When the ’90s hit, R&B was already asking: how much higher can this go? We had Michael, Prince, Bobby, Whitney, Luther, Freddie — and that’s just naming a few. Songs about love and romance owned the charts. So what could anybody do differently to break through a genre that strong?
How about I introduce you to a group named Jodeci — K-Ci, JoJo, DeVanté Swing, and Mr. Dalvin. It’s like they took “I Need Love” and mixed it with “Sexual Healing” to produce a sound nobody had heard before. Church-raised voices singing grown folks’ music.
Forever My Lady (1991)
My favorites off the debut: “Stay,” “Come and Talk to Me,” “Forever My Lady,” and “U & I.” Al B. Sure! and DeVanté Swing shaped that album — and a debut delivering three #1 R&B singles told the world Jodeci had arrived.
Diary of a Mad Band (1993)
The second album did not let us down. “Feenin'” is my song — if you’re crazy in love and can’t find the words, that’s the track you play. “My Heart Belongs to You,” “Cry for You,” “What About Us?” — hits on hits.
The Show, the After Party, the Hotel (1995)
“Fallin’,” “Freek’n You,” “Love U 4 Life,” and “Good Luv” are my cuts. I still wish “Fallin'” was a full song. Maybe one day Jodeci reboots it and gives us that comeback album.
Where They Are Now
Jodeci started as two sets of brothers out of Charlotte, North Carolina — the Haileys (K-Ci and JoJo) and the DeGrates (DeVanté and Mr. Dalvin) — church kids who took gospel training to Uptown Records and changed R&B forever. Three multi-platinum albums in four years, and a blueprint every R&B group since has borrowed.
K-Ci and JoJo went on to score one of the biggest R&B ballads of all time with “All My Life.” DeVanté’s Swing Mob crew hatched Missy Elliott and Timbaland — that’s Jodeci DNA running through two more decades of music. The group came back together for 2015’s The Past, The Present, The Future and they’ve kept hitting stages on reunion tours ever since. Forever their lady? We never left.