R&B singer, Sisqo’, from Dru Hill was featured on the OWN network on the show,“Where Are They Now?”, and he opened up about why his success in the music industry stopped.

When Dru Hill came on the scene, everyone loved them. Like most R&B groups, there’s always one person that stands out. The person that stood out in Dru Hill was Sisqo’.

Not only did he stand out because of his platinum blonde hair, but his voice soothed your soul and you couldn’t help but to rock back and forth when he belted out his names in songs.

The group was popular in the 1990’s, but ultimately broke up after Sisqo released a solo album called, Unleash the Dragon (which contained “Thong Song” and “Incomplete”), and the less-successful Return of the Dragon. While the group broke up from 1999 to 2002, they reunited in 2014 and have been back on stage ever since, with a few member changes.

Sisqo was featured on OWN a while back, where he candidly discussed his pitfalls in the music business.

“Once you get to that level of success, you have to play the game. That’s what I did not understand,” Sisqó says. “I thought that once you get success, your job was the ‘Robin Hood’ situation… You know, I’m from Baltimore; nobody has anything. When somebody had talent, I was hiring my uncle, my cousin, you know? Getting people that I knew to run the studio.”

Sisqo’ and the music label were at odds because Sisqo’ wanted to use his own people to give them a measure of success. What he didn’t know is that sometimes where you’re going, you have to leave people behind.

“Me and the label just started bumping heads because I was ‘hard to work with,’” he says. “Instead of putting their person behind the console, I would put my person behind the console. Instead of getting their rapper to rap on it, I get my cousin to rap on it.”

In Sisqo’s opinion, he wasn’t being difficult. He had dreams and those dreams included helping his people in Baltimore.

“I’m like, ‘We gonna eat too,’” he says. “I was doing the best I could to feed my family, bring the money back to Baltimore.”

Watch the clip below: 

The post Sisqo Of Dru Hill Explained How Hiring His Family Members Suddenly ‘Stopped His Success’ appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Remember when H-Town had the airwaves on fire with their hit, “Knockin’ Da Boots?” They had everybody singing “Somebody’s rockin,’ knockin’ da boots!” When they hit the scene in 1993, “Boots” skyrocketed to number one on Billboard and folks were like ‘Dang, them boys can sing!’ Well let me rephrase that, H-Town didn’t just sing, they could really SANG (that’s right sang, with an ‘A,’ not an ‘I’- there’s a difference)!

After “Knockin’ Da Boots,” H-Town then hit us with “Emotions,” “Part Time Lover” and of course we can’t forget about their remake of “A Thin Line Between Love” and Hate with Shirley Murdock and Roger Troutman.

All of that and more is what really let folks know that those cats were the TRUTH! They solidified themselves as authentic R&B artists while adding a romantic feel to Luther Campbell’s (of 2 Live Crew) then raunchy hip hop label, Luke Records. Sadly, there was some extreme heartache and tragedy ahead for the fellas from Houston, TX…

DETAILS OF DINO’S DEATH

Keven “Dino” Conner was the lead singer of the group and his voice was like no other in that era. Sadly, Dino (28), his pregnant fiancee’, Teysha (22), and his unborn child were killed in a car accident in 2003. He was survived by a very beautiful daughter, who is now is approximately 25 years old and continuing her Dad’s legacy in her own way. She is gorgeous and she looks like her father’s mini-me. Check her out below…

Meet Dino’s Daughter

See what we mean? Her photo looks like Dino with long hair…well, in a beautifully feminine sort of way, of course.

Her name is Kayja Rose Rogan and she is a very beautiful young lady who inherited the singing ability of her Pops.

Below is a photo of Kayja chillin’ with her uncle, Dino’s brother and fellow H-Town singer – Solomon…

Kayja has a beautiful voice. Check out her sound below…

THE SPORTS LEGEND WHO ADOPTED DINO’S DAUGHTER

Years after Dino’s passing, the mother of his daughter, Kayja, married sports commentator and podcaster, Joe Rogan in 2009.

Kayja Rose was still pretty young at that time, so her mom and Joe decided to allow Joe to adopt her and help raise her into the young woman she is today. Kayja’s mom, Jessica, and Joe Rogan are still happily married to this day.

KAYJA’S MOTHER

At the time of Dino’s passing, many fans were confused as to whether, or not, it was Jessica in the car with him on that tragic night. So we want to make it clear, that Kayja’s mother Jessica, was NOT in the car accident with Dino. Again, the only young lady who was in the car with Dino that night was his fiancee,’ Teysha Rae Weisant.

