TVOne Docu-Series "Unsung" Celebrates Season Premiere With Legendary R&B/Soul Group Dru Hill!

 

TVOne’s popular, award-winning docu-series "UnSung" returns for yet another riveting new season this Sunday (February 23). And to kick things off, '90s R&B quartet Dru Hill will be profiled.

 

Fans will be treated to a direct account of the professional and personal highs and lows of the gentlemen, whose timeless music ruled the '90s era and became the soundtrack of our lives.

 

And long overdue—finally the answer to the million dollar question that’s been on hearts and minds for quite some time now: What happened and where are they now? 

 

Hailing from Baltimore, Maryland, Dru Hill’s alluring four-part harmony consisted of original members Mark "Sisqo" Andrews, Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin, James "Woody" Green, and Larry "Jazz" Anthony. With a slew of chart-topping hits that included "Tell Me", "Never Make A Promise", "In My Bed", "I Should Be", and "Beauty", among others, Dru Hill gained a stride that set the bar to the highest plateau for others to take notice and admire. Every tale in the songs you either lived yourself or knew someone who did due to lyrics that hit home and video story lines that were real and life changing.

 

 

 

So the timing is perfect to openly share and give audiences insight that ranges from the very beginning of the journey to the present day—from how it all started and their meteoric rise, to Sisqo’s amazing solo career and the group’s reintroduction now, which consists of two new voices adding even more flavor to the Dru Hill sound.

 

“A lot of people were asking, and we were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to tell the story, so we were like, okay cool, let’s let everybody into the dragon house,” says Sisqo with a chuckle.

 

Primarily, the main goal is to put an end to the curiosity surrounding new members Jawann "Smoke" Peacock and Benjamin "Black" Bush of the R&B/Hip-Hop group Playa.

 

“Maybe people can now stop asking so many questions about Smoke and Black. To be completely honest, people will see from this the fact that we’ve had a bunch of different members in the group, which has been like an ongoing thing. But who is in the group is not as important as the group itself. The foundation of Dru Hill is based on the music and not on the members. Me, personally, I want people to know that specific fact,” Sisqo continues.

 

Members of both groups have decided to join together and form a "super group", something that was easy to create due to a brotherhood that was already there to begin with. The guys have all known each other for over 20 years and even shared the same label home, Def Jam.

 

“We’ve gone on tours together, sang together ,and always had respect for one another and for one another’s talent, so now it’s an iconic moment. We want everyone to realize that what we’re doing is major. Us coming together was like Transformers. I’ve never seen any other group do this! This is epic and should go down in the Guinness Book of World Records!” says Smoke with a laugh.

 

“It is an honor to be a part of an iconic group, and initially I already knew what the brand meant. Dru Hill is an iconic group, and I wanted to help continue the legacy, make it stronger if I could,” adds Black.

 

It is apparent that the friendship is indeed authentic, because both Smoke and Black have admiration for Sisqo’s work ethic and way of thinking.

 

“I think he gets a bad rep, because people don’t really know the inside workings of Dru Hill. Sisqo’s favorite thing to say is ‘Squad first’; he’s a team first guy, a straight-shooter, and he’s always been that way. Some of the perceptions that most have of him are off, and this is an opportunity to give it to them real and honest,” continues Black.

 

 

 

The episode even addresses the initial departure of bandmate Woody, which forced the group to soldier on as a trio at the time and proved a very hard but necessary pill to swallow for Sisqo.

 

“It hurt when he had to leave, and we were sympathetic. He was dealing with some things with his parents. What can you say when someone’s mom is sick? It was just an unfortunate scenario. He brought me into the group, so I had a loyalty to him,” says Sisqo.

 

Nowadays, the fellas are gearing up for the release of the new Dru Hill album entitled The Second Coming. And with the forthcoming single "What You Need", the usual strictly-for-the-ladies and straight rhythm and soul music formula hasn’t lost its luster. And it never will. 

 

“A lot of our influencers are the same, so it was super easy to integrate both sounds. No one is really doing R&B on the mainstream level….this is real music. It’s all about diversity, and we’re just doing what we do for the new ears that’s listening. There’s a whole new generation now, and it’s us trying to reposition R&B where it’s supposed to be,” says Black.

 

“This album is fire! The main reason we have such a cohesive sound now is because a lot of people said we sounded similar to Jodeci and the fact that they [Smoke and Black] were singing on songs like ‘Freek’N You’, it’s like a full circle moment... We actually wished that we were a group when we were on tour together back in the beginning of our careers. In 1996, we said 'tell me what you want', and in 2020, we gon’ give you what you need,” says Sisqo.

 

"Unsung" featuring Dru Hill airs this Sunday, February 23, at 9pm CST/10pm EST on TVOne.

 

Catch up with Dru Hill on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and their official website.