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Sisqó
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Not to be confused with Sisko, Cisco, or Sysco.
Sisqó
Birth name Mark Althavean Andrews
Born November 9, 1978 (1978-11-09) (age 30)
Origin Baltimore, Maryland U.S.
Occupations Singer, songwriter, and record producer
Instruments Singing, piano, guitar
Years active 1995 - present
Labels Dragon Music Group
Associated acts Dru Hill
Mark Althavean Andrews (November 9, 1978) [1] better known by his stage name
Sisqó, is a Grammy Award-nominated American R&B singer and actor. He is best
known for being the lead singer of R&B group Dru Hill, and also for "Thong
Song", a song from his first solo LP, Unleash the Dragon, that became an
international hit.
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Biography
2.1 Solo career, acting, and Dru Hill reunion
2.2 Current work
3 Solo discography
3.1 Albums
3.2 DVDs
3.3 Singles
4 iTunes Singles
5 Filmography
5.1 Film appearances
5.2 Television appearances
6 Awards/nominations
7 References
8 External links
[edit] Early life
Sisqó was born as Mark Althavean Andrews on November 9, 1978 in Baltimore,
Maryland. He is of African American and Native American descent.
[edit] Biography
Sisqó met future Dru Hill bandmate James "Woody" Green while in middle
school.[citation needed] Sisqo attended Mervo and later transferred out to
Baltimore City College where he met Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin. The two were later
recruited by Ruffin to form Dru Hill, named after Druid Hill Park in Baltimore.
Larry "Jazz" Anthony was also soon added to the lineup.
Releasing two platinum LPs and a number of successful singles, Dru Hill was a
major R&B success during the late 1990s, in no small part because of Sisqó's
flamboyant stage personality. Sisqó's vocal style has a lot in common with that
of K-Ci from Jodeci.[citation needed] As such, several people, K-Ci included,
have criticized Sisqó as having co-opted K-Ci's singing style wholesale, while
Sisqó himself has gone on record many times naming K-Ci as his primary
influence.[citation needed]
In between Dru Hill albums, Sisqó co-wrote the first two hit singles for
labelmate Mýa.[citation needed] He appeared as a guest artist on the first
single, "It's All About Me".
Sisqo is said to have a child with a then (1999) 14 years old girl in Zürich,
Switzerland which he denies.[2]
[edit] Solo career, acting, and Dru Hill reunion
After Green left Dru Hill in 1999 to pursue a solo career, it was decided that
the other three members would do the same. Sisqó's solo debut, Unleash the
Dragon, was released on Def Soul Records in November 1999. Unleash the Dragon
sold moderately at first, until the February 2000 release of its second single,
a novelty "Thong Song". A runaway hit, "Thong Song" and its follow-up,
"Incomplete", were major hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with "Thong Song"
making it to number three, and "Incomplete" going to #1. The success later got
Sisqó a doll made of himself by Play Along Toys in 2001.[citation needed]
Conflicts within the group prevented Dru Hill from reuniting as planned in late
2000, and Sisqó set about recording a second solo LP. During this period, Sisqó
branched out into hosting the dance competition program Sisqó's Shakedown on
MTV, and film, taking on supporting roles in the films Get Over It (2001) with
Kirsten Dunst and Snow Dogs (2002) with Cuba Gooding, Jr.. Although his second
LP, Return of Dragon, released in June 2001, eventually went platinum, its
singles "Can I Live" and "Dance With Me" performed far below expectations, and
by 2002, Sisqó was back with Dru Hill, who released their third LP in late 2002.
The LP underperformed, and the group was eventually released from their
recording contract.
Sisqó's visual trademarks are his eclectic hair styles, and his flamboyant stage
costumes, which were regularly flashier than those of his group mates. Over his
career as a recording artist, both with and without Dru Hill, Sisqó's hairstyles
have included a bleached blonde Caesar, a platinum-colored Caesar (colored with
silver spray-paint), blonde cornrows, a neon-red dyed Caesar, and a bleached
blonde Mohawk.
