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
Jodecidal Hotline
Jodeci Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
to give you something real
a feeling that is right
a groove that you can feel
we know what you need
a little bit of jodeci
lady groove and feel this beat
with jodeci
a little bit of jodeci
lady groove and feel this beat
with jodeci
we show you how to love
we show you how to love somebody
we show you how to love
we show you how to love somebody
we show you how to love
we show you how to love somebody
The lyrics to Jodeci's "Jodecidal Hotline" convey the idea of taking time to give their listeners something real, a feeling that is right and a groove that can be felt. It is indicative of Jodeci's signature style of soulful, sensual R&B music that has the potential to connect with listeners emotionally. The lyrics further emphasize that Jodeci knows what their listeners need, which is a little bit of Jodeci's music so that they can groove and feel the beat. The song makes it clear that with Jodeci, the listeners can learn how to love and be loved.
Overall, this song represents Jodeci's ability to create music that speaks to their audience intimately, connecting to their emotions and feelings in a deep and meaningful way. It reinforces Jodeci's legacy as one of the most influential R&B groups of their time, known for their soulful sound, intimate lyrics and the ability to connect emotionally with their audience.
Line by Line Meaning
let us take our time
We are going to take our time and not rush things.
to give you something real
We want to give you something that is authentic and genuine.
a feeling that is right
We want to create a feeling that is good and proper for you.
a groove that you can feel
We want you to be able to feel the groove of the music.
we know what you need
We know what kind of music you need to hear.
a little bit of jodeci
We believe that a little bit of our music can make a big difference for you.
lady groove and feel this beat
We want you to groove to the music and feel the beat.
with jodeci
We want you to listen to our music and enjoy it with us.
we show you how to love
Through our music, we want to show you how to love someone.
we show you how to love somebody
We want to teach you how to love another person through our music.
we show you how to love
We want to emphasize that our music is all about love and showing it to others.
we show you how to love somebody
Our music is meant to help you love another person and show it to them.
we show you how to love
Overall, our music is focused on showing love to others and how to do it.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DALVIN DEGRATE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind