[Music] foreign
Woody Jazz Nokio and Cisco they are the four men from the same city that came together to make up
one of the best r b groups to come out of the 90s Drew Hill their story began with shutting
down local talent shows and evolved into a very successful run full of platinum albums
and top placements on the charts issues with their management as well as each other though
would tear them apart and leave fans wondering if things would ever be the same again all four
members of Drew Hill hail from Baltimore Maryland Woody born James Green grew up the oldest of four
children it shouldn't be a surprise that he found himself doing music for a living since
he came from a very musically inclined family from birth the church became a second home where
he learned and developed his singing jobs in his teens Woody would begin singing in a group with
future Dru Hill members Tamir Ruffin AKA Nokio and Mark Andrews better known as Cisco as well
as a couple of other members their group called 14 carat power many started showcasing their skills
at school and in local talent shows but one of the members would end up pulling Disappearing
Acts from time to time Woody's mother was not supportive of her son singing what she called
The Devil's music so while he would perform with the other guys at school he was nowhere
to be found for their public performances one of those performances he was absent from ultimately
ended up being the one that would change their lives forever following a performance at Morgan
State University the group was approached by the man who would go on to become their
manager Kevin pack after he took the boys under his wing their popularity began to increase and
Drew the attention of another Baltimore native and fellow student by the name of Larry Anthony
also known as Jazz however despite his best efforts to talk Woody into letting him be in
the group he was always told no that is until the guys actually heard him sing at yet another
talent show he completely blew them away so they knew they had to bring him into the mix
foreign Jazz Woody making his official return and some other members moving on the final foursome
now consisted of who the world would come to know as Drew Hill taken from Baltimore's Druid Hill
Park their manager then set up an audition with Hawk Islam founder of University Records which
resulted in the guys signing their first deal while continuing to make the rounds performing and
growing their fan base the members also maintained regular 9-5 jobs one of which was at a local Fudge
Factory called the fudgery there they continued to keep their singing skills sharp by singing
and Performing to customers while making the creamy smooth candy the group's Next Step would
be yet another audition this time for Hiram Hicks president of Island black music when he heard what
they were working with it was Arab Drew Hill's debut onto the music scene in August 1996 came
courtesy of their top five r b hit tell me a few months later their self-titled debut album dropped
featuring three other singles in my bed never make a promise and five steps all of the tracks
did exceptionally well on the r b chart within my bed and never make a promise climbing all the way
to number one no doubt playing the most important roles in helping the album go platinum as good as
things were going on the surface things were not kosher at all Behind the Music according to Hogg
as he stated in the group's unsung episode the group signing with Island was really the beginning
of the end the major issue at hand was surprise surprise money Hira made it clear that it wasn't
up to him to see to it that the members got paid since the responsibility really fell on University
Records not Island since Drew Hill was signed a hawk and then Hawk was signed to Hiram things
got so tense among the camps that they ended up getting into a physical altercation in 1997 just
before the group was scheduled to perform at a platinum record party Drew Hill and University
Records then sued Island records the group wanted out of their contract and to be compensated for
damages to the tune of 55 million dollars Hiram felt no ways they forgot who would facilitate
at a dreams they forgot who broke them they forgot who made them and no they really forgot
before me they were staring chocolate okay on the pier in Baltimore
the outcome appears to have worked in the group's favor since in addition to the
lawsuit being settled for an undisclosed amount they also received a better royalty rate and the
promise that each member would be able to record solo projects between their first and second
albums Drew Hill contributed a track that became another top five r b and top 20 pop hit for them
with the baby face written and produced We're Not Making Love No More off the soundtrack to
the 1997 comedy drama film Soul Food the group also dove into writing and producing for other
artists namely their label mate Maya whose first two singles it's all about me and moving on were
co-written by Cisco he even performs guest vocals on the former track in the fall of 1998 Drew Hill
released their second album titled enter the Drone it includes the top 5 r b hits How Deep Is Your
Love which actually went all the way to number one and was also included on the soundtrack to
the Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker film Rush Hour as well as another baby face effort cold these
are the times the project ultimately went double Platinum once again as things seemed as if they
couldn't get any better publicly privately things were falling apart dissension between the members
started creeping up with Woody and Jazz especially feeling like they were being pushed out soon after
Woody Departed the groove the now Trio tried to carry on without him but the results were
