Rarely does a month go by without someone asking Jodeci for money, but it’s not necessarily from people with happy hands — it’s from people who conceived children listening to the R&B group’s music. “Do you know how many people come up to us and say, ‘Man, do you owe us some money for all these kids I have?’ We get that a lot,” K-Ci, 54, told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview. Member Dalvin DeGrate, 52, agrees, “It happens all the time.” Known for their love ballads like “Come and Talk to Me ” and “Love U 4 Life,” Jodeci enjoyed massive success in the early 1990s. After nearly two decades on hiatus — they insist it wasn’t a “breakup” — the foursome re-released music in 2015 and even toured in 2022 and 2023 . Now, however, they’re bringing their soulful, gospel-inspired sounds to Las Vegas, where they’ll begin a 10-show residency at the House of Blues on March 15. “Vegas jazz, it really can’t be beat,” DeGrate said. “It’s pretty cool .” In anticipation of the residency, DeGrate and K-Ci, real name Cedric Hailey, spoke with PEOPLE about their stylings, epic struggles and the impact their music has continued to have on pop culture. “We do our best to make music that’s timeless,” K-Ci said. “When I say timeless, I mean you never get tired of listening to love songs. We try to record and produce love songs that sound the best we can, especially something tailored to ladies and lads, who want to play some nice slow songs for their ladies.”
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There’s no doubt that Jodeci’s music and legacy have stood the test of time, having been referenced and sampled over the years by artists such as Megan Thee Stallion, Mariah Carey, Drake, JAY-Z and more. “We just made music that we know how to make. Many artists get confused and create music that meditate people want and so they end up chasing those trends and trying to chase hits,” DeGrate said. “We never did that. We just made music that we liked and people just enjoyed it because it was what we felt and what we made.” He continued, “We’re just setting trends instead of following them. So that gave us longevity… We weren’t just trying to put out instant hits, we went and came up with the perfect word or the perfect melody with the perfect singing voice.”
Jodeci.
Kelly Frey Publicity
The fact that Jodeci is still together is a miracle in itself, since they’ve been through an 18-year hiatus and some epic fights. Even the success of K-Ci & JoJo, an offshoot of the group that consisted of K-Ci and his brother JoJo Hailey, now 52, hasn’t derailed the foursome.”We all know that at the end of the day, we still have to sit at the same table and a nice dinner. So we just left it all, man,” K-Ci said of Jodeci’s fights. “But one thing about Jodecius: we’re brothers, we’re going to fight, we’re going to fight. And that’s about it, nothing physical, nothing like that.” DeGrate added, “We’re brothers and we agree to disagree all the time. If we’re not arguing, something’s wrong, something’s wrong.”
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And while many have assumed that Jodeci broke up during those 18 years without music, the group is adamant that this is a lie. “Never, never, never, never,” says K-Ci when asked if the foursome ever broke up. “Before any record deal or anything, we made a vow: Jodeci will never be replaced. There will be no replacements and we will never break up. The day we had to break up is the day I’ll probably stop singing. So I don’t plan on stopping singing anytime soon .”
Dates of stay:
Friday, March 15, Saturday, March 16, Wednesday, March 20, Saturday, March 23, Sunday, March 24, Friday, July 5, Saturday, July 6, Wednesday, July 10, Friday, July 12, Saturday, July 13
Tickets can be purchased starting Saturday, December 16th at 7am EST at HouseofBlues.com/LasVegas, MandalayBay.com or Ticketmaster.com. Citi Cardmembers, House of Blues, Live Nation and Ticketmaster customers can also gain access to various pre-sales on December 13th, 14th and 15th.
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Source: HIS Education