Tyrese, 112, Amerie, and Dru Hill

Giving actors making forays into pop music a good name the world over, Tyrese Gibson got into show-business at the tender age of 16. He only decided that he wanted to be a singer two years earlier and after being discovered singing while on the bus, he was ushered into the spotlight by appearing in a major advert for Coca-Colla. By the mid-90’s he’d appeared in a number of modelling shoots by the likes of Guess? and Tommy Hilfiger and by 1998 he’d managed to secure a record contract with RCA Records. His first single “Nobody Else”, was a mild hit, squeaking into the top forty of the Billboard Hot 100 at number 36, but his first album would make him a true star.

His self-titled debut was released in September 1998, it debuted on the charts at number 17 and at around the same time, Tyrese became a VJ on the weekday TV Show MTV Jams. The slot on the show catapulted him to an even higher degree of popularity, meaning that his third single “Sweet Lady” reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, stayed on the chart for 25 weeks and netted him a Grammy award nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance mere months after his twentieth birthday. His follow up album “2000 Watts” was also highly succesful, selling over 500’000 copies and being certified Gold with aplomb.

As Tyrese’s acting career grew, his music career may have slowed down but it still produced the hits, with his 2002 single “How You Gonna Act Like That” being a legitimate smash hit that peaked at number seven on the Hot 100. Ever since then, Gibson has been massively succesful at everything he’s tried his hand at. He produces hit albums and singles in his music career to this day. He headlines the Fast and Furious franchise on the silver screen. He is even a New York Times best-selling author twice over with his books “How To Get Your Own Way” and “Manology: Secret’s Of Your Man’s Mind Revealed”. It would be nauseating if he wasn’t so good at what he does, and the best way of seeing his talent is by catching him live as soon as possible. Highly recommended.

The beginnings of the band 112 can be traced to the members meeting at high school. Daron Jones, Michael Keith & Reginald Finley sang together while Jones & Keith were in middle school & Finley was in high school. A close friend of Finley's, Aldon Lagon was recognised for his deep bass voice and added to the line up along with high tenor vocalist Marvin Scandrick who the boys sang with in the school chorus. They changed their name to 112 after a move to New York in 1996, before this they were performing at local events as Forte.

They recorded their debut album in 1996 and it was released in late August to moderate chart success in the US. It peaked at #37 on the US Billboard Charts and has now sold over two million copies in the States achieving double platinum certification. Their rise to fame really began in the following year when two of the singles from second album 'Room 112' charted within the top 20 of the US charts and 'Love Me' was certified as gold selling.

The band had the incredible opportunity to support Whitney Houston on the 'My Love Is Your Love Tour' in the summer of 1999 whilst promoting their first record, understandably their fan base grew substantially. The group's third albu, 'Part III' was released in 2001 and including the hit 'Peaches & Cream' which earned the group their first Grammy nomination in the Best R&B Group or Duo category. It received a lot of radio publicity ahead of the release and charted at #2 on the US chart, which still remains the band's highest chart placing to date. The band then got another fantastic deal supporting another renowned R & B vocalist, this time it was Janet Jackson on her U.S 'All for You' World Tour.

The band released two albums on Def Jam after a split with long term record label Bad Boy. In 2008 Michael Keith decided to leave 112 and go solo before reconciling with the group in 2010. The 'For The Fans' Tour which kicked off in the summer of 2012 and is still going to date, there are no signs of a new album release yet.

Friends since middle school, Tamir Ruffin (aka Nokio) recruited Mark Andres (aka Sisqo) and James Green (aka Big Woody Rock) to join him in a singing group, and they began performing around the Baltimore area; and after a while, Larry Anthony (aka Jazz) joined the group. The group originally would perform gospel music, but made the switch to R&B and in 1996 they caught their big break when they were signed to Island Record’s “Island Black” division.

Immediately after signing the record deal, they started working on their first album. The eponymous album, released in 1996, eventually reached certified gold, and the single “Tell Me” was featured on the soundtrack for the movie “Eddie.” In 1997 the group entered some legal drama, filing a suit to leave their contract with Island Records when their manager was hit on the head by an Island employee, and by the end both sides came to a settlement with Dru Hill still remaining on their contract.

In 1998 the group released their sophomore album, “Enter the Dru” and contained within it was the single “How Deep Is Your Love,” a song that was featured on the soundtrack to the film “Rush Hour.” By the end of the following year, “Enter the Dru” had sold over two million copies; however during their shoot for the music video for Will Smith’s “Wild Wild West,” Woody quit the group to return to his gospel roots, who would eventually be replaced by Def Jam artist, Case.

While working on their next album, “Dru World Order,” Sisqo was simultaneously working on his solo project, and released his debut album, “Unleash The Dragon” in 2000. While his solo album resulted in three fairly successful singles, it also resulted in “Dru World Order” being pushed back and due to conflict between members resulted in the group breaking apart. Luckily, by the end of 2001 the group started to reassemble and “Dru World Order” was finally completed and released in November 2002.