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Jodeci is an American musical group, whose repertoire included R&B, soul music, and new jack swing. The group consisted of two pairs of brothers from Charlotte, North Carolina: the DeGrates (Donald "DeVante Swing" DeGrate, the group founder/leader, and Dalvin DeGrate) and the Haileys (main lead singer Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey and second lead singer Joel "Jo-Jo" Hailey). The group's name is a combination of the names of its members: Jo-Jo, DeGrate and K-Ci.
Jodeci, also known as the "Bad Boys of R&B", is noted for being a significant influence on many of the R&B groups that came after them, particularly Dru Hill and Jagged Edge. In addition, Jodeci was the starting point for the careers of artists such as Missy Elliott, Timbaland, and Ginuwine. The group had a successful string of hit singles and platinum albums until the group went on indefinite hiatus after 1996. The Hailey brothers continued to perform together under the name K-Ci and Jo-Jo, and had success on the pop charts beyond that of the original band.
Most of the elements that were eventually combined to form what became known as the "Jodeci style" originated with the work of new jack swing pioneers Keith Sweat and Teddy Riley, with an important influence being the work of Riley's three-man group Guy. Other influences which, while less obvious, were instrumental to their style, included the works of Bobby Womack, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Bobby Brown, and New Edition. Sean "Puffy" Combs was in charge of developing Jodeci into a successful act, and had a major role in defining their style and sound.
While Boyz II Men is more of an influence to boy bands such as The Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, Jodeci was more influential to most of the black R&B groups who succeeded them, including Jagged Edge, 112, Next, and Dru Hill. In fact, Dru Hill, with their "bad boy" style image and K-Ci-esque lead vocals from Sisqó, were accused of completely ripping off Jodeci's style.
The acts most heavily influenced by Jodeci were those that they directly trained and developed, including Mary J. Blige and a number of the members of their Swing Mob collective: Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Magoo, Ginuwine, Playa, Suga (who R&B act Tweet was a part of), and Darryl Pearson.
The R&B group II D Extreme's demo deal which led them to getting signed was in part responsible by DeVante, who was a friend of band member D'Extra Wiley. While hanging out in a hotel after a Jodeci show in Washington D.C., D'Extra asked DeVante' to check out his new group, outfitted withJohnny Gill's brother Randy. That impromptu audition for DeVante led them to New York and meeting with Devante's consultants and business partners who owned Savage records, and imprint on RCA records, then on to Gasoline Alley/MCA records.
DJ Siren (aka Sarve Jassal) was one of Jodeci's many avid followers and his anti-bootleg campaign helped Jodeci to win a copyright violation case in 1997.
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