Dru Hill

Dru Hill is an American R&B boy band that achieved popularity in the late 1990s. Encompassing soul, hip hop soul and gospel music, the group was founded in Baltimore in 1992 by Tamir "Nokio the N-Tity" Ruffin, who served as a member alongside lead singer Mark "Sisqó" Andrews, Larry "Jazz" Anthony and James "Woody" Green. Dru Hill has released seven Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hits, and are best known for their singles "In My Bed", "Never Make a Promise" and "How Deep Is Your Love". The group signed with A. Haqq Islam's University Records, an imprint of Island Records' then-newfound urban division in 1994. The label released their first two albums—Dru Hill (1996) and Enter the Dru (1998)—to moderate success before separating for a period from late 1999 to 2002, during which time Sisqó and Woody released solo albums. While Woody's album, Soul Music, was a moderate success in the gospel music industry, Sisqó's debut album, Unleash the Dragon (1999), and its hit singles, "Thong Song" and "Incomplete", were major pop successes, and established Sisqó as a prominent solo act in outside of Dru Hill. His second solo album, Return of Dragon (2000), did not perform as well. In 2002, by then part of the Def Soul record label, following a merger between Island, sister label Def Jam Recordings and Universal Music Group, the group reunited and added fifth member Scola to the lineup for their third album, Dru World Order (2002); after its commercial underperformance, the group met with Island Def Jam president L.A. Reid about a follow-up. When the group failed to develop their fourth album, Def Jam cited the group as non-productive and destructive, having dropped the group from Def Soul in 2004. In 2009, the group signed to Kedar Entertainment Group and released their fourth album, InDRUpendence Day (2005), the following year, with new member Tao taking the place of the again departed Woody. Dru Hill was influenced by the Dragon and Asian culture, as displayed in their wardrobe and logo.

Genre: r-b, quiet-storm, smooth-r-b

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