Zhané

Given a high-profile spot on the all-star compilation Roll Wit tha Flava as their first recording opportunity, Zhané lived up to the pressure and came away with one of the R&B party anthems of the '90s, "Hey, Mr. DJ." Jean Norris and <a href="spotify:artist:5xLptj9davXlzUbtaK7FPL">Renee Neufville</a> met while both were studying music at Philadelphia's Temple University (Norris is originally from Rhode Island, <a href="spotify:artist:5xLptj9davXlzUbtaK7FPL">Neufville</a> from Brooklyn). After meeting <a href="spotify:artist:4Otx4bRLSfpah5kX8hdgDC">Naughty by Nature</a>'s Kay Gee, Zhané impressed the producer enough to go right into the studio to record for Roll Wit tha Flava. When "Hey, Mr. DJ" was released as a single, it hit number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned the group a contract with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Motown%22">Motown</a> in 1994. Their debut album, Pronounced Jah-Nay, produced two additional Top 40 hits ("Groove Thang," "Sending My Love") and went gold by the end of the year. Zhané kept busy during 1995-1996 with spots on tracks by <a href="spotify:artist:1YfEcTuGvBQ8xSD1f53UnK">Busta Rhymes</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1Z8ODXyhEBi3WynYw0Rya6">De La Soul</a> as well as new songs of their own on the NFL Jams and NBA 50th Anniversary compilations and the soundtracks to Higher Learning and A Low Down Dirty Shame -- the latter, "Shame," became their fourth Top 40 hit. Norris and <a href="spotify:artist:5xLptj9davXlzUbtaK7FPL">Neufville</a> returned with Saturday Night in April 1997, co-produced by Kay Gee, Eddie F., and themselves. It peaked just outside the Top 40. Two years later, the duo split. Baylor worked as a solo artist and with the group Free Day (alongside husband Marcus Baylor), and she also collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:6QijQ9lXPd55FUhxwPVNKD">Elisabeth Withers</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2ewAU3d4El7WSIxWUJaZJn">Eric Roberson</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2NmK5FyrQ18HOPXq1UBzqa">SWV</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:5xLptj9davXlzUbtaK7FPL">Neufville</a> joined <a href="spotify:artist:49zXTngyUTielHTbbH5YKs">Roy Hargrove</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:3m7Ej9zfNto7JOsjKsYhEr">RH Factor</a> and recorded with the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:5sennRot4Ls82wfspEQuf2">Leela James</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5C7bl8mutzXDEMAFrhHcXt">Terrence Howard</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3BeQqzKdlARoOd6y30kCO2">Pete Rock</a>. ~ John Bush, Rovi