[edit] Current work
Now working as an independent recording artist, Sisqó has finished his third
solo album, titled Last Dragon (to complete the trilogy), for release in 2008,
but was never released. The first single, "Who's Ur Daddy" featuring the new
artist E-money, has been released online, and a music video especially formatted
for iPods, cell phones, and other digital devices has been released on
YouTube[3].
Sisqó appeared on CMT's Gone Country, a reality show about "non-country" artists
vying to win a country music recording contract.
In early 2008, the original quartet version of Dru Hill began touring alongside
fellow 1990s R&B acts Tony! Toni! Toné!, Bell Biv Devoe, and their former
producer Keith Sweat. On March 6, the group appeared on WERQ, a Baltimore radio
station, to promote their reunion. In the midst of their interview, however,
Woody announced he was quitting the group again to dedicate himself to his
gospel ministry. A YouTube video shows Sisqó walking out on the interview as a
result, and Woody and Nokio fighting while Jazz and the manager Kevin Peck tries
to break it up. [4] [5] The group held a contest in their native Baltimore for a
replacement for Woody, settling upon a new singer known as Antwuan "Tao"
Simpson. The group never said why they did not keep Scola in the group, although
it was later stated by Nokio that "five people [mess] up the money." Before
then, Scola however came out and said the reason is that Woody didn't want him
in the group anymore because they had a falling out over money issues. [6][7]
Dru Hill's first song leaked from their new album InDRUpendence Day and was
heard in the summer of 2008 called Loose. It featuring Sisqo on lead vocals,
Nokio with a talking part, Jazz and new member Tao on ad-libs at the end. The
song was produced by frequent Dru Hill collaborator Darryl Pearson formally of
DeVante Swing of Jodeci's Swing Mob collective. The groups first two singles
will be a ballad called Away produced by Bryan Michael Cox again with Sisqo on
lead vocals and "If You Fall" produced by an upcoming producer named J-Hott who
is a part of group member's Nokio production crew. If You Fall is a R&B,
Hip-Hop,Dance and Rock laced track with all four members on lead and Nokio on
the talking ad-libs. The producers on the album include Dru Hill member Nokio,
Bryan Michael Cox, Darryl Pearson, J-Hott, Wyrlie Morris, and Keith Sweat who is
also producing a reality show for the group. The group has also toured with
Keith Sweat and Sweat's protege's Silk, Jodeci, H-Town, Tank, Ginuwine, SWV,
Changing Faces, and members of the legendary New Edition. They toured with the
whole group as well as their solo acts Bell Biv DeVoe, Bobby Brown, Ralph
Tresvant, and Johnny Gill who formed their own New Edition spinoff group called
Heads Of State consisting of Bobby, Ralph, and Johnny.
[edit] Solo discography
[edit] Albums
1999: Unleash the Dragon [Certified: 5x Platinum]
U.S. Sales : 5,000,000
W.W. Sales : 6,000,000
2001: Return of Dragon [Certified: Platinum]
U.S. Sales : 1,000,000
W.W. Sales : 3,000,000
[edit] DVDs
2000: Sisqó: The Thong Song Uncensored
2001: Sisqó: 24 Hours with Sisqó
2005: Dru Hill Hits: The Videos (includes videos for "Thong Song" and
"Incomplete")
[edit] Singles
1998: "It's All About Me" (Mýa featuring Sisqó of Dru Hill) (US #6)
1999: "Got to Get It" (featuring Make It Hot) (US #39) (GER #48)
2000: "Thong Song" (a remix, "Thong Song Uncensored", features Foxy Brown and is
included on the soundtrack LP for Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps) (US #3) (UK #3)
(GER #15) (FR #15)
2000: "Unleash the Dragon" (featuring Beanie Sigel) (UK #6) (FR #41)
2000: "What These Bitches Want" (edited version titled "What They Want") (DMX
featuring Sisqó) (US #49)
2000: "Incomplete " (US #1) (UK #13) (GER #51)
2000: "How Many Licks" (Lil' Ki|m featuring Sisqó) (US #75) (GER #58)
2001: "Can I Live" (featuring the Dragon Family) (GER #87)
2001: "Dance For Me" (UK #6) (GER #55) (FR #91)
2007: "Who's Ur Daddy"
2007: "Perfect Christmas"
2007: "I Miss U"
2008: "Pop That" (Produced By Timbaland)
2009: "Club On Fire"
2009: "Already Know"
2009: "Club 2 Tha Bedroom"
2009: "Act A Donkey"
[edit] iTunes Singles
"Who's Ur Daddy" November 9, 2006
"Perfect Christmas" November 29, 2006
Mixtapes:
2001: "This is the Heart"
2003: "In da Club"
2004: "One Love"
2004: "Really Real"
2004: "So Seductive"
2005: "One Finger"
2005: "I Got It" (Sypha Ft. SisQo)
2006: "Go Dumb" (Sisqo Ft. Mikel C.)
