Songoftheday 11/2/23 - Girl I know he ain't takin' care of you I can see it in your face, and I know that's not the man that you really want you know...

 

 

"I Should Be..." - Dru Hill

from the album Dru World Order (2002)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #25 (three weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 9 

Today's song comes from the R&B vocal group Dru Hill, whose sophomore effort Enter The Dru had sold over two million copies, reached #2 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and spun off a pair of top-40 crossover hits on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 with "How Deep Is Your Love" and "These Are The Times", the latter reaching the level in the autumn of 1998. But the next year saw an unclear future for the foursome as member James "Woody" Green left the act, while assumed leader Mark "Sisqo" Andrews released his first solo album Unleash The Dragon, which spun off two huge hits with the #2 "Thong Song" and #1 "Incomplete". The times of mega-mergers were also causing the group to be shuffled from LaFace/Island to Def Jam spinoff Def Soul. With Sisqo's success, it was unsure whether he would just go on as such, but after his second album (which mind you sold over a million) failed to generate any hits, Sisqo was convinced to reunited with Dru Hill, and Woody even came back into the fold and they added a fifth singer with Rufus "Scola" Waller. 

In the late fall of 2002, Sisqo, Woody, Scola, Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin, and Larry "Jazz" Anthony released their third album Dru World Order. The lead single from the record was "I Should Be", written by Sisqo, songwriters Alonzo Joyner and Jariel Askew, and the production team the Featherstones (brothers Justin and Matthew). The lyrics follow the oft-used plot of convincing a woman to leave her man who isn't "treating her right". The guys one by one say the guy is lying, but don't flesh out what or what proof he has, just giving instructions on leaving them and coming to his door. The production is a little dated but tight, and it's an added plus that all five are given a change to sing (or at least spoken-word the intro in the case of Nokio). The result is a solid if not genre-expanding slice of 90's R&B heldover...

"I Should Be..." became Dru Hill's seventh, and so far final, top-40 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 in January of 2003, while climbing to #6 on their R&B Singles chart. On the radio, the single rose to #14 on the older-skewing Adult R&B radio panel, and  popped on to the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic format list for a week at #39. The Dru World Order album, released in November of 2002, peaked at #21 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, and #2 on the R&B Albums list, going on to sell over a half million copies. 

A second single from the record, "I Love You", reached the R&B Singles top-40 at #27 and the Adult R&B list at #26, but stalled down at #77 on the "pop" Hot 100. However the song did manage to score the group's only appearance on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart, cresting at #31. With interest from the label waning, the group left Def Soul, and Woody again left the act in 2008 along with Scola.

After continuing to tour as an "oldies circuit" act with Sisqo, Nokio, Jazz, and new member Antwuan "Tao" Simpson, Dru Hill returned in 2010 with both a new album, InDRUpendence Day on the indie Kedar label, but also a reality show, Platinum House, based on them coming back to record new music. The album came in at #30 on the Billboard 200, and #10 on the R&B Albums list, with one single from the set, "Love MD", making it to #29 on the Adult R&B radio chart. It would be another long seven years for this lineup to return with a holiday extended play single (EP) on their own label, Christmas In Baltimore, which saw one of its tracks, "Favorite Time Of Year", take a week on the Adult R&B chart at #28. At this point original member Jazz as well as Tao departed, to be replaced temporarily by Jawaan "Smoke" Peacock and Benjamin "Black" Bush, who along with the late great Stephen "Static Major" Garrett were in the group Playa, who had a top-40 crossover hit with "Cheers 2 U" in the summer of 1998. However a planned album hasn't come to fruition as yet, though a single "What You Need" came out in 2020. Jazz, Tao, and Scola recently rejoined Dru Hill making them a seven-singer act right now,.

(6/10)

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Here's Dru Hill performing the song for the BET Network in 2003...

and lastly, with a band for AOL...

Up tomorrow: A diva from the "block" sings about possessions with this buff rapper.