before there was casey and jojo there was jodeci and before jodeci there was little cedric and
the haley singers monroe north carolina natives cedric casey haley and his younger brother joel
jojo haley came together with several others to form a gospel singing group stemming from
their experience growing up and singing in church participation in music was a foregone conclusion
for the siblings after all their parents were gospel singers the brothers musical influences ran
the gamut from traditional gospels such as shirley caesar to genre extending gospel artists like the
winans casey or little cedric as he was referred to back then was also affectionately dubbed the
michael jackson of gospel the group released three albums during the mid-80s the first i'm all right
now failed to chart but the next two jesus saves and god's blessings did then after meeting through
a mutual acquaintance the brothers decided to break away from their group and join forces with
another set of brothers the foursome would go on to take the secular music world by storm and rise
all the way to the top of the charts in 1989 casey and jojo along with donald devante's swing to
great and dalvin mr dalvin degrade came together to form the r b group jodeci with demo tape in
hand the new group set their sights on a fledgling recording company founded by andre harrell that
went by the name of uptown records a deal was soon secured and not long after that the bad boys of r
b were born between 1991 and 1995 jodeci released three multi-platinum selling albums and achieved
numerous top 40 hits at this exciting time in their career kc was also experiencing an exciting
time in his personal life when he embarked on a relationship with another r b singer whose career
was just like his on the upswing kc and the future queen of hip-hop soul mary j blige would go on to
have a decade plus long relationship beginning in the 90s and extending into the early 2000s
the relationship though was quote dark and abusive at least according to mary as she detailed in her
2021 documentary my life and eventually culminated in her very public humiliation
the day she announced their engagement only for kc to deny they were even involved jody see were on
the show earlier on in the series and terry asked casey this question have a look at this uh you're
gonna break a few hearts because i i've heard that you you're gonna marry mary j blige aren't you
that's a rumor for the states too you know casey is not getting married
now is it was he being super cool or what are you getting married
no we're not getting married i was just going to sign him but he couldn't get married now
so there's no huge engagement ring oh yeah yeah whatever whatever on please okay but now
when jodeci went on hiatus the haley brothers decided to forge ahead as a duo
and continue to perform and record as casey and jojo it was actually kc on his own that came
out of the gate first when he covered bobby womack's hit if you think you're lonely now
for the 1994 romantic drama film jason's lyric another movie soundtrack effort followed in 96
when the brothers teamed up for the song how could you for bulletproof that same year casey and jojo
would have their first high profile appearance as a duo and their first experience at the top
of the charts as feature guest artists on tupac's r b and billboard hot 100 hit
how do you want it many years later the duo would reminisce about how it all came together
the brothers were down with death row at the time so one night they went to the studio where
tupac was and sat in on his recording session he had casey and jojo listen to what he had so far
and well according to them tupac sounded crazy he was singing the lyrics in his signature thugged
out way and it just wasn't working so he asked casey and jojo if they could do it they agreed but
did it their way little did they know that they'd end up playing a major role in the track becoming
a number one hit love always the brothers first album as a duo dropped in june 1997.
it spawned the singles you bring me up last night's letter don't rush take love slowly and
their number one international hit all my life written by jojo for his daughter kayla tiffany
it was the number one song on the hot 100 for three weeks a feat that casey and jojo had never
achieved with jodeci the song remains the duo's only number one hit by far the song they're most
widely known for and no doubt one of the most popular wedding songs ever during the recording
of love always casey and jojo also appeared on the song i care about you as a member of the
one-off r b super group milestone which appeared on the soundtrack for the 1997 comedy drama film
soul food a couple of years later the duo put their stamp on yet another movie soundtrack with
the song life from the 1999 comedy drama film of the same name casey and jojo's second studio album
it's real was released in the summer of 99 four singles were released including the number two hot
100 hit tell me it's real the duo returned with x at the end of 2000 the lead single crazy also
included on the save the last dance soundtrack put them back on the hot 100 chart when the song
just missed the top 10 peaking at the number 11 position over the years especially during
the jodeci era casey was never shy about showing off his chest and abs at any given moment however
in december 2000 he showed a little bit too much when he allegedly displayed his genitals on stage
eventually he was charged with 23 counts of indecent exposure and one count of lewd conduct kc
vehemently denied all accusations several months later he was sentenced to two years probation
and ordered to pay nearly one thousand dollars in penalties the fourth kc and jojo album emotional
was released in november 2002 but failed to acquire any commercial success in between
projects it seems that the brothers always had time to get into some sort of trouble
in 2003 both casey and jojo were arrested on tax evasion charges related to shows the duo performed
between 1999 and 2001. their lawyer insisted that neither was aware they owed the money
because as artists they don't handle their own affairs and them having changed accountants
was most likely the reason for the issue in late 2006 kc became the first out of the duo to release
his debut solo album titled my book several years later the brothers decided to give reality tv a
shot and starred in their own docu-series called casey and jojo come clean the series showcase
their current struggles with alcohol as they work to rebuild their relationship and make a comeback
after more than a decade casey and jojo released their fifth album as a duo titled my brother's
keeper in 2013. building off that momentum jodeci made a surprise appearance reuniting the following
year at the soul train awards they blew the crowd away lip-synching several of their popular heads
in a written statement to yahoo music the group explained their decision to reunite the way they
did soul train was a critical platform in the beginning of our career so it only makes sense
that our return to the stage be during the soul train awards 2014. we're humbled by the loyalty of
our fans who have asked for a joe to see reunion and look forward to giving them a show as only
jodeci can hashtag jodec forever jojo kicked off the start of a new decade by taking the solo route
for the first time in his career he released the tracks special on valentine's day 2020. the song
also came out on his own label jt entertainment that he shares with his wife to shonda while doing
numerous interviews to promote his work he also went into detail about how he's currently doing
with his alcohol addiction he's been to rehab three times and can proudly say he's sober and
been sober for quite some time big brother kc also released a new solo single that year called
jesus saves in interviews he explains that he didn't want to come out with the typical ballad
that fans would expect without first telling his testimony about how his life was saved
he told you know i got soul.com in august 2020 that he had an illness which he doesn't name that
either he nor his doctors thought he would survive during the worldwide pandemic the haley brothers
and the great brothers started reaching out to each other and began talking about reuniting
their talks eventually resulted in an official reunion in 2022 beginning with the group signing
a brand new management deal as well as their guest appearance on new editions the culture tour during
the summer of 22 jodeci along with lil kim the lox busta rhymes and more took to the stage to show
their former mentor diddy some love performing their hit come and talk to me during his lifetime
achievement musical tribute and even in the midst of all the work they've been doing with jodeci
kc still managed to secure his first solo number one on the adult r b chart for his participation
on charlie wilson's no stopping us also featuring babyface and johnny gill
thanks for watching please like share and comment also don't forget to subscribe and
turn on your notifications so you won't miss any future videos see you next time