THE EERY COMPARISON OF DINO’S DEATH TO H-TOWN’S “EMOTIONS” VIDEO

It’s still hard to believe that Dino, the man with one of the most powerful voices of the 90’s R&B era, is no longer here with us. One of the saddest and eery things about his death is that prior to his passing, their “Emotions” music video, depicted Dino getting killed in a car accident…then years later he died in real life the exact same way. Another thing is that when we were researching this information, we couldn’t help but vibe to some of H-Town’s music and when we heard the song “The Day I Die,” it just made his death really feel surreal in that moment.

The remaining members of H-Town, Solomon (Dino’s brother) and Darryl are still keeping the H-Town legacy alive and constantly tour overseas and in the U.S. to sold out crowds. They tour with other groups like KC and J-Jo, Dru Hill, Jagged Edge and others, and it’s always a great thing to see artists from back in the day still being able to earn a living doing what they love. We’re sure that Dino would have been proud of his fellow members, and of course, his daughter, Kayja.

The post After H-Town’s Lead Singer Died, His Daughter Was Adopted By A Sports Legend appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

R&B singer, Sisqo’, from Dru Hill was featured on the OWN network on the show,“Where Are They Now?”, and he opened up about why his success in the music industry stopped.

When Dru Hill came on the scene, everyone loved them. Like most R&B groups, there’s always one person that stands out. The person that stood out in Dru Hill was Sisqo’.

Not only did he stand out because of his platinum blonde hair, but his voice soothed your soul and you couldn’t help but to rock back and forth when he belted out his names in songs.

The group was popular in the 1990’s, but ultimately broke up after Sisqo released a solo album called, Unleash the Dragon (which contained “Thong Song” and “Incomplete”), and the less-successful Return of the Dragon. While the group broke up from 1999 to 2002, they reunited in 2014 and have been back on stage ever since, with a few member changes.

Sisqo was featured on OWN a while back, where he candidly discussed his pitfalls in the music business.

“Once you get to that level of success, you have to play the game. That’s what I did not understand,” Sisqó says. “I thought that once you get success, your job was the ‘Robin Hood’ situation… You know, I’m from Baltimore; nobody has anything. When somebody had talent, I was hiring my uncle, my cousin, you know? Getting people that I knew to run the studio.”

Sisqo’ and the music label were at odds because Sisqo’ wanted to use his own people to give them a measure of success. What he didn’t know is that sometimes where you’re going, you have to leave people behind.

“Me and the label just started bumping heads because I was ‘hard to work with,’” he says. “Instead of putting their person behind the console, I would put my person behind the console. Instead of getting their rapper to rap on it, I get my cousin to rap on it.”

In Sisqo’s opinion, he wasn’t being difficult. He had dreams and those dreams included helping his people in Baltimore.

“I’m like, ‘We gonna eat too,’” he says. “I was doing the best I could to feed my family, bring the money back to Baltimore.”

Watch the clip below: 

The post Sisqo Of Dru Hill Explained How Hiring Family Members Suddenly Stopped His Success appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Does anyone remember when radio personality Angie Martinez dated Tamir “Nokio” Ruffin from Dru Hill? Well, the two dated around the time Nokio was at the height of his career with the 90’s R&B group. The relationship initially came as quite a shock to fans, because many assumed they were complete opposites, partly due to their 8-year age difference, with Angie being the eldest of the two.

Angie is an outspoken rapper and radio personality who gained a reputation on New York’s Hot 97 and Nokio seemed like a quiet, laid-back type of guy. But, the two managed to make it work for the time being and appeared to be quite happy while they were together. In fact, they even have a son.

Angie’s & Nokio’s Son Back Then

Nokio Ruffin is the singer/producer’s second son. Needless to say, little Nokio – whose nickname is Niko – has always been adorable. Check out a throwback picture of him with his parents and his older brother, Jordan Ruffin, his father’s oldest son, above.

Their 17 Year Old Son NOW…

However, he’s not the little boy most fans remember anymore. He’s actually a teenager now and he looks quite different.

A few years ago, Angie Martinez shared a photo of Niko and Jordan with their uncle. In the photo, Niko is standing to the left of his uncle and he’s the spitting image of his parents. See Niko and his brother, Jordan, below…

Not only does Niko look like his parents, but he also inherited their love for music and their talents. Below is a throwback video Angie shared of Niko showing off his rap skills.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Angie Martinez (@angiemartinez)

Altogether, Nokio has four children – Jordan, Niko, Chloe and a fourth child on the way. Jordan’s mother is Margo Wainwright, the head of video production at Island Def Jam. At a young age, Jordan was introduced to the music industry when he was featured in Dru Hill’s video for the hit single “I Love You”…

In addition to Jordan and Niko. Nokio had his daughter, Chloe Ruffin, with his ex-wife, Carmen Hayes-Ruffin. The two parted ways back in 2013. He also reportedly has a fourth child who was reportedly born in 2017.

