Where Is Jojo From Jodeci American R&B Quartet Now?

Jojo from Jodeci has overcome his alcohol addiction and has reunited with his music group now. Jodeci is an American R&B quartet from the early 1990s.

The R&B group was formed in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1989. The quartet is made up of brothers Donald and Dalvin DeGrate, and Cedric and Joel Hailey.

Initially, the two sets of brothers were in separate gospel groups with Cedric and Joel performing as Little Cedric & the Hailey Singers, while Donald and Dalvin performed with their family, the DeGrate gospel group. The duos met through various family relationships. 

Spurred on by rejections from everywhere else, Donald reached out to the rest of the band members in North Carolina in the late 80s. They formed Jodeci, with the name coming from Jo from Joel, De from DeGrate, and ci from Cedric’s moniker, K-Ci.

All four members began using monikers aside from Cedric’s K-Ci, with Joel going by Jojo, Donald as DeVante Swing, and Dalvin as Mr. Dalvin. The group would go on to see success throughout the 90s with three albums in 1991, 1993, and 1995 respectively.

Sadly, they embarked on a long hiatus after the release of their third album in 1995.

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Where Is Jojo From Jodeci Now?

Jojo is making music alongside Jodeci now after overcoming his alcohol addictions. Jojo faced a lot of health problems with alcohol before.

Thankfully, as of the writing of this article, Jojo is safe and as healthy as he can be, but for a long period of his career, the star was prone to drinking and partying heavily. In a recent interview with TVOne, the star stated that the only problem he now had was with his pancreas.

In the interview, the star stated that he had drank so much that a small part of his pancreas had eaten away. He told the interviewer that the pain was something he wouldn’t wish even on his worst enemy.

Given that Jojo is the only member of the band who does not have a Wikipedia page can give some credence to just how alcohol has hampered his career. Though all members of the band had their fair share of alcohol abuse and even troubles with the law, Jojo seems to be the one member of the band it hit the hardest.

Known as the “Bad Boys of R&B,” it comes as no surprise that Jodeci partied a lot. It was not only in their nature as superstars, but also a release from the Christian and religious household the two duos were raised.

According to the same interview, Jojo stated that the partying started from the moment the band had its first hit. He’s since stated that it was a downward spiral since then.

The drinking continued throughout the band’s career, and even after when Jojo and his brother K-Ci started their own band. However, the main trouble came when the singer realized how great a toll alcohol was taking on him.

He stated that one day, he decided he didn’t want to drink anything, and the resulting night spent without alcohol made him go into a seizure. It was a classic case of withdrawal.

Thankfully, the star seems to have made it through, and not only that but recuperated as fully as he can. He is married to Tashauna “Tiny” Hailey, whom he has credited with helping him throughout his addiction.

Sadly, the two have separated, but they are still married as of the writing of this article. Jojo still performs and wows people with his amazing voice, that in his heyday, brought the singer many comparisons to the king of pop himself, Michael Jackson.

What Happened To K-Ci and Jojo In Jodeci?

K-Ci and Jojo formed their own group as K-Ci & Jojo in 1996 after Jodeci disbanded. The duo has been active ever since.

As the brothers already had a history as a singing duo back when they were known as Little Cedric and the Hailey Singers of North Carolina, they decided to start singing as such after Jodeci’s third album. The group initially started as a side project for the two brothers with the release of their first album, Love Always on June 17, 1997.

Though the first two singles, You Bring Me Up, and Last Night’s Letter, were minor successes, it was the album’s third single, All My Life, that brought the duo major success. The success of All My Life led to all four singles from the album to peak in the Top 25 in the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Love Always would go on to become certified platinum three times in the US alone. The success of the singles and the album led to the duo deciding to turn all their attention to the side project. 

The band released their follow-up to Love Always, It’s Real on June 22, 1999. It peaked at number 8 on the Billboard 200, which was two slots lower than the previous album.

The album would still be counted as a success as it was certified platinum too. The album was especially popular in the singles category as it contained their number 2 hit, Tell Me It’s Real.

However, the band kept seeing a slow decline on the charts. Their third album, X, peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200. 

Still going strong in the singles department, the album’s first single, Crazy, peaked right outside of the Top 10 at number 11. Still, the album managed to become certified platinum.

The final nail in the coffin was the fact that the band’s fourth album, Emotional, debuted at number 61 on the Billboard 200. It was also their first album not to receive a certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.

Since then, the band took a break for the majority of the 2000s only releasing a compilation album called Love in Japan. Though they did release an album, My Brother’s Keeper, in 2013, it also didn’t chart.

The duo also tried their hand at television in 2010 when they released a reality documentary series called K-Ci & Jojo… Come Clean. In it, the duo talked about their struggles with alcohol, attempts to make a comeback, and what work they had put in to rebuild their struggling relationship.

Sadly, the show only aired for one season.

Other Jodeci Band Members Update

After Jodeci disbanded, Dalvin and Donald didn’t start their own group like the other two. Instead, they focused on their own careers.

Though both Dalvin and Donald were also in a group together prior to joining Jodeci, they chose not to follow in K-Ci and Jojo’s lead. The two have since had wildly different career trajectories.

Donald “DeVante Swing” DeGrate

Donald switched his focus to being behind the booth after Jodeci’s disbanding. He first did so by founding the R&B/Hip-Hop collective known as Swing Mob.

The Swing Mob had two incarnations: one that spanned from 1991 to 1995, and another that spanned from 1997 to 2004. In its initial incarnation, the mob was thought to be a label and a conglomerate.

It featured young artists who would go on to have successful careers like Ginuwine and Missy Elliott, and it was due to their breaking out that the collective failed.

The second incarnation remained strictly as a collaboration unit bereft of any labels and paperwork. They were called the Superfriends.

Donald also started spending more time producing, as he had produced a majority of Jodeci’s work. Some of his most prominent production work was Usher’s Can U Get wit It, 2Pac’s No More Pain, and Mariah Carey’s The Beautiful Ones.

Dalvin DeGrate

Dalvin was the only member of the group who tried to pursue a solo career. However, he would not find much success.

After the group’s disbanding, he would release a solo album called Met.A.Mor.Phic on April 18, 2000. Sadly, the album would not only see any critical or commercial success, but it didn’t grab anyone’s attention.

Undeterred, the singer signed to Def Jam Recordings and recorded his second album, Met.A.Mor.Phic 2: The Rivalry of a Singer and A Rapper. The album was stated to be released in 2010, but due to disputes with the label, it has since been shelved.

The rapper announced a third album called Egomaniac in 2010, but it too has been shelved. Most recently, he stated a new album would come in 2018, but nothing has come about as of the writing of this article.