![]() The trio together discovered, signed and produced artistes as Toni Braxton, Usher, TLC and Outkast. When Babyface teamed up with L.A Reid to start LaFace Records, Daryl went his separate way yet still maintained his ties with the duo. Nokio says, “When Daryl presented to us Never Make a Promise we were like – are you sure? A lot of people never understood Daryl and his history in music – him, Babyface and L.A Reid have been together playing in bands and making music since the 70s and he was just the one who was doing his own thing when the rest started LaFace.” Their life-long alliance would flourish into friendship as they joined and formed several music groups and bands from their teen days. Daryl went to high school with future legendary R&B music maker Babyface. The number one single followed In My Bed and was also written and produced by the American R&B singer/songwriter and record producer Daryl Simmons. They are mumbling about having had two or three girls in their beds soon after the song’s triumph… Men will be men. That was the beauty of the baby making music era – singers sold feelings and tales, more than just sex.ĭru Hill suddenly look at each other and burst out laughing at an inside joke. That explains why I remember watching In My Bed back in the day and feeling the pain of someone cheating on me even though I was barely 10 years old and couldn’t have known what it really meant to be cheated on. The aggression actually worked out to my benefit because it took away the venom of the words I had to sing.” I really had to figure out how to channel that aggression in the first opening line. I was like this is our second single and now I am looking like a sucker. Sisqó says, “I never wanted to sing that song initially because nobody was sleeping in my bed that I knew of and I kind of felt like a cheat singing about someone sleeping in my bed. It spent three weeks at number one on the US R&B chart. Written and produced by Daryl Simmons, Ralph Stacy and Raphael Brown, In My Bed was a song Dru Hill detested yet it would later become a number one platinum selling single – the second off their debut album. ![]() Their story goes that they were signed to a label at a young age forcing their initial sound to sound mature even though they were actually not mature as individuals and as a group. Was it always lovemaking, heartbreaks and songs about sex? I ask Dru Hill to expound on what really went down behind the music. I always wondered what went on in the minds of the 90s kings of R&B like Dru Hill, Jodeci, Silk, R Kelly and Kenny Lattimore. ![]() Nokio says, “It’s a good time for us in music as a lot of generations listening to good music are still discovering us and those who sang with us when we were younger are still getting a chance to see us perform.” Their 20-year long career has been a roller coaster filled with highs and lows, great memories, tours, travel and breakups to makeups. In 2002 however, Dru Hill decided to reunite and produced the album Dru World Order, which would be followed by the 2010 release InDRUpendence Day. ![]() By this time the group had also been affected by internal wrangles, tension and an identity crisis leading to temporary separation and some members pursuing solo careers. It wouldn’t be long till the 2000s came with the recession of R&B. Tao and Jazz hardly speak but their body language says that they support everything the rest say.ĭru Hill’s 1996 debut eponymous, and sophomore album: Enter the Dru (1998) catapulted them into instant success. He’s also protective of Dru Hill, in a caring way. It is the founder Nokio who talks most and is most assertive. I am surprised that Sisqó the lead singer of the group isn’t the most vocal. Sitting at the ebony-coloured Sankara Hotel meeting room with Dru Hill members: Nokio, Sisqó, Tao and Jazz – I quickly notice that all have such different personalities. Hopefully we can spread more love through our music.” They are only doing two TV interviews while in Kenya including this one so I have to make it count – I tell myself. Nokio says, “We didn’t know about all the love we had here until we got here. Dru Hill is in Nairobi for their first concert in Kenya. ![]()
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