The post Son Of Dru Hill’s Nokio And Radio Host Angie Martinez Is Way Older Now appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Dru Hill gave us some classic R&B joints, like “Five Steps,” “We’re Not Making Love No More,” “Tell Me,” “In My Bed” and many more, still give us that much needed 90’s nostalgia to this day. At the heights of their careers, members Sisqo, Nokio, Larry, and Woody were dominating the game. Then seemingly outta nowhere, Woody decided to say ‘Peace out’ and then two-stepped his way off the stage and out of the spotlight.

After Woody’s initial departure some years ago, he rejoined the group again to the rejoice of many fans. Then came that infamous announcement when Woody blindsided his group members, live on the radio, with news that he was once again quitting yet again, to pursue his true passion of being a gospel singer. That resulted in a sloppy fist fight right there in the radio station and Dru Hill fans never heard from Woody again.

Fast forward to today, and the remaining original members, Sisqo, Nokio, and Jazz along with their newest member, Tao (who became Woody’s permanent replacement in 2010), have recently revealed the REAL reason Woody left the group. It was due to a very life threatening incident that almost cost them their lives.

The Gun Battle That Caused Woody To Leave For Good

During a prior interview on Power 105’s ‘The Breakfast Club,’ Dru Hill revealed that Woody had been threatening to leave the group to do his own thing for a while, but he ultimately left because of one reason: They were almost shot and killed by a deranged fan. *Scroll down to see video of them recounting what really happened**

Nokio, Larry, and Sisqo broke the whole story down. When they were performing in Paris, they got into a fist fight with a random group of guys after their show. Next thing they knew, things went left in like 0.6 seconds and one of the guys pulled out a gun to shoot them. In efforts to protect them, Dru Hill’s security guards grabbed the singers and forced them into their awaiting van. Then the shooter ran up to their van’s window, pulled the trigger and thankfully his aim was off, because the bullets flew right past Dru Hill’s heads, as they ducked down in the vehicle.

Afterwards, the U.S. Embassy sent massive security to their hotel rooms to protect them for the duration of the trip. When Dru Hill finally headed back home to Baltimore, MD, Woody was like ‘To hell with all of this, I’m out for real this time’ and that was the end of that. “That was the first time that I knew like, this dude [Woody] is ready to go,” said Nokio.

The dumbest part of it all was that the beef started simply because the shooter originally wanted a photo of the group for his girlfriend, but felt that Dru Hill was taking too long to give him one. Check out what else they said about this horrifying disaster in the video above, because there’s a lot more (they start talking about this at the at the 29:36 mark).

FYI: If y’all missed Dru Hill’s Christmas album, Christmas in Baltimore, it’s received great reviews, so it’s never too late to cop one for yourself HERE.

The post Dru Hill Reveals Terrifying Shoot-Out That Caused Woody To Finally Leave Group For Good appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Dru Hill gave us some classic R&B joints, like “Five Steps,” “We’re Not Making Love No More,” “Tell Me,” “In My Bed” and many more, still give us that much needed 90’s nostalgia to this day. At the heights of their careers, members Sisqo, Nokio, Larry, and Woody were dominating the game. Then seemingly outta nowhere, Woody decided to say ‘Peace out’ and then two-stepped his way off the stage and out of the spotlight.

After Woody’s initial departure some years ago, he rejoined the group again to the rejoice of many fans. Then came that infamous announcement when Woody blindsided his group members, live on the radio, with news that he was once again quitting yet again, to pursue his true passion of being a gospel singer. That resulted in a sloppy fist fight right there in the radio station and Dru Hill fans never heard from Woody again.

Fast forward to today, and the remaining original members, Sisqo, Nokio, and Jazz along with their newest member, Tao (who became Woody’s permanent replacement in 2010), have recently revealed the REAL reason Woody left the group. It was due to a very life threatening incident that almost cost them their lives.

