As 2015 is coming to an end, we can look back to some successful comebacks within the R&B scene.
Janet Jackson’s “Unbreakable” album has been reported to be her best album in decades and, together with the tour, it’s put her right back at the top.
For Missy Elliot it only took one single to show the world she’s still got it.
But where others succeed, there have also been a few unsuccessful comebacks. In the beginning of the year the Internet was buzzing with the return of R&B’s bad boys Jodeci.
Back in the days where R&B ‘boybands’ always looked like the ideal sons in laws (just think about Boyz II Men, Silk, Shai etc), Jodeci showed the world you can be successful looking rough, and sounding a bit rougher too, and still achieve the same success as a boyband.
So, in March this year, a new album was released and as much as people were writing about their new album coming out, publicity, as well as interest, faded as soon as the album came out.
The impact they had in the 90s inspired many, including a group that followed up Jodeci’s success with a similar formula: Dru Hill. Baltimore’s pride.
Dru Hill were also a rougher variation of an R&B boyband, with front man Sisqo as the extravagant eye catcher.
They had wide success with hits like “In My Bed”, “ We’re Not Making Love Anymore” and “How Deep Is Your Love”. It even spun a successful solo career for lead singer Sisqo with the iconic “Thong Song” as its, uhm, highlight.
Dru Hill tried coming back in 2010 with the album “InDRUpendence Day”. They even had a reality show to publicize their comeback, but the album failed commercially. There were no hit singles and the album didn’t chart.
Sisqo tried to come back this year with his last solo album called “The Last Dragon”. Prior to its release, it was rumored this would be his final solo music endeavor. He wanted to focus more on acting and continue with Dru Hill. However, his solo comeback also failed to be successful, despite one of the singles charting in the US.
Still, Sisqo and Dru Hill did have some small success this month though. They had sued the label and management, Kedar Entertainment, which had released their comebacks, accusing them of not using the marketing budget to promote the album. This resulted the singers to suffer damages. The label didn’t show up for the lawsuit, which led the judge to grant in Dru Hill’s favor. They were awarded $1 million each.
Business disputes are causing for more problems. The group’s performances in Africa this month have all been cancelled at the last minute, due to the organization and group not seeing eye to eye.
Still, all business trouble aside, the group is pushing on. A new song “Change” was recently released in hopes to inspire change of their hometown Baltimore.
