The past isn’t any easier to predict than the future, but it’s safe to say Dru Hill might have been one of music’s biggest groups if fate had been slightly more favorable. Their 1996 eponymous debut album and 1998’s Enter the Dru collectively sold over three million copies, and the group churned out seven Top 40 hits and were poised to join Soul/Hip Hop/R&B’s royalty. Instead, internal tensions and uncontrollable forces derailed what might have been a stratospheric career.
Dru Hill’s foundation was laid in Baltimore when childhood friends Mark “Sisqó” Andrews and James “Big Woody Rock” were enlisted by Tamir “Nokio” Ruffin for his vocal quintet. They worked at a local fudge factory and sang for store patrons while making fudge, and ultimately turned a talent show gig into an amateur night appearance on Showtime at the Apollo.
Originally Gospel-based, they took a more secular approach — Woody’s mother nearly ended his membership as a result — and Larry “Jazz” Anthony replaced two departing members. Performing under the name Legacy, the group was discovered by Island Black Music president Hiram Hicks, who flew them to New York to record “Tell Me” for the Whoopi Goldberg movie Eddie. Hicks signed them after the session, with the label suggesting a new name, Dru Hill, after Baltimore’s Druid Hill Park.
Dru Hill’s eponymous 1996 debut spawned four hit singles, including “In My Bed,” and the group recorded tracks for movies and wrote for and produced Mya’s debut album, but the glow was short-lived. Dru Hill sued Island when a label employee struck its manager with a pool cue; a racially insensitive remark about the case by PolyGram president Eric Kronfeld cost him his job, sparking an industry-wide debate that ended with a public apology and Dru Hill remaining under contract.
Dru Hill’s sophomore album, 1998’s Enter the Dru, hit even bigger, eventually notching double platinum numbers. Dru Hill’s contract renewal called for four solo releases by the members, followed by the group’s third album, but the success of Sisqó’s Unleash the Dragon on the strength of “Thong Song” and “Incomplete” delayed the other solo projects, and the resulting friction splintered the group. Sisqó’s follow-up album sold poorly, so the group reunited, adding new member Rufus “Scola” Waller for 2002’s Dru World Order. Its moderate success cost Dru Hill its contract and the group broke up again. In 2008, the original quartet toured on a ’90s R&B package, but during a promotional interview, Woody announced his departure to concentrate on his ministry. He was replaced by Antwuan “Tao” Simpson, who made his studio debut with Dru Hill’s fourth album, 2010’s InDRUpendence Day, which hit Billboard’s Top 30. Last year, Dru Hill released the song “Change” as a response to the Baltimore civil unrest that erupted in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray. On a happier note, the group is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its debut album on its current tour.
This article appears in Dec 14-21, 2016.