The Gun Battle That Caused Woody To Leave For Good

During a recent interview on Power 105’s ‘The Breakfast Club,’ Dru Hill revealed that Woody had been threatening to leave the group to do his own thing for a while, but he ultimately left because of one reason: They were almost shot and killed by a deranged fan. *Scroll down to see video of them recounting what really happened**

Nokio, Larry, and Sisqo broke the whole story down. When they were performing in Paris, they got into a fist fight with a random group of guys after their show. Next thing they knew, things went left in like 0.6 seconds and one of the guys pulled out a gun to shoot them. In efforts to protect them, Dru Hill’s security guards grabbed the singers and forced them into their awaiting van. Then the shooter ran up to their van’s window, pulled the trigger and thankfully his aim was off, because the bullets flew right past Dru Hill’s heads, as they ducked down in the vehicle.

Afterwards, the U.S. Embassy sent massive security to their hotel rooms to protect them for the duration of the trip. When Dru Hill finally headed back home to Baltimore, MD, Woody was like ‘To hell with all of this, I’m out for real this time’ and that was the end of that. “That was the first time that I knew like, this dude [Woody] is ready to go,” said Nokio.

The dumbest part of it all was that the beef started simply because the shooter originally wanted a photo of the group for his girlfriend, but felt that Dru Hill was taking too long to give him one. Check out what else they said about this horrifying disaster in the video above, because there’s a lot more (they start talking about this at the at the 29:36 mark).

FYI: If y’all missed Dru Hill’s new Christmas album, Christmas in Baltimore, it’s been getting great reviews, so it’s never too late to cop one for yourself HERE.

The post Dru Hill Reveals Terrifying Gun Fight That Caused Woody To Finally Leave Group For Good appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Dru Hill’s Sisqo made us feel like it’s 1999 all over again, with the new release of his “Thong Song” remake. In case y’all haven’t heard by now, Sisqo dusted off his thong song routine, gathered up about 20 thong clad ladies for the video and got to dancing with the pop group, JCY.

The remake caught many fans off guard – both in a good way and not-so-good way. Although many were surprised, Sisqo told Buzzfeed that it was about that time for him to upgrade his ’99 multi-platinum selling banger, stating,”It was time to put some new rims on the Bugatti,” in reference to his song’s remake. Check out the remake below…

Sisqo’s and JCY’s “Thong Song” Remake

Fans React

After folks on social media caught wind of the new ‘dumps like a truck, truck, truck,” video, they interestingly had mixed reviews. Some were ecstatic over it and felt that it was the best thing since sliced bread….

THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!! The #ThongSong is BACK!! I've never felt more alive. Come thruuu, @OfficialSisQo!!! pic.twitter.com/pI4nccdYjE

— Krissy Boyd (@KrissyInABox) July 19, 2017

**

https://twitter.com/KaylaFortney/status/887314852456398849

***

https://twitter.com/BailyRacheal/status/887381730855976964

While others were curious as to why there weren’t more “dumps” in the “trucks” of the video models they chose for a song like “Thong Song.” There was also some discontent over the lack of melanin in the video, which was unlike Sisqo’s original, more diversified “Thong Song” video in 1999. Lastly, some fans feel that no matter how great the remake sounds, a classic should never be remade…

https://twitter.com/JaesJournal/status/887669066051321856

***

https://twitter.com/neonnaturalblog/status/887637557391101953

***

Had no clue of who JCY was. Now I know them as the Norwegian dj/producer group that got #Sisqo to gentrify an American classic. #Thongsong

— ElegantNRaunchy (@BeingCEEJAY) July 19, 2017

***

#sisqo #thongsong remake
3 black girls
But the video 'looks Caucasian'
Mkay pic.twitter.com/g53Cz0XaDp

— Maya (@ScaryCute13) July 18, 2017

***

https://twitter.com/IheartgrafDrew/status/887448148804849664

Original “Thong Song” Video

Compare the remake to the original version and let us know what y’all think…

Quite frankly, I think there should have been more diversity in Sisqo’s and JCY’s new “Thong Song” video, but the actual revised song is solid. Overall though, it’s good to see Sisqo still doing his thing, he’s a an incredible artist. He and his Dru Hill ‘brothers’ are also consistently performing and killing the stage everywhere they touch down. Gotta love it!

The post Sisqo Remakes Thong Song & Social Media Gives Interesting Mixed Reactions appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Angie is an outspoken rapper and radio personality who gained a reputation on New York’s Hot 97 and Nokio seemed like a quiet, laid-back type of guy. But, the two managed to make it work for the time being and appeared to be quite happy while they were together. In fact, they even have a son.

Angie’s & Nokio’s Son Back Then

Nokio Ruffin is the singer/producer’s second son. Needless to say, little Nokio – whose nickname is Niko – has always been adorable. Check out a throwback picture of him with his parents and his older brother, Jordan Ruffin, his father’s oldest son, above.

