Jodeci regrouped and returned in March 2015 with The Past, The Present, The Future. Retaining the group’s classic sound with a mature perspective, the album featured two tracks co-produced by DeVante and Timbaland, while DeVante handled the balance alongside Bradd Young and Marquinarias “Sanchez” Holmes. It reached number two on the R&B/hip-hop chart and number 23 on the Billboard 200. Jodeci resumed live work in 2022, touring alongside Charlie Wilson and New Edition, then headlined the 2023 Summer Block Party tour with SWV and Dru Hill.
The group’s name merges the members’ given names: Joel “JoJo” Hailey (“Jo”), Donald “DeVante Swing” and Dalvin DeGrate (“de”), and Cedric “K-Ci” Hailey (“ci”). Raised in devout Pentecostal homes in North Carolina, the DeGrates and Haileys began in gospel music. DeVante and Dalvin appeared with the Don DeGrate Delegation under their pastor and televangelist father, while Little Cedric and the Hailey Singers launched K-Ci and JoJo through the ’80s albums Jesus Saves, God’s Blessings, and I’m Alright Now, the final two of which reached the upper tier of Billboard’s gospel chart. After meeting through a mutual acquaintance, the DeGrates and Haileys bonded over plans to enter secular music and officially formed Jodeci in 1988. DeVante, already writing and producing, drew extra drive from a failed audition attempt for Prince at Paisley Park in Minneapolis, and together with Dalvin, K-Ci, and JoJo they assembled a three-cassette demo of twenty-nine songs. The quartet carried the tapes to New York and located Uptown Records, Andre Harrell’s MCA-distributed imprint. Impressed by the polished recordings, Harrell requested an in-office performance, after which Jodeci secured a contract.
Jodeci first gained notice through appearances on two charting singles by Uptown label mate Father MC: 1990’s “Treat Them Like They Want to Be Treated” and early 1991’s “Lisa Baby.” In February 1991 the group released its own debut single, the uptempo new jack swing track “Gotta Love,” which climbed to number 79 on Billboard’s R&B/hip-hop chart. Three months later Forever My Lady arrived, and the act quickly established itself with the chart-topping ballads “Forever My Lady,” “Stay,” and “Come and Talk to Me.” The album itself became Jodeci’s first Top 40 pop entry, peaking at number 25 on the Hot 100, while “Come and Talk to Me” reached number 11. Beyond spotlighting the contrast between K-Ci’s raw power and JoJo’s smoother delivery, Forever My Lady showcased DeVante as a defining producer of the period, with only Al B. Sure! contributing co-production on roughly half the tracks following his own 1990 release Private Times...and the Whole 9! One of the year’s strongest debuts, the album eventually achieved triple-platinum status.
Diary of a Mad Band surfaced in December 1993 as the successor to Forever My Lady. The project supplied an early showcase for members of DeVante’s Swing Mob collective, including Timbaland and Misdemeanor (later known as Missy Elliott) along with the vocal group Sista. Other future notables tied to the collective were Ginuwine, Playa, and Tweet. Mr. Dalvin, already credited with programming on the debut, took production reins on several Diary tracks. The album generated further hits, most prominently “Cry for You,” Jodeci’s fourth number-one R&B/hip-hop single (number 15 pop), and “Feenin’,” which nearly matched that mark (number two R&B/hip-hop, number 25 pop). Entering the Billboard 200 at number three—fifteen spots higher than the debut—it earned platinum certification within three months. Also in 1994, Jodeci appeared on the Murder Was the Case soundtrack with Tha Dogg Pound’s “Come Up to My Room,” co-produced by DeVante, a far more characteristic contribution than their earlier cover of the Association’s “Cherish” for the Fried Green Tomatoes soundtrack.
Issued in July 1995, the conceptual double album The Show, The After Party, The Hotel became Jodeci’s third release to top Billboard’s R&B/hip-hop chart. The varied set of singles—“Freek’n You,” the devotional “Love U 4 Life,” and the midtempo “Get on Up”—each landed in the Top Ten R&B/hip-hop and Top 40 pop categories. Despite the album’s breadth and numerous interludes, DeVante again produced most of the material, with additional contributions from Dalvin, Timbaland, and Stevie J. Although the project debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and went platinum within two months, internal fractures appeared. DeVante placed “Gin & Juice” on the Dangerous Minds soundtrack and continued occasional production for Al Green, 2Pac, and Montell Jordan. K-Ci & JoJo launched as a duo, appearing on 2Pac’s number-one pop single “How Do You Want It” and “Toss It Up,” then scoring their own late-’90s hits such as “All My Life” and “Tell Me It’s Real.” Dalvin secured a major-label solo deal and issued his first album in 2000.
Throughout the remainder of the 2000s and into the early 2010s the members kept a low profile. More than a decade separated K-Ci & JoJo’s fourth and fifth albums, Emotional and My Brother’s Keeper, the latter arriving after a TV One reality series. Inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2012, Jodeci regrouped and returned in March 2015 with The Past, The Present, The Future. Retaining the group’s classic sound with a mature perspective, the album featured two tracks co-produced by DeVante and Timbaland, while DeVante handled the balance alongside Bradd Young and Marquinarias “Sanchez” Holmes. It reached number two on the R&B/hip-hop chart and number 23 on the Billboard 200. Jodeci resumed live work in 2022, touring alongside Charlie Wilson and New Edition, then headlined the 2023 Summer Block Party tour with SWV and Dru Hill.
Albums
Forever My Lady (Expanded Edition)
2022
Diary Of A Mad Band (Expanded Edition)
2022
Texas Made Hold It Douwn 4 the South, Pt. 2: Blowing Up
2021
Back To The Future: The Very Best Of Jodeci
2005
The Show, The After Party, The Hotel (Expanded Edition)
1995
The Show, The After Party, The Hotel
1995
Diary Of A Mad Band
1993
Forever My Lady
1991
Singles