2008: "Champagne And Hennessy"
2008: "Let Me Hump On You"(Busta Rhymes Ft. Sisqo)
2009: "Set It Off"
2009: "Higher"
2009: "Put Me On"
2009: "Girl You Can Get It"(Sisqo Ft. Petey Pablo)
2009: "So Bad"
2009: "Caught Up"
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Film appearances
2001: Get Over It!
2002: Snow Dogs
2003: Pieces of April
2006: Surf School
[edit] Television appearances
2000: Sisqó's Shakedown (MTV)
2001: Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (episode "Really Big Season Opener", October 5,
2001)
2008: Gone Country (CMT)
2008: I Love the New Millennium, 7 episodes (VH1)
2009: Keith Sweat's platinum house (Peachtree TV) Premiere on February 23
[edit] Awards/nominations
American Music Awards
2001, Favorite Male R&B/Soul Artist: (Nominated)
2001, Favorite R&B/Soul Album: Unleash the Dragon (Nominated)
Billboard Music Awards
2000, Male Artist of the Year (Won)
2000, Male Hot 100 Singles Artist of the Year (Won)
2000, R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year (Won)
2000, New R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year (Won)
2000, R&B/Hip-Hop Male Artist of the Year (Won)
2000, R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Artist of the Year (Won)
Grammy Awards
2001, Best New Artist (Nominated)
2001, Best R&B Male Vocal Performance: "Thong Song" (Nominated)
2001, Best R&B Song: "Thong Song" (Nominated)
2001, Best R&B Album: Unleash the Dragon (Nominated)
MOBO Awards
2001, Best R&B Act: (Nominated)
2000, Best Video: "Thong Song" (Nominated)
2000, Best R&B Act: (Nominated)
MTV Video Music Awards
2000, Best Hip-Hop Video: "Thong Song" (Won)
2000, Best New Artist: "Thong Song" (Nominated)
2000, Best Dance Video: "Thong Song" (Nominated)
2000, Best Video from a Film: "Thong Song (remix)" w/ Foxy Brown (Nominated)
2000, Viewer's Choice: "Thong Song" (Nominated)
Soul Train Music Awards
2001, Favorite Male R&B/Soul Album: Unleash the Dragon (Nominated)
[edit] References
1.^ "Sisqo Biography". NME. Time Warner.
http://www.nme.com/artists/sisqo#biography. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
2.^ [1]
3.^ YouTube - Sisqó -Official Who's Ur Daddy Video
4.^ Dru Hill Reunites and Breaks Up On Air | Hip Hop News > HipHopDX.com
5.^ Make Up To Break Up | CRUNK + DISORDERLY || COMBATING BITCHASSNESS SINCE
2005
6.^ Dru Hill Announce Their Newest Member at a Live Audition
7.^ YouTube - Dru Hill introduces their new member on Baltimore's 92Q!
[edit] External links
Official website
Dragon Music Group
Sisqó at the Internet Movie Database
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