DeVante (who is now personally managed by Sheryl Konigsberg, who's also providing the whole group with "informal interim management") has his own take on the subject. "Suge got a lot of energy," he says, drinking red wine from a mug at the studio. "The record company felt like he was on a power trip that would damage the relationship between us and Uptown. But the negative vibe they expected never came across. Suge'll do whatever is needed in a given situation. We down with Suge; we signed to Uptown."
Jodeci were almost a trio. It's something that people forget because Dalvin's been in since the ride to New York. "Jodeci'll never break up in this lifetime," says DeVante. "All of us got our own shit, but it'll always be us."
In North Charlotte, we lived in Hidden Valley, like the salad dressing. The place with all the fly tricks. I always stayed with friends. Always doin' something. You know how they say preacher's kids are always the worst. Me and Dalvin, K-Ci and JoJo, we used to hear each other's [gospel] songs on the radio. These tricks we was messin' with told us we needed to meet each other. So when they brought us together, K-Ci saw Dalvin with his girl, so he pulled a gun on Dalvin. K-Ci's really an I-don't-give-a-fuck type of person. JoJo calmed K-Ci down; I calmed Dalvin down. We was all like 15 and 16. Then me and K-Ci and JoJo started hanging out, messing around with songs. They had this little studio in this shopping center. I pretty much moved in there with K-Ci and JoJo. I lived there five nights a week for like a year, fucked a lot of girls, partied-we had a little money from our gospel gigs. I'd go home Friday nights, go to church on Sunday, and after church, go back to the studio. My parents knew where I was.
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Jodeci VIBE Magazine (1995)
Non-FictionWARNING : EXPLICIT LANGUAGE All credit goes to VIBE Magazine. ""Silk? Shai? UNV?" DeVante chuckles. "Put that in there. That I laughed. They're just jokes. There are only two powers: us and Boyz II Men."
