If Boyz II Men are portrayed as a clean-cut, wholesome R&B vocal group, then Jodeci's wild, sexual, bad-boy image represents the other side of the coin. Made up of two sets of brothers, the group's name is a consolidation of three members' aliases: "JoJo" Hailey, Donald "DeVante Swing" DeGrate, and Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey; the group also includes Dalvin DeGrate. Natives of Charlotte, NC, all four members toured the South as young boys singing gospel music, even recording albums; both families belonged to the Pentecostal church, and the DeGrates' father was a minister. The boys were able to hear each other's gospel songs played on the radio, and eventually were introduced through girlfriends as teenagers. However, when they did meet, K-Ci was with a girl Dalvin had been dating, and a fight nearly broke out. The Hailey brothers and DeVante started hanging out together, partying and talking about making R&B records together, coming up with the name Jodeci at this time.
At age 16, DeVante ran away to Minneapolis to get a job in Prince's organization, but was refused. He returned to Charlotte, where he wrote a song and recorded JoJo singing it. The two planned on going to New York to shop the demo around by themselves, but both K-Ci and Dalvin decided to tag along at the last minute. By the time they got to New York, they had demo recordings of 29 songs, which they brought to the offices of Uptown Entertainment. They were almost rejected, but rapper Heavy D overheard the tape and talked Uptown president Andre Harrell into hearing the group. Harrell was impressed, and just like that, Jodeci signed a recording contract. In 1991, they recorded Forever My Lady, which featured the gold single "Come and Talk to Me" and went on to sell over three million copies. A minor feud resulted over the band's follow-up album, Diary of a Mad Band; Jodeci, unhappy with their treatment by Uptown, flirted with the idea of leaving for Dr. Dre's Death Row Records, which resulted in almost zero promotion for their new album. It didn't matter much, as Diary went platinum. The group's troubles got worse in 1993; DeVante and K-Ci were involved in an incident with a woman K-Ci met at a club and brought back to DeVante's apartment. The woman filed charges against the two, saying that K-Ci had threatened her and fondled her breast, while DeVante pointed a gun at her. Both pleaded guilty, but that wasn't all; shortly afterwards, DeVante's house was robbed of over 160,000 dollars in jewelry and clothes as the singer was held with guns in his mouth and at the back of his head.
Jodeci's third album, The Show, the After Party, the Hotel, was released in the summer of 1995. DeVante also was afforded the opportunity to work with Al Green, one of his idols, writing and producing the song "Could This Be the Love." ~ Steve Huey, Rovi
Jodeci Albums:
* 1991: Forever My Lady #18 US (3x platinum)
* 1993: Diary of a Mad Band #3 US (2x platinum)
* 1995: The Show, The After Party, The Hotel #2 US (platinum)
* 2005: Back to The Future: The Very Best of Jodeci (300,000)
Jodeci Singles:
* 1991: "Gotta Love"
* 1991: "Stay" (US #41, R&B #1)
* 1991: "Forever My Lady" (US #25, R&B #1)
* 1991: "Come and Talk to Me" (US #11, R&B #1)
* 1993: "Cry For You" (US #15, R&B #1)
* 1993: "Feenin'" (US #25, R&B #2)
* 1993: "Lately" (US #4, R&B #1)
* 1993: "Let's Go Through the Motions" (US #65)
* 1994: "What About Us" (R&B #14)
* 1995: "Freek'n You" (US #14, R&B #3)
* 1995: "Love U 4 Life"
* 1996: "Get on Up" (US #22, R&B #4)
Jodeci Side-Projects:
(K-Ci & JoJo)
* 1997: Love Always
* 1999: It's Real
* 2000: X
* 2002: Emotional
* 2005: All My Life "Their Greatest Hits"
(Dalvin Degrate)
* 2000: Met.A.Mor.Phic
(K-Ci Solo)
* 2006: My Book
Forever My Lady
Jodeci Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
So you're having my baby
And it means so much to me
There's nothing more precious
Than to raise a family
If there's any doubt in your mind
You can count on me
I'll never let you down
You and I
Will never fall apart
You and I
We knew right from the start, baby, baby
The day
We fell so far in love
Now our baby is born, healthy and strong
Now our dreams are reality
Forever my lady
It's like a dream
I'm holding you close
You're keeping me warm
If this is ecstasy (forever my lady)
Forever my lady
I say just what I mean
Forever and ever
I pray is what I see (yes, my baby)
Can you picture my lady?
This empty scene
There's no me or no you
What will we do?
An awful sight to me
If I ever lose you
Tell me where would I go?
