Dru Hill: Baltimore’s Finest
Imagine a talented group that juggles R&B, soul, and gospel music at the same time. The group started out entertaining customers at a fudge factory in Maryland singing mostly gospel music. They’ve certainly come a long way from the fudge factory, and the group has had a colorful and exciting career. They reached the height of their popularity in the late 1990s and became rather active starting in 1992. The group boasts of seven hits that made it to the top 40 and were particularly famous for the hits “In My Bed”, “Never Make a Promise” and “How Deep is Your Love.”
The group was founded and groomed by Tamir Ruffin (or “Nokio”) and the members were lead singer Mark Andrews (Sisqo), Larry Anthony (“Jazz”) and James Green (“Woody”). They sang under the label of Haqq Islam’s University Records with Island Records. After producing two successful albums, the group separated for about three years, during which Sisqo and Woody worked and created solo albums. While Woody’s “Soul Music” album was moderately successful, it was Sisqo’s “Unleash the Dragon” that established his reputation outside the group.
The group came back together in 2002 and had a fifth member by the name of Rufus Waller (“Scola”) and the group’s third album “Dru World Order” was produced under the Def Soul record label.
The name Dru Hill was adopted from Druid Hill Park, a section of Baltimore, the home city of the group’s original four members. They all started their singing doing mostly Gospel songs, but found that by adding the R&B genre, the group stood a better chance at commercial success.
The group had their breakthrough in 1996 when their manager, Haqq Islam booked them for the Impact Convention in May. Not long after the convention, the group had a contract with Island Records and the team members worked towards the release of their first album which they titled Dru Hill. It came out on November 19, 1996 and immediately attained gold. Whoopi Goldberg’s movie “Eddie” used the top single, “Tell Me” and was in the top 5 of the R&B chart in the United States.
While each member had his own style that impressed audiences, it was Sisqo who usually stole the limelight with his dancing and blond hair. The group made their contribution to the “Soul Food” soundtrack with “We’re Not Making Love No More” which hit the # 2 spot in the R&B. They also helped boost the career of Mya, a recent recruit of University.