"Love U 4 Life" could easily have been on Boyz II Men's recent album. A vague power ballad, the song is one of the original 29 from Jodeci's demo. But instead of reaching for pop heights, the chorus has some freaked-out harmonies flowing over a stomping bass line. And the closing acoustic number, "Good Luv" (which signifies 'Face's "When Can I See You"), is dazzling. The first verse showcases
K-Ci's tobacco-raspy baritone voice-alone except for DeVante's guitar. JoJo's buttery tenor is the solo star of the second verse, and it too seems to glow, standing out there alone.
It's 4:00 on a cool spring Harlem afternoon as Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey gets out of his jeep on his way to work. He's got a gold, diamond-packed JODECI emblem dangling from his neck and gold hoops in both ears. Offstage, on the street, K-Ci is surprisingly little. Skinny.
Today K-Ci is a "celebrity scooper" at the nonprofit Ben & Jerry's ice cream parlor on 125th Street. "May I help you?" K-Ci asks the awed congregation. He's got on a plastic apron and is up to his elbows in New York Super Fudge Chunk. Most of the Catholic schoolgirls-with their gray skirts, nose rings, Tims, and bright red beepers-have color pictures of Jodeci torn from fanzines and want autographs. K-Ci looks at them from behind his black shades. The girls are whispering about the tattoo on his neck. They think it says MARY, for Mary J. Blige. But it actually says MAZÉ, after his grandmother. Later on, after a Grand Marnier on the rocks, in a rare moment of conversation with someone other than crew, JoJo says of his brother's chocolate fudge expertise: "You know how K-Ci is. He takes his job seriously-no matter what it is." They all seem to take it seriously. As their album title suggests, they're in it for the money-for the shows, the after-parties, and the groupie-filled hotel lobbies. But also for the love of music. To see K-Ci Hailey in rehearsal, singing "(Not Just) Knee Deep" slowed down and steady like it was "Amazing Grace," is an awesome experience.
"This is a job," says K-Ci, in the Apollo Theatre's rehearsal hall, mike in one hand, Newport burned almost down to the fingertips of his other. "But we're doing what we love. What we were born to do."
YOU ARE READING
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."
