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Mark Althavean Andrews (born 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.
[edit] BiographySisqó was born as Mark Althavean Andrews on November 9, 1978 in Baltimore, Maryland. He is of African-American descent. Sisqó met future Dru Hill bandmate James "Woody" Green while in middle school.[citation needed] Sisqó 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". Sisqó is said to have a child with a then (1999) 14-year-old girl in Zürich, Switzerland which he denies.[2] The names are now public: The mother is Jamila Ford and the son is Ian Ford.[3] However, in July 2009, a judge ruled that Sisqo indeed impregnated her at 14 years of age, and has been paying child support for his now 9 year old son. [edit] Solo career, acting, and Dru Hill reunionAfter 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 workNow 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[4]. 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.[5][6] 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.[7][8] Dru Hill's first song leaked from their new album InDRUpendence Day and was heard in the summer of 2008 called Loose. It featuring Sisqó on lead vocals, Nokio with a talking part, Jazz and new member Tao on ad-libs at the end. It is also the first of his songs to feature extensive gravity blasts and double bass, courtesy of guest drummer Marco Pitruzzella. 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 Sisqó 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
[edit] DVDs
[edit] Singles
[edit] = iTunes singles
[edit] Mixtapes
[edit] Filmography[edit] Film appearances
[edit] Television appearances
[edit] Awards/nominations
[edit] References
[edit] External linksCategories: 1978 births | African American musicians | African American actors | African American singers | American dancers | American rhythm and blues singers | Def Jam Recordings artists | Dru Hill members | Living people | Musicians from Maryland | People from Baltimore, Maryland | Americans of Native American descent | Native American musicians | Native American singers | Native American actors | World Music Awards winners | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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