Their 14 Year Old Son NOW…

However, he’s not the little boy most fans remember anymore. He’s actually a teenager now and he looks quite different. Last month, Angie Martinez shared a photo of Niko and Jordan with their uncle. In the photo, Niko is standing to the left of his uncle and he’s the spitting image of his parents. See Niko and his brother, Jordan, below…

Not only does Niko look like his parents, but he also inherited their love for music and their talents. Angie recently shared a video of Niko showing off his rap skills.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUTFHxxhzIa/

Altogether, Nokio has four children – Jordan, Niko, Chloe and a fourth child on the way. Jordan’s mother is Margo Wainwright, the head of video production at Island Def Jam. At a young age, Jordan was introduced to the music industry when he was featured in Dru Hill’s video for the hit single “I Love You”…

In addition to Jordan and Niko. Nokio had his daughter, Chloe Ruffin, with his ex-wife, Carmen Hayes-Ruffin. The two parted ways back in 2013. Now, he’s expecting a fourth child with his current fiancee.

The post Son Of Dru Hill’s Nokio & Radio Host Angie Martinez Is Waaay Older Now appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

When Dru Hill came on the scene, everyone loved them. Like most R&B groups, there’s always one person that stands out. The person that stood out in Dru Hill was Sisqo’.

Not only did he stand out because of his platinum blonde hair, but his voice soothed your soul and you couldn’t help but to rock back and forth when he belted out his names in songs.

The group was popular in the 1990’s but ultimately broke up after Sisqo released a solo album called, Unleash the Dragon (which contained “Thong Song” and “Incomplete”) and the less successful Return of the Dragon. While the group broke up from 1999 to 2002, they reunited in 2014 and are back on stage.

Sisqo was recently featured on OWN where he candidly discussed his pitfalls in the music business.

“Once you get to that level of success, you have to play the game. That’s what I did not understand,” Sisqó says. “I thought that once you get success, your job was the ‘Robin Hood’ situation… You know, I’m from Baltimore; nobody has anything. When somebody had talent, I was hiring my uncle, my cousin, you know? Getting people that I knew to run the studio.”

Sisqo’ and the music label were at odds because Sisqo’ wanted to use his own people to give them a measure of success. What he didn’t know is that sometimes where you’re going, you have to leave people behind.

“Me and the label just started bumping heads because I was ‘hard to work with,’” he says. “Instead of putting their person behind the console, I would put my person behind the console. Instead of getting their rapper to rap on it, I get my cousin to rap on it.”

In Sisqo’s opinion, he wasn’t being difficult. He had dreams and those dreams included helping his people in Baltimore.

“I’m like, ‘We gonna eat too,’” he says. “I was doing the best I could to feed my family, bring the money back to Baltimore.”

Watch the clip below: 

The post Sisqo’ Of Dru Hill Reveals How Hiring Family Members Suddenly Stopped His Success appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

The judge has awarded them $1 million. Okay let’s bring it back a notch real quick- they won a mil’ but they do have to split it four ways and pay taxes on it. So they all can’t necessarily go mansion shopping with their ‘suit money, but they can give their kids a great Christmas, buy themselves something nice, and put the rest in the bank for a rainy day…but that’s neither here, nor there…the bigger issue at hand is that they won and Kedar has to deduct a million from his or his company’s bank account. Here are the details via Bossip:

A New York federal judge ruled in the 1990s group’s favor by default in their $1 million breach of contract case against Kedar Entertainment Group after the record company never bothered to respond to the singers’ suit.

The men said they signed deals with the company for two new albums, and Kedar promised to spend a minimum of $300,000 on promoting each one, 2010’s “InDRUpendence Day,” and Sisqo’s “Last Dragon,” which dropped earlier this year.

But the suit said Kedar didn’t spend anywhere close to that amount, and in turn, Dru Hill lost millions in record sales, live shows and publishing profits.

Dru Hill also complained that they never saw a dime of their advances and royalties from the records.

Kedar Entertainment – headed by former Motown Records honcho Kedar Massenburg – had a month to answer Dru Hill’s lawsuit, but never did.

Dru Hill’s lawyer, Lita Rosario, asked the judge to issue a default judgment against the record company, and on Nov. 24, the judge ruled in Dru Hill’s favor, which means Kedar Entertainment is on the hook for a million in damages and must release Dru Hill from the contract.

The post Dru Hill Wins Lawsuit Against Ex-Motown Exec And Is About To Get PAID! appeared first on I Love Old School Music.