Jodeci has its roots in the church. The group was composed of the Hailey brothers -Cedric”K-Ci” Hailey and Joel”JoJo”Hailey. -, and the DeGrate brothers-Don Jr.”Devante Swing”DeGrate and Dalvin”Mr. Dalvin”DeGarte. Both duos were heavily involved in the Gospel music scenes in their hometowns of Charlotte, NC, and Monroe, NC. They hailed from billboard charted Gospel families. The DeGrate brothers were the son’s of Rev. DeGrate, who too pursued a gospel and secular career in his past. They would play keyboard in their father’s early gospel band. The Hailey family had an established group with the extraordinary lead vocals of Cedric Hailey or “K-Ci” called Little Cedric and the Hailey Singers. Dalvin decided to audition for the Hailey’s group, thus endgendering the beginning of Jodeci. Eventually, the duos departed from Gospel and headed for New York to audition for Uptown Records. The group signed to Uptown Records as Jodeci in 1991.