The Bitter Break-Up's Behind Our Fave R&B Groups

Groove Theory

As soon as you see the group’s name, I’m sure the beat for “Tell Me” immediately starts playing in your head.  Queen Mother of Juices and Berries, Amel Larrieux, was the lead singer while Bryce Wilson was the producer and songwriter (Amel wrote songs as well).  Although we only ever heard Amel’s voice because Bryce didn’t sing, his “voice” was heard through the production and the two seemed so in sync. Then…it was over.  Originally, it was stated they simply broke up because Amel wanted a solo career. However, Bryce has said that once they achieved their “balance” in music, they starting having a lot of disagreements. He also mentioned that in his mind, he put the group together and started feeling invalidated once Amel started getting more shine.  I suppose it was for the best: Amel has gone on to have quite a successful solo career and Bryce has done quite well as a producer.

Brownstone

Please raise your e-hand if you thought you could sing (and still can) like Brownstone every time “If You Love Me” came on.  They were one of my favorite groups from the 90’s and I hoped they would stick around; but alas, it wasn’t meant to be.  Nicci, Maxee and Mimi were the original group members but after the first album From The Bottom Up made its mark, Mimi left the group citing health problems. Yeahhhh, not true. Mimi later said they she had internal issues with the other members, likely because they thought they were the stronger singers.  Mimi was replaced with Kina and they released their second album Still Climbing.  That didn’t work either because the second album was the last and Kina is no longer a member of the group. The last time I checked (maybe 2011), the group was still “together” but there was a new third member. I suppose some people just can’t verbally say “it’s over.”

Dru Hill

In my humble opinion, Dru Hill was one of the last great R&B groups formed. They could all sing (well, I’m not sure about Nokio because I don’t recall his voice) and they could do it WELL. All their singles were smashes; even “Beauty,” which was never a single, took off at lightning speed.  They were friends before group members so it worked well…until it didn’t.  Sisqo was labeled as “the star” of the group and the other three members (which included Woody, Nokio and Jazz) were pretty much seen in the mainstream eye as his background singers. Woody was the first to leave the group to go do gospel music but even when he returned, the tension in the group was too thick and they eventually broke up. There’s even a video of them physically fighting each other at a radio station. So sad.

Zhané

Jean and Renee had one of the best 90’s jams with “Hey Mr. DJ.”  Although they were a straight up R&B group, their melodies had a very jazzy tone that went perfectly with their beats.  Although they are responsible for one of my favorite songs ever, “Sending My Love,” I thought that maybe the R&B market for groups at that time was over saturated and they wouldn’t survive.  Jean takes full responsibility for the group breaking up, saying she felt that they had their time and it was great but when there are two people involved, it is hard to express all of your own thoughts and ideas.  The good thing is that Jean and Renee are still good friends!

Jodeci

Hands down, Jodeci is my favorite group of all time. ALL. TIME.  I hated their rival Boyz II Men because everyone thought they could sing better than Jodeci.  Perhaps that was true but K-ci, Jo-Jo, Devante Swing and my Mr. Dalvin, collectively, were a band.  They lived that hip-hop/rock&roll lifestyle to the fullest and ultimately, that’s the reason they’re no longer together as a four man band or as a duo (we all know the great success of K-Ci & JoJo).  Sadly, substance abuse got the best of at least three of the four members of the group (no one has really seen Mr. Dalvin in quite some time) and they could not let it go long enough to keep the group together. All attempts have failed and while I’ll love what they once were, I no longer yearn for any type of reunion.

Xscape

I know it doesn’t seem like it but while they were together, Xscape released three albums and each album had at least two hit songs.  But after their third album Traces of My Lipstick was released, Kandi Burruss left the group to pursue a solo career. Their songwriter and producer, Jermaine Dupri said they each started going in their own directions and therefore, he was forced to disband the group. However, former member Tamika Scott said the reason they broke up is because JD and Kandi were sleeping together and Kandi thought that entitled her to more lead vocals. When JD stuck with his gut and kept Tocha on as main vocals, Kandi couldn’t take it and left. The group tried to continue as a trio (don’t forget about Tiny) but it just didn’t work and they broke up.

Lucy Pearl

Had it not been for egos and personality clashes, there was a real chance for this group. Members Raphael Saadiq, Dawn Robinson (former member of En Vogue) and Ali Shaheed (of A Tribe Called Quest) came together for this Saadiq/D’Angelo brainchild.  There was so much talent in this group that hits such as “Dance Tonight” and “Don’t Mess With My Man” were inevitable.  But rumors of dissension between Dawn and Raphael surfaced almost immediately and the group disbanded. Since her days with En Vogue, Dawn has had a reputation of being hard to work with but she says Lucy Pearl broke up because they didn’t have a manager and lacked good business.  Hmm, she didn’t exactly ever deny the rumor that she is hard to work with, now did she?

Koffee Brown

Is there anyone out there who can tell me what happened to this group? When they released “After Party” and subsequently their album Mars/Venus, they definitely made an imprint on soul music lovers.  I mean, “After Party” still KNOCKS at any given party on any given weekend. But with all of the success they shared, no one heard from them again after the success of the first album. Seriously, if anyone knows what happened with Vee and Fonz let me know!