Dru Bio-
R&B group Dru Hill took their name from the historic Druid Hill Park complex in Baltimore, USA, where all four members were raised. They began their rise to fame in the mid-90s, largely through the intervention of Island Records' Hiriam Hicks - formerly manager of Boyz II Men. He was looking for a group to record a song, 'Tell Me', for the soundtrack to the movie Eddie, to which Island held the rights. A tape of the quartet was passed to him by University Music president Haqq Islam. So impressed was Hicks after meeting the group that, not only did he ask them to perform a version of 'Tell Me' on the spot, but he also signed them to a worldwide contract with Island. At that time the group members - Jazz, Nokio, Woody and Sisquo, were all still in their teens. Nevertheless, their self-titled debut album sounded impressively mature. The smoky jazz and R&B tracks benefited enormously from the input of producers Keith Sweat, Stanley Brown and Darryl Simmons, though Nokio also co-wrote and produced much of the contents. While the group's syncopated vocals were one highlight, Sisquo and Jazz also contributed heavily as musicians, playing keyboards, bass and trumpet between them. By the late 90s the group had truly established themselves, with six consecutive American R&B Number 1 singles followed by the equally commercial follow-up Enter The Dru, which debuted at US number 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart in November 1998. The album ranged from the hard-edged urban R&B of 'How Deep Is Your Love' (US number 3/UK number 9, October 1998) to the schmaltzy Babyface single 'These Are The Times' (US number 21/UK number 4, January 1999). In 1999, the group appeared on Will Smith 's US chart-topping soundtrack hit, 'Wild Wild West', and set up their own Dru World Order production company. They also began work on separate solo projects.
