Everytime I would do a song, Def Jam would want me to get the group back together, so eventually I just stopped making songs and I asked them if I could just do A and R. We didn’t have the people around us that we needed to protect us from a lot of stuff. You mix that with people who come in with the intention of breaking things up (so you’re able to offer things that entice that feeling that’s already there) and then when you don’t have somebody that keeps everything together, you just leave yourself open to the evil of this business, and that’s divide and conquer. So whether that was the reason ultimately, I just felt like everybody had something that they felt like they needed to prove. Nokio: Everybody has a dream and you never know when a person is in that dream state, so different things happened for different reasons at different times. What would you ultimately contribute to that? But of course you experienced some challenge along the way that ultimately lead to the original 4 of the group separating. It became what it did because of the fans, so you know even though we had a lot of numbers 1s, that song is the most important to me because it just proves that if you just take real human emotion and bottle it up in a song, that never gets old. It’s the only song that we have that became a classic without any record company money touching it. And I had to go in the studio to pretty much sing the whole song by myself to get them to do it. That’s only because nobody wanted to sing the song when I first did it. PI: Out of all the hits you guys had was there one that meant the most to you or was your favorite to perform? Meeting Biggie for the first time the day that he passed away and him telling you how excited he was to get ready to go on tour with you. Nokio: Being in Nelson Mandela’s house sitting right next to him or having Stevie Wonder walk in the room and sing your songs. Is there a memory that you have that you would relive? PI: What was the highlight of you guys time together. It’s always been a leveling up thing and in order to get to the next level somebody had to go. So we kept doing that until the sun and moons and the stars lined up. It’s like every level that we got to I realized that we weren’t gonna be able to move unless the weakest link got removed. I was always the person kicking someone out the group. To grow into what we became, we went through a lot of people. Nokio: That I had the ability to bring people together that otherwise would not know each other. What do you think made Dru Hill Dru Hill? What was the essence of you guys that made you a success? In 1996 the first album released…you guys had such great chemistry on stage and on screen. PI: Take me back for a little bit to the original 4. I’m also a really private person, so to talk about anything for me is really extra. But I can’t help but think about my uncle Keith Sweat saying that I ain’t unsung yet, so why am I doing unsung. You know what, I’m excited about people having a bit of a glimpse into the craziness that has been Dru Hill. PI: How are you feeling about Dru HIll finally being able to tell their story? We spoke with Nokio to get his thoughts on the group’s journey. They are still here and consistently hitting the stage with their unmatched sound. The legendary quartet of hits like “Tell Me”, “In My Bed” and “Beauty” had all the charisma, harmony and stage presence it took to make it to the top and stay. Major contributors to arguably the best era of R&B music, the 90s, Dru Hill sets the record straight on everything from their rise, new members and industry challenges on TV ONE‘s “Unsung”.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |