On Saturday, August 24th, multi-platinum recording group, Dru Hill, was the "life of the party" at New York City's B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in front of a SOLD OUT crowd. IT WAS ONE NIGHT ONLY! Jazz, Sisqo, Nokio, and new member Tao's performance on stage was riveting and entertaining. It was a concert you didn't want to miss — a great way to end a summer concert series in August!
Nearly two decades ago, four guys from Baltimore, Maryland rose to stardom when they released their debut single, "Tell Me," at the age of 17. And from that point on, the group released seven Top 40 hits and three number one singles including, "Somebody Sleeping in My Bed," "Never Make a Promise," and "How Deep Is Your Love?"
Music lovers were captivated by their voices and distinctive personalities. Even though band members ventured off and completed their own solo projects, there are pieces to the puzzle that keeps them going: the music and each other. Despite hardships and stumbling blocks, the group members understand the true purpose of recording great music for their fans.
The guys spoke with Singersroom after their B.B. King Sow about their progression as artists, separating themselves from other groups, and more check it out!
Reuniting and Performing as a Group
Sisqo: We never stopped
Nokio: We've been on the road for the past five years. Just grindin' it out. It is a great thing to still be able to perform and have sold out crowds and have people still singing your songs years later. It's a blessing.
Dru Hill Versus Other R&B Male Groups
Nokio: Because we can sing. It's like they have the guy with the blonde hair, they have a dude that can't keep his eyebrow down. Lol. But nah like for real, we worked so hard before we got the deal that made us put out an album. And by the time it came out, it was time for us to go. Like we were ready. Most groups, they get together, they start learning each other; we've already done that. We just needed an opportunity.
The Meaning Behind The Band Members' Stage Names
Jazz: Mine is simple! When I came in the group, I studied so many styles of music from gospel, jazz, quartet, you name it, I studied it. So Sisqo said, I'm trying to tell you, your name should be Jazz or some s***. (Lol) I'm like what you mean, Jazz because it blends with everything. And I was like ight, okay. I thought about it for a minute and it just stuck with me.
Nokio: Nokio is an acronym. The N is for nasty O and the K is On Key because you know, sometimes I have to sing baritone. And then I & O is In Octave. But the N is the most important letter.
Sisqo: Mine is pretty much random. It was in a fortune cookie (lol).
Tao: Mine is actually from a friend in the Dru Hill family which meant "the path," "the way," because I've been through so much to be here. So it was a cool name and I accepted it from that point on.
The Group's Hiatus
Nokio: Well if you look at life as being something that is already written and everything is already going to happen, then all you have to do is live it out. Then everything that has happened up until this point was meant to happen. We can be the people that we are today. It could happen another way but, yeah, we took too much time off but that's what needed to happen in order for us to grow. And, you know what I mean, we got families, kids, and stuff so that's apart of it too.
The Expectation
Nokio: The unexpected.
Jazz: Everything is under that.
Sisqo: We surprise ourselves, no lie. We'll sing on stage and sometimes the harmony just be ringing so much that I be wondering if that was the record that had the background vocals. So me and Jazz would start doing something extra.
Upcoming Projects
Nokio and Sisqo: Of course a new Dru Hill album, as well as our respective solo projects.
