Dru Hill | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 19, 1996 | |||
Genre | R&B [1] | |||
Length | 59:29 | |||
Label | Island | |||
Producer | Hiriam Hicks (exec.), Andre Bell, Stanley Brown, Terence Dudley, A. Islam Haqq, Hitman, Benjamin Love, Nokio the N-Tity, Darryl Pearson, Daryl Simmons, Allen "Grip" Smith, Keith Sweat, Tim Dawg, Janice Upchurch | |||
Dru Hill chronology | ||||
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Singles from Dru Hill | ||||
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Dru Hill is the debut studio album from American boy band Dru Hill, released November 19, 1996, on Island Records. The album featured four singles "Tell Me", "In My Bed", "Never Make A Promise" and "5 Steps". All of the singles had music videos released. The album also features the So So Def remix of "In My Bed", which features Jermaine Dupri and Da Brat, as a bonus track, which also had a music video released.
The album peaked at number twenty-three on the Billboard 200 chart. By June 1997 it was certified platinum in sales by the RIAA, after sales exceeding 1,000,000 copies in the United States.
All of the songs on the album are performed by Sisqó, Nokio, Jazz and Woody. Sisqó sings solo on the tracks "In My Bed", "Love's Train" and "Share My World", Jazz sings solo on "Never Make A Promise" and Woody sings solo on "April Showers". Nokio has no solos and is featured on "Satisfied" & "All Alone" which all of the members perform on both.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Robert Christgau | [2] |
Muzik | 8/10 [3] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [4] |
Vibe | (favourable) [5] |
The album peaked at twenty-three on the U.S. Billboard 200 and reached the fifth spot on the R&B Albums chart. [6] The album was certified gold in February 1997 and platinum by June of the same year. [7] Rob Theakston of AllMusic called the album "an impressive debut and a razor-sharp clue of the great things to come." [1]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Anthem" | Janice Upchurch; Andre Bell | Stanley Brown, Janice Upchurch, Andre Bell | 1:00 |
2. | "Nothing To Prove" | Tim Patterson; Terence Dudley; F. Rovira; M. Ellis | Tim Dawg, Terence Dudley | 4:06 |
3. | "Tell Me" | Stanley Brown; Myron; Alex Cantrall | Stanley Brown, Benjamin Love | 4:13 |
4. | "Do U Believe?" | Tim Patterson; Terence Dudley | Tim Dawg, Terence Dudley | 4:12 |
5. | "Whatever U Want" | Stanley Brown; Mark Andrews; Larry Anthony; Myron; Saeida Hall | Stanley Brown | 3:58 |
6. | "Satisfied" | Nate "Phenomenal" Clemons; Tamir Ruffin; Mark Andrews; James Green | The Clemons Brothers, Nokio the N-Tity | 4:44 |
7. | "April Showers" | James Green; Larry Anthony; Tamir Ruffin | A. Haqq Islam, Nokio The N-Tity | 3:34 |
8. | "All Alone" | Tamir Ruffin; James Green; Mark Andrews; Larry Anthony; Gregory Jones | A. Haqq Islam, Nokio The N-Tity | 3:35 |
9. | "Never Make a Promise" | Daryl Simmons | Daryl Simmons | 5:27 |
10. | "So Special" | Tamir Ruffin; Darryl Pearson; James Green; Larry Anthony; Mark Andrews | Darryl Pearson, A. Haqq Islam, Nokio The N-Tity | 5:24 |
11. | "In My Bed" | Raphael Brown; Ralph Stacy; Daryl Simmons | Daryl Simmons | 4:45 |
12. | "Love's Train" | Michael Cooper; Felton Pilate | Keith Sweat, Allen Smith | 4:20 |
13. | "Share My World" | Keith Sweat; Bobby Crawford; Jerome Lane | Keith Sweat | 4:28 |
14. | "5 Steps" | Tamir Ruffin; James Green; Wendi Miller | Stanley Brown, Nokio The N-Tity | 5:43 |
15. | "In My Bed (So So Def Mix) [EU Bonus Track]" (featuring Jermaine Dupri & Da Brat) | Jermaine Dupri | 4:02 | |
16. | "Tell Me (Bounce Version) [JP Bonus Track]" (featuring Big Dex) | Stanley Brown & Benjamin Love | 4:16 | |
17. | "This Christmas [JP Bonus Track]" | Stanley Brown | 4:12 |
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United States (RIAA) [7] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
rolling stone dru hill album guide.
