Allure (group)
Encyclopedia
Allure is a New York
-based R&B girl group
that formed in the early 1990s as a quartet
, now a trio. Original members were Alia Davis, Linnie Belcher, Lalisha McClean and Akissa Mendez.
's Crave Records
under the name of Allure.
They released their debut self-titled album in 1997. The album featured the gold-selling single "Head Over Heels" (featuring Nas) (US #35), "No Question" (featuring LL Cool J
), "All Cried Out
" (featuring 112
), a Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
cover and their biggest hit to date (US #4), and "Last Chance".
After being released from Mariah Carey
's label, Allure signed with MCA Records
in 2000, eventually issuing their second album, Sunny Days, in 2001. The album yielded two singles: "Enjoy Yourself" and "Kool Wit Me". Soon after, member Linnie Belcher left the group, and they signed with NBA
player Ron Artest
's newly formed label, Tru Warier Records, distributed by Lightyear Entertainment
.
In 2002, they appeared in the Tom Jones
' Mr. Jones album, in the song "The Letter". The album was produced by Wyclef Jean
, Jerry 'Wonder' Duplessis and Jones himself.
Late 2004 saw the release of their third album, Chapter III
, in reference to their lineup change and being their third album. It went unnoticed by the general public, although it did receive considerable press due to Ron Artest's
suspension from the NBA that year. Two singles were released as well, 2004's "Uh Oh" featuring reggae
artist Elephant Man, and 2005's "I Think I'm In Love" featuring rapper Joe Budden
. The album was subsequently released in the UK the following year, featuring a new track ("You Are The Man") as well as a remix of the single "Hate 2 Luv U".
In 2010, the group released an EP titled "Patiently Waiting" followed by a full-length album, Time's Up. Both were released as digital releases (iTunes, Amazon.com MP3), although Time's Up received a limited CD release.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
-based R&B girl group
Girl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
that formed in the early 1990s as a quartet
Quartet
In music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...
, now a trio. Original members were Alia Davis, Linnie Belcher, Lalisha McClean and Akissa Mendez.
Career
Allure got their chance when they met Poke of the Trackmasters production team, who gave them an audition in 1996. He was impressed and signed the girls to Trackmasters bestowing them with their name, Allure. It was through his help that the girls were able to become the first group signed to Mariah CareyMariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
's Crave Records
Crave Records
Crave Records was a record label under Sony Music Entertainment founded by Mariah Carey in February 1997, and shut down in July 1998. Groups signed to the label included Eurodance group DJ Company, pop trio Jakaranda, female R&B quartet Allure, who released a self-titled album featuring the hit...
under the name of Allure.
They released their debut self-titled album in 1997. The album featured the gold-selling single "Head Over Heels" (featuring Nas) (US #35), "No Question" (featuring LL Cool J
LL Cool J
James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
), "All Cried Out
All Cried Out (Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam song)
"All Cried Out" is a song recorded by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam that appeared on their 1985 album Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force. The song hit number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in October 1986. The song was a major hit on the R&B singles chart, peaking at number three...
" (featuring 112
112 (band)
112 is an American R&B quartet from Atlanta, Georgia. Formerly artists on Diddy's Bad Boy Records, the group signed to the Def Soul roster in 2002. They had great success in the late 1990s and early 2000s with hits such as "Only You", "Anywhere" and "Peaches & