''Enter the Dru'' is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

from

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

R&B group

Dru Hill Dru Hill is an American R&B group, whose repertoire included soul, hip hop soul and gospel music. The group was founded in Baltimore in 1992 and is still active. Dru Hill recorded seven Top 40 hits, and is best known for the R&B number-one hits ...

, released October 27, 1998 on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

. The album's name comes from

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

's film, ''

Enter the Dragon ''Enter the Dragon'' ( zh, t=龍爭虎鬥) is a 1973 martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse and written by Michael Allin. The film stars Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly. It was Lee's final completed film appearance before his death o ...

''. This is the first album that the group were credited as executive producers as all four members wrote and produced several of the songs. It released three singles "How Deep Is Your Love", "These Are The Times" and "You Are Everything". The singles all had music videos released, but the music video for "You Are Everything" was a remix video, which featured rapper

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in New York City, he debuted in 1999 with ''Venni Vetti Vecci'' and its lead single "Holla Holla". Durin ...

, and Woody did not appear in it due to his exit from the group in early 1999. The remix version was featured on lead singer Sisqó's debut album, ''

Unleash the Dragon ''Unleash the Dragon'' is the debut solo studio album by American R&B singer Sisqó of Dru Hill, released on November 30, 1999, on Def Soul. Sisqó recorded the album during Dru Hill's hiatus. It includes the hit songs "Got to Get It", " Incompl ...

''. Recording sessions for the album took place at Larabee Studios in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The album peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. In May 1999, it was certified double-platinum in sales by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA), after sales exceeding 2,000,000 copies in the United States.

Overview

The songs on the album are mainly performed by lead singer, Sisqó, who performs solo on four songs: "Real Freak", "How Deep Is Your Love", "This Is What We Do" and "One Good Reason". Jazz performs solo on "Holding You" and "I'll Be the One". Woody performs solo on "Angel". Nokio does not perform solo on any songs but he does get more lead vocals than on the previous album.

Background

The album was recorded over a three-week span at Larabee Studios in

during the early months of 1998. Group member James "Woody Rock" Green would leave the group soon after the release of the album to pursue a career as a

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

ian. The other members also went on to do solo albums, which forced the group to go on hiatus.

Release and reception

The album peaked at two on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 and on the

R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

chart. The album was certified gold in December 1998 and eventually double-platinum by May 1999. Michael Gallucci of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave the group and their second effort a favorable review, stating that "Dru Hill slice into the section of '90s soul music that crosses bedroom come-ons with classic street savvy (and nervy beats) without sounding at all whipped."

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Personnel

Information taken from

.Credits as per liner notes for ''Enter the Dru'' album *a&r – Matthew Schwartz *arranging – Nokio the N-Tity, Guy Roche *assistant engineering – Tom Bender, Greg Burns,

Mick Guzauski Nathan "Mick" Guzauski is an American multi-platinum mixing engineer and sound engineer. His work spans a wide range of styles, including jazz, R&B, Latin, rock, pop, easy listening, funk and hip hop. He won a 2002 Latin Grammy for Thalía's ...

, Kevin Lively, Ted Reiger, Aaron Sprague, The Storm, Dylan Vaughn, Pascal Volberg *assistant mixing – E'lyk, The Storm, Pascal Volberg *bass – Alex Al, Ronnie Garrett, Michael Thompson *clothing/wardrobe – Julieanne Mijares *conductor(s) – Larry Gold, Sisqó *drum programming – Babyface, Nokio the N-Tity, Greg Phillinganes, Guy Roche, Daryl Simmons, Ralph Stacy, Damon Thomas, William "P Sound" Thomas *engineering –

Paul Boutin Paul Boutin (born December 11, 1961 in Lewiston, Maine) is an American magazine writer and editor who writes about technology in a pop-culture context. Boutin, who began writing for ''Wired'' in 1997, wrote for ''The New York Times'' from 2003 ...

, Greg Burns, Felipe Elgueta, Thom "TK" Kidd, Mario Lucy,

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work. Life and career M ...

, Jason Rome,

Rafa Sardina Rafael Sardina, known professionally as Rafa Sardina, is a basque recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer known for his work with Alejandro Sanz, Luis Miguel, Calle 13, D'Angelo, The Clare Fischer Big Band and Lady Gaga. Sard ...

, Jon Smeltz, Ralph Stacy, Moana Suchard, Joe Warlick *executive production – Dru Hill, Hiriam Hicks, Haqq Islam, Kevin Peck, Kenneth Crear *grooming – Heba Thorisdottir *guitar – James Harrah, Sonny Lallerstedt, Michael Hart Thompson *keyboards – Babyface, David Foster, Nokio the N-Tity,

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical director based in Los Angeles, California. A prolific session musician, Phillinganes has contributed the role of keyboards to numerous alb ...

, Guy Roche, Daryl Simmons, Ralph Stacy, Damon Thomas, Phil Weatherspoon *mastering – Chris Gehringer *mixing – Bonzai, Jon Gass, Mick Guzauski, Thom "TK" Kidd, Manny Marroquin, Thom Russo, Jon Smeltz *performer(s) – Chinky Brown Eyes, Method Man *photo assistance – Beth Coller, John Garcia *photography – Beth Coller, John Garcia, Tracy Lamonica *piano – Alex Al, Warryn Campbell, Greg Phillinganes *production – Baby Dave, Babyface, Warryn Campbell, Dutch, David Foster, James "Woody" Green, Nokio the N-Tity, Guy Roche, Daryl Simmons, Sisqó, Ralph Stacy, Damon Thomas *production coordination – Ivy Skoff *rapping – Method Man *strings – Cameron Stone *string arranging – Larry Gold, Sisqó *string conduction – Larry Gold *stylistic advisor – Laurie Chang, April Roomet *stylistic assistant – Laurie Chang, April Roomet *synclavier – Simon Franglen *synclavier programming – Simon Franglen *vocal arranging – R. Brown, Nokio the N-Tity, Guy Roche, Sisqó *vocal production – Nokio the N-Tity *vocals – Dru Hill, Nokio the N-Tity, Sisqó *vocals (background) – Dru Hill

Notes

External links

* *
Enter the Dru
' at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

{{Authority control 1998 albums Dru Hill albums Island Records albums Albums produced by Warryn Campbell