Mark Althavan Andrews, known professionally as Sisqó, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. Following his tenure as lead performer of the R&B group Dru Hill, he quickly reached success as a solo act with the release of his debut studio album Unleash the Dragon (1999), which peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. It spawned the singles "Incomplete" and "Thong Song", which peaked at numbers one and three on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. His second album, Return of Dragon (2001) trailed commercially, as did his subsequent releases. He received 12th place on the eleventh season of The Masked Singer as Lizard.
Dru Hill is an American R&B group, whose repertoire included soul, hip hop soul and gospel music. The group was founded in Baltimore in 1992 by Tamir "Nokio the N-Tity" Ruffin, and as of 2023, is still active. Dru Hill recorded seven top 40 hits, and is best known for the R&B number-one hits "In My Bed", "Never Make a Promise" and "How Deep Is Your Love". Its original members were lead singer Mark "Sisqó" Andrews, Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin, Larry "Jazz" Anthony and James "Woody" Green. The group achieved popularity in the mid 1990s.
"Thong Song" is a song recorded by American R&B singer Sisqó. It was released on February 15, 2000, as the second single from his solo debut studio album, Unleash the Dragon (1999). "Thong Song" garnered four Grammy nominations and numerous other awards. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Rhythmic top 40 chart and number three on the Billboard Hot 100, Sisqó's second highest-peaking hit behind "Incomplete". It was a major success worldwide as well, reaching the top ten throughout European charts and reaching number three in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Denmark. The song also topped the charts in New Zealand.
Unleash the Dragon is the debut solo studio album by American R&B singer Sisqó of Dru Hill, released on November 30, 1999, on Def Soul. Sisqó recorded the album during Dru Hill's hiatus. It includes the hit songs "Got to Get It", "Incomplete", and "Thong Song". Previously, Sisqo had been the lead singer of the group Dru Hill. Recorded under Island Records, the group released two multi-platinum albums to date: Dru Hill (1996) and Enter the Dru (1998). In 2003, the album was certified quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of five million copies in the United States.
Return of Dragon is the second solo studio album by American R&B recording artist Sisqó of Dru Hill, released on June 19, 2001 on Def Soul Recordings. The album did very well on the charts but its singles, "Can I Live" and "Dance for Me", were commercial disappointments compared to his debut album, Unleash the Dragon (1999). Despite the fact that Sisqó announced a third single, "Dream", this never materialized due to the commercial failure of the album. The song "Without You" was originally planned to be featured on Dru Hill's third album, Dru World Order but tensions grew between the group while working on the album and it was put on hold. Return of Dragon was later certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for excess of one million copies. Return of Dragon would be Sisqó's last album until Last Dragon (2015). As he return back to his group, following the release of this album, Sisqo was dropped from Def Soul Recordings and his group two years later.
Def Soul Records was an R&B-based division of American multinational record label Def Jam Recordings. It was formed in 1996 by Russell Simmons and Kevin Liles to expand R&B and soul music through Def Jam's said genre-related roster following the successes of Montell Jordan and Case.
'It's All About Me' is a song by American singer Mýa. It served as her debut single from her self-titled debut studio album and recorded as a duet with R&B singer Sisqó. A psychedelic R&B slow jam, "It's All About Me" was written and composed by Sisqó and Darryl Pearson, while the latter served as producer. It interpolates the composition "Moments in Love" by Art of Noise.
"Incomplete" is a song by American R&B singer Sisqó. It was released on June 13, 2000, as the third and final single from his first solo album, Unleash the Dragon (1999). Written by Def Soul artist Montell Jordan and Anthony "Shep" Crawford, and produced by Crawford, the song was Sisqó's biggest solo single and his only number-one hit in the US, topping both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. "Incomplete" is also Sisqó's third and most recent Hot 100 top-40 hit; within two years of its release, Sisqó would return to his role as Dru Hill's lead singer.
