K-Ci and JoJo
K-Ci and JoJo is an
American R&B duo, comprised of brothers
Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey and
Joel "Jo-Jo" Hailey. Both members, natives of
Charlotte, North Carolina, were also members of the
chart-topping R&B group
Jodeci with the DeGrate brothers:
DeVante and
Dalvin.
Early years
Main article: Jodeci.
When they were children, K-Ci and JoJo grew up singing in a
Pentecostal church, touring the south. As teenagers, they met
Donald DeGrate, Jr. (DeVante Swing) and
Dalvin DeGrate (Mr. Dalvin). All four members openly talked about forming a group.
When DeVante was 16, he journeyed to
Minneapolis to join
Prince's organization, but he was turned down. He then asked K-Ci and JoJo to join him in
New York to shop demo tapes around featuring his production skills and their singing. Dalvin decided to tag along at the last minute. Soon thereafter,
Heavy D got his hands on a tape and passed it on to
Uptown Records CEO Andre Harrell, who made arrangements to sign the group, who called themselves
Jodeci.
Sean "Puffy" Combs was credited for creating the group gritty, hard-edged looks, and for helping develop the group's
new jack swing-styled sound for their debut album
Forever My Lady.
K-Ci and JoJo had a notable career with Jodeci, topping the R&B singles charts with such songs as "Stay", "
Come & Talk To Me", and "Cry for You". In
1992, DeVante formed the
Swing Mob, a group of artists, songwriters, and producers that took part in their later albums. Jodeci released three albums, but in
1996 the group went on an indefinite hiatus (the group never formally split up). Jodeci is credited with starting the musical careers of
Missy Elliott,
Timbaland, and
Ginuwine.
On their own
K-Ci and JoJo's first sign of independence came in
1994 when K-Ci
covered Bobby Womack's hit "If You Think You're Lonely Now" for the movie
Jason's Lyric. Early in
1996, K-Ci and Jo-Jo teamed up for the song "How Could You" for the movie
Bulletproof starring
Damon Wayans and
Adam Sandler.
By July
1996, K-Ci and JoJo finally had a hit on their hands as guest artists in
2Pac's number-one R&B hit "How Do U Want It". It also topped the
Billboard Hot 100. The brothers made their side projects into a full album,
Love Always. Released on
June 17,
1997, the album spawned two top-ten R&B hits: "You Bring Me Up" and "Last Night's Letter". The minor success of those singles, however, paled in comparison to the success of the album's third single, "
All My Life". A supple, lush
ballad far removed from the Jodeci material of the early
1990s, "All My Life" was the number-one song on the Hot 100 for three weeks, a feat that K-Ci and Jo-Jo had never achieved with Jodeci. Future singles and albums would be crafted in the vein of "All My Life", which was the duo's only number-one hit.
Love Always went on to sell four million copies, and the success of the album put Jodeci's reunion on hold indefinitely.
Their second album.
It's Real. was released on
June 22,
1999. It spawned one major hit "Tell Me It's Real" which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard's R&B charts. K-Ci and Jo-Jo returned with
X on
December 5,
2000. "
X", the Roman numeral for ten, was picked as the album title to celebrate the Haileys' tenth anniversary in the music business. They made a strong return to the Billboard Hot 100 early in
2001 with the song "Crazy", also included on the
Save the Last Dance soundtrack. "Crazy" peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. Later that same year, K-Ci allegedly fondled his erect and exposed penis at the KIIS-FM Jingle Ball 2000 show in
Los Angeles. From videotape evidence, he was charged with
indecent exposure. He pleaded no contest and was fined and put on
probation.
The fourth K-Ci and Jo-Jo album,
Emotional, was released on
November 26,
2002, but failed to find commercial success. K-Ci and JoJo released a
greatest hits album on
February 8,
2005. They are believed to have teamed back up with DeVante Swing and Mr. Dalvin for a Jodeci reunion album. However, Jodeci's reunion is still very much on the sidelines, having been held back so many times over the last four years.
*Music runs deep in K-Ci and JoJo's family. Two of their cousins,
Dave Hollister and
Fantasia Barrino, are also acclaimed vocalists. Hollister and Barrino are not related.
*
Jodeci