Life would have no meaning
And I pray that you will always stay with me, yeah
You and I
Would never fall apart, baby, yeah-yeah
You and I
Said I knew right from the start
The day
We fell in love so far
Now our baby is born
Healthy and strong
And now my dreams are reality, yeah
Forever my lady (forever my lady)
It's like a dream (and you know)
I'm holding you close
You're keeping me warm (yes, you are)
If this is ecstasy (forever my lady)
Forever my lady (yeah-yeah-yeah)
I say just what I mean
Forever and ever
I pray is what I see
Lady, you and I
Will never fall apart, no no
You and I
I say we made it
And I say we made it from the start
The day
We fell so far in love
Now our baby is born
So healthy and strong
Now my dreams are reality (yeah-yeah-yeah)
Forever my lady
Woo-ooh
Said I pray every night, baby
Forever my lady
And every day of the week
It's like a dream (yeah-yeah)
I'm holding you close
You're keeping me warm (keeping me warm)
In Jodeci's song "Forever My Lady", the singer is expressing his love and commitment to his partner. He begins the song by expressing how much it means to him that she is having his baby and how he is looking forward to raising a family with her. He vows to always be there for her and never let her down. The singer then emphasizes the strength and longevity of their relationship, stating that they will never fall apart because they knew from the beginning that their love was real.
As the song progresses, the singer continues to express his love and devotion to his lady. He paints a picture of what life would be like without her and emphasizes how important she is to him. He then emphasizes that their love and dreams have become a reality since the birth of their child. The song ends with the singer declaring that he will forever love his lady and that he prays that their love will last a lifetime.
Line by Line Meaning
Forever, forever, forever
Our love is everlasting and will endure forever.
So you're having my baby
You are carrying our child and it means the world to me.
And it means so much to me
Our child is a precious gift and I treasure the fact that we are starting a family together.
There's nothing more precious
Starting a family with you is the most precious thing in the world to me.
Than to raise a family
I can think of nothing more important than building a life together and raising a family.
If there's any doubt in your mind
If you have any concerns or doubts, I am here to reassure you and stand by you.
You can count on me
I am reliable and trustworthy, and you can always count on me to be there for you.
I'll never let you down
I promise to always support you and never disappoint you.
Lady believe in me
Please trust and have faith in me and our relationship.
You and I
Will never fall apart
Our love is strong and we will always remain together no matter what we face.
We knew right from the start, baby, baby
We have been in love from the beginning and it has only grown stronger.
The day
We fell so far in love
The day we became one and fell deeply in love with each other is still clear in my memory.
Now our baby is born, healthy and strong
Our child has finally arrived and is healthy and strong, bringing us so much joy and love.
Now our dreams are reality
Our dreams of starting a family together are finally coming true and it feels like a dream.
It's like a dream
I'm holding you close
You're keeping me warm
If this is ecstacy
Forever my lady
Being with you and holding you close feels like a dream come true, and the feelings of ecstasy are unlike anything else.
I say just what I mean
Forever and ever
I pray is what I see
I mean everything I say, and I hope and pray that we will be together forever.
Can you picture my lady
This empty scene
There's no me or no you
What will we do
Imagine a life without each other, it's an empty and scary thought.
An awful sight to me
If I ever lose you
Tell me where would I go
Life would have no meaning
The thought of losing you is unbearable, and I cannot imagine life without you.
And I pray that you will always stay with me
I hope and pray that our love will remain strong and that you will always be by my side.
Said we knew right from the start
We have always known that we were meant to be together.
Now my dreams are reality
My dreams have come true now that we have started a family together.
Yeahhhhhh
Forever my lady
Ah yeah, baby
Forever my lady
Woo oooh
My love for you will never fade, forever and always you will be my lady.
Said I pray every night, baby
Forever my lady
And every day of the week
Every night and day, my thoughts and prayers are with us and our love, forever and always.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Albert Joseph III Brown, Donald Earle DeGrate
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@kencarpenter1347
Who still bumping Jodeci with me in 2024????
@latinoporvida
All I listen to when it comes to English music is R and B and Jodeci is always on my playlist
@jenniferd5977
Yes!!!
@lindam.caldwell-ellis4054
Ohhhhh…hhhh!!!
@daniellej7914
Meee✋🏾
@takialucas-drakes3797
Forever ♾️🛐✝️
@willyhoward943
As a 29 yr old man I envy the fact that my dad's generation got this kind of music 🎶 🎵
@downlow-dt5sn
And u got the vibes from dad's generation😊
@UncElroyDaKang
YO OLD AZZ ACT LIKE YOU WASNT BORN WHEN THIS DROPPED, YO POPS JUST NEVER PUT YOU ON GAME 💯🤷🏿♂️
@willyhoward943
@UncElroyDaKang he did that's why I came back to this song 2ndly I was probably like 1 or 2 when this dropped still not my generation..smart 1