Dru Hill (album)
| Dru Hill | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Dru Hill | ||||
| Released | November 19, 1996 | |||
| Recorded | 1995-1996 | |||
| Genre | R&B, Hip hop soul | |||
| Length | 59:29 | |||
| Label | Island | |||
| Producer | Hiriam Hicks (exec.), Andre Bell, Stanley Brown, Terence Dudley, A. Islam Haqq, Hitman, Benjamin Love, Nokio the N-Tity, Darryl Pearson, Daryl Simmons, Allen "Grip" Smith, Keith Sweat, Tim Dawg, Janice Upchurch | |||
| Dru Hill chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Dru Hill | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   link |
| Robert Christgau |  link |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [1] |
Dru Hill is the self-titled debut studio album from American R&B group Dru Hill, released November 19, 1996 on Island Records. The album featured four singles "Tell Me", "In My Bed", "Never Make a Promise" and "5 Steps". All of the singles had music videos released. The album also features the So So Def remix of "In My Bed", which features Jermaine Dupri and Da Brat, as a bonus track, which also had a music video released.
The album peaked at number twenty-three on the Billboard 200 chart. By June 1997 it was certified platinum in sales by the RIAA, after sales exceeding 1,000,000 copies in the United States.
Overview
Most of the songs on the album are performed by Sisqó, Jazz and Woody. Sisqó sings solo on the tracks "In My Bed", "Love's Train" and "Share My World", Jazz sings solo on "Never Make a Promise" and Woody sings solo on "April Showers". Nokio has no solos and is featured on "Satisfied" & "All Alone" which all of the members perform on both.
Release and reception
The album peaked at twenty-three on the U.S. Billboard 200 and reached the fifth spot on the R&B Albums chart.[2] The album was certified gold in February 1997 and platinum by June of the same year.[3] Rob Theakston of Allmusic called the album "an impressive debut and a razor-sharp clue of the great things to come."[4]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Anthem" | Janice Upchurch; Andre Bell | Stanley Brown, Janice Upchurch, Andre Bell | 1:00 |
| 2. | "Nothing to Prove" | Tim Patterson; Terence Dudley; F. Rovira; M. Ellis | Tim Dawg, Terence Dudley | 4:06 |
| 3. | "Tell Me" | Stanley Brown; Myron; Alex Cantrall | Stanley Brown, Benjamin Love | 4:13 |
| 4. | "Do U Believe?" | Tim Patterson; Terence Dudley | Tim Dawg, Terence Dudley | 4:12 |
| 5. | "Whatever U Want" | Stanley Brown; Mark Andrews; Larry Anthony; Myron; Saeida Hall | Stanley Brown | 3:58 |
| 6. | "Satisfied" | Nate "Phenomenal" Clemons; Tamir Ruffin; Mark Andrews; James Green | The Clemons Brothers, Nokio the N-Tity | 4:44 |
| 7. | "April Showers" | James Green; Larry Anthony; Tamir Ruffin | A. Haqq Islam, Nokio The N-Tity | 3:34 |
| 8. | "All Alone" | Tamir Ruffin; James Green; Mark Andrews; Larry Anthony; Gregory Jones | A. Haqq Islam, Nokio The N-Tity | 3:35 |
| 9. | "Never Make a Promise" | Daryl Simmons | Daryl Simmons | 5:27 |
| 10. | "So Special" | Tamir Ruffin; Darryl Pearson; James Green; Larry Anthony; Mark Andrews | Darryl Pearson, A. Haqq Islam, Nokio The N-Tity | 5:24 |
| 11. | "In My Bed" | Raphael Brown; Ralph Stacy; Daryl Simmons | Daryl Simmons | 4:45 |
| 12. | "Love's Train" | Michael Cooper; Felton Pilate | Keith Sweat, Allen Smith | 4:20 |
| 13. | "Share My World" | Keith Sweat; Bobby Crawford; Jerome Lane | Keith Sweat | 4:28 |
| 14. | "5 Steps" | Tamir Ruffin; James Green; Wendi Miller | Stanley Brown, Nokio The N-Tity | 5:43 |
| 15. | "In My Bed (So So Def Mix)" (featuring Jermaine Dupri & Da Brat) | Jermaine Dupri | 4:02 |
Chart history
Album
| Chart (1996)[2] | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 23 |
| U.S. Top Heatseekers | 2 |
| U.S. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 5 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions[5] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | U.S. Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | U.S. Rhythmic Top 40 | ||
| 1996 | "Tell Me" | 18 | — | 5 | 20 |
| "In My Bed" | 4 | — | 1 | 4 | |
| 1997 | "Never Make a Promise" | 7 | 3 | 1 | 23 |
| "5 Steps" | 7 | - | - | 22 | |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.
Personnel
Information taken from Allmusic.[6]
- assistant engineering – Jim Carliana, Chris Habeck, Kevin Lively, Steven Rhodes, Brian Thomas, Bernasky Wall, Won B., Luke Yeager
- assistant mixing – Steve Jones, Mike Rew, Gordon Rice, Paul Smith
- associate production – A. Islam Haqq, Ralph Stacy
- bass – Ronnie Garrett, Lance Hiesman, Zachary Scott, Nate Clemons
- drum programming – Michael Aharon, Big Mike Clemons, Daryl Simmons, Allen "Grip" Smith
- drums – Nathaniel Townsley
- engineering – Won Allen, Mike Anzel, Brian Frye, Larry Gold, Karl Heilbron, David Kennedy, Thom "TK" Kidd, Chris Lighty, Alex Nesmith, Jon Smeltz, Mike Tarsia
- executive production – Hiriam Hicks
- grooming – William Marshall
- guitar – Frank Camdel
- keyboard programming – Bobby Crawford, Allen "Grip" Smith
- keyboards – Stanley Brown, Kim Jordan, Benjamin Love, Daryl Simmons, Allen "Grip" Smith
- mastering – Chris Gehringer
- mixing – John Anthony, Chris Barnett, Russell Elevado, Jon Gass, Gerhard Joost, Darryl Pearson, Mike Tarsia
- multi-instruments – Nate "Phenomenal" Clemons, Ralph Stacy
- overdubs – Anthony Duino, Russell Elevado
- percussion – Spike
- photography – Guzman (Constance Hansen & Russell Peacock)
- production – Andre Bell, Stanley Brown, Terence Dudley, A. Islam Haqq, Benjamin Love, Nokio the N-Tity, Tim Dawg, Darryl Pearson, Daryl Simmons, Allen "Grip" Smith, Keith Sweat, Janice Upchurch
- production coordination – Ivy Skoff
- programming – Tom Salta
- rapping – Triip
- string arranging – Michael Aharon
- stylist – Nadia Bartos
- vocal arranging – Darryl Pearson, Sisqó
- vocals (background) – James "Woody" Green
Notes
- ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 260. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- 1 2 "allmusic ((( Dru Hill > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
- ↑ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - February 3, 2011 : Search Results - Dru Hill". RIAA. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
- ↑ Theakston, Rob. "allmusic ((( Dru Hill > Review )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
- ↑ "allmusic ((( Dru Hill > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
- ↑ "allmusic ((( Dru Hill > Credits )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-02-03.