Mya is the debut studio album by American singer Mya. It was released by University Music Entertainment and Interscope Records on April 21, 1998, in the United States. The recording of the contemporary R&B album was overseen by University Records CEO A. Haqq Islam after he signed the singer when she was at the age of 15. The production on Mya was primarily handled by Swing Mob member Darryl Pearson with additional contributions from Daryl Simmons, Alex "Cat" Cantrall, Joey Priolo, and Nokio the N-Tity. Guest appearances include Dru Hill frontman Sisqó, and rappers Silkk the Shocker and Missy Elliott.
Enter the Dru is the second studio album from American R&B group Dru Hill. Released on October 27, 1998, it was the group's second and final album for Island Black Music, the urban music division of Island Records; Island was merged with Def Jam Recordings following a company merger in December the same year, as Dru Hill would later be transferred to Def Jam's Def Soul subsidiary.
Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida is a 1999 concept album that contains songs with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice from the 2000 musical Aida.
"Never Make A Promise" is a number-one R&B song by group Dru Hill, released in 1997. It is the third single from their eponymous debut album. With a lead by Larry "Jazz" Anthony, the single spent four weeks at number one on the US R&B chart and peaked at number seven on the US pop chart. Although it was a hit, sales of the "Never Make A Promise" single were mainly driven by the popular So So Def Remix of their previous hit "In My Bed" only being available on its B-side.
"In My Bed" is a song by American R&B group Dru Hill. It is the second single from their eponymous debut album. The single spent three weeks at number-one on the US R&B chart and peaked at number four on the US pop chart. The song is performed by group leader Mark "Sisqó" Andrews. The music video focuses on Sisqó's girlfriend, who possibly cheats on him with another man, but Sisqó doesn't know anything about it. At the end of the video, Sisqó goes to his house with a bouquet of flowers for his girlfriend when he sees a guy walking out. He goes inside and sadly finds her in bed with a woman and drops the flowers in heartbreak. He leaves the house for a few seconds and goes back in. The remix was released in 1997 and features both Jermaine Dupri and Da Brat. The remix sampled Le Pamplemousse's "Gimme What You Got" (1976). The song appears in 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV.
Dru World Order is the third studio album by American R&B group Dru Hill, released on November 26, 2002.
"Movin' On" is a song by American singer Mya, released in July 1998 as the second single from her self-titled debut studio album. It was written and composed by Harrison, Mark Andrews and Darryl Pearson. Musically, the album version is a funk and pop song, while the single remix version is a hip hop song. Lyrically, the record speaks of a woman leaving her cheating ex-boyfriend.
InDRUpendence Day is the fourth studio album by American R&B group Dru Hill, released on July 27, 2010 under Kedar Entertainment Group. The album was supposed to be released on June 8, 2010, but it was pushed back. The album is the group's first release with new member, Tao, and is also their first album in eight years since their previous album, Dru World Order. The album released three singles: "Love MD", "Remain Silent" and "Back to the Future". "Love MD" is the only single that had a music video released. Despite the lack of charting singles and the fact that it was their first album in 8 years, the album was still moderately successful, reaching #30 on the Billboard 200.
"These Are The Times" is the second single released from Dru Hill's second album, Enter the Dru. The single reached number 21 on the Hot 100 and number 5 on the R&B chart, staying on the chart for 21 weeks. The song reached the UK top 5, peaking at number 4, being Dru Hill's highest and last charting hit in that country to date.
Darryl "Day" Pearson is an American record producer, songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist, best known for writing and producing "It's All About Me", a Mya/Sisqó single that peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, "Part Time Lover", as well as "Trippin' ", a collaboration between Total and Missy Elliott that climbed to #7 on the Hot 100 in 1998. His 1998 contributions to albums from Total, Mya, and others resulted in a top 10 placement on Billboard's "Hot R&B Producers" 1998 Year-End Chart. Pearson has also produced or written songs for Usher, Beyoncé, and Sam Smith, among others.
"I Love You" is the second single from Dru Hill's third album, Dru World Order. The single peaked at #77 on the Hot 100 and #27 on the R&B chart. The song stayed on the Hot 100 charts for a total of thirteen weeks. This was Dru Hill's final charting hit.
"You Are Everything" is the fourth and final single released from Dru Hill's second album, Enter the Dru. The single reached number 84 on the Hot 100 and number 27 on the R&B/Hip Hop charts. The remix, which features rapper Ja Rule, was released on Sisqó's solo album Unleash the Dragon.