lackluster now seemed as good a time as any for the remaining members to switch gears and focus
on other things Cisco released his debut album unleashed the dragon in 1999 and had a minor
hit with the first single Got to Get It featuring make it hot his second single though called Thong
Song became an international Hint it reached the number three position on the Hot 100 number two on
the r b chart and acquired four Grammy nominations his third single incomplete actually bested Thong
Song going to number one on both the pop and R B charts the album garnered Cisco two American
Award nominations three Grammy nominations and to date has gone five times Platinum
during this down period for Drew Hill Cisco at least was very much looking forward to
everyone Woody included coming back together to continue their Journey that's exactly what ended
up happening however Woody's return wasn't under the best of circumstances he only did
so due to contractual obligations his resentment towards their label was also building over their
reluctance to release his solo debut which was to be a gospel project eventually it did happen for
him with the assistance of another label but due to a lack of promotion few people showed
interest Jazz would end up having an even worse experience his solo album recorded at the same
time as Woody's didn't get released at all just when he was gearing up to put it out he got were
that Drew Hill was ready to get back into the studio for their next project that's interesting
since Cisco was still able to put out his second solo album Return of the Dragon around this time
Drew world order the group's third album was released in 2002 the first single I should be
reached the top 30 on the Hot 100 and the top 10 on the r b chart fans would also notice an
additional face on the album cover belonging to a friend of Woody's named Scola he was brought in as
a potential replacement for jazz since the other members had reservations about whether he would
stick around or decide to focus on his solo work overall the album didn't do well and as a result
Drew Hill was dropped from their label each of the members dealt with a disappointment in
different ways Cisco began excessively partying drinking and smoking he even got in trouble with
the law Jazz partied so much that he ended up in rehab and Nokio started smoking a lot
of weed and taking ecstasy a brief reunion with all of the original members took place in 2008
but once again Woody decided to leave the way he relayed that information to the rest of the group
members though was one for the books he blindsided everyone lie live on the radio with news that he
was quitting to pursue his true passion of being a gospel singer the moment the words escaped his
mouth Cisco jumped out of his chair and stormed off a sloppy fistfight that ensued between Woody
and Nokio with jazz and the radio station staff trying to pull them apart as a camera continued
rolling Cisco was then seen in the parking lot jumping into his vehicle and driving away while
being chased by an unknown man warning him about the fact that he shouldn't be driving [Music]
years later the real reason why Woody left was finally revealed during a 2017 Interview With The
Breakfast Club when they were performing in Paris they got into a fistfight with a random group
of guys after their show that then turned more serious when one of them pulled out a gun after
Drew Hill's security guards rushed them into their awaiting van the shooter ran up to their window
and pulled the trigger thankfully he had bad aim because the bullets flew right past the group
members heads as they ducked down in the vehicle when the group headed back home to Baltimore Woody
said he was done for good sadly the beef started in the first place over the shooter simply wanting
a photo of the group for his girlfriend but felt that Drew Hill was taking too long to give him one
the group that embarked on a mission to find someone to take Woody's Place settling on Antoine
Simpson better known as Teo after an eight-year Hiatus Drew Hill released their fourth and to
date last album titled Independence Day in 2010. three singles were released but did not chart
while in the process of promoting the album which included touring Jazz's weight began to sideline
him during certain performances and soon took him out of commission altogether nothing more
was heard from Drew Hill until 2018 when an announcement came about a new album being in
the works from the group that now looked very different from what people remember during his
latest break Jazz and Teo left freeing up room for Cisco inokio to add some new members the
two new members that they got would be familiar to many 90s r b fans since they were members of
their own group during that time smoke and black from the group Playa started performing as Drew
Hill members right after Jazz left a single called what you need dropped in early 2020
but as a of the making of this video no new Drew Hill album has surfaced just after the release
Nokio then confirmed that he had left the group his absence wouldn't last long as the very next
year he as well as Jazz Teo and Scola returned to participate in the celebration and tour for the
group's 25th anniversary in the music business these editions would turn Drew Hill into a now
seven-man group and leave Woody as the only member no longer active in April 2022 Cisco
debuted his newest single it's up as a lead up to his next solo album tentatively scheduled for
a 2023 release the following month the seventh annual black music honors celebrated Drew Hill
with the urban music icon award during a live two-hour ceremony in Atlanta fans can also look
forward to a Drew Hill biopic that's sure to go into much more detail than this video according
to a tweet from their official account they've already Inked a deal with bet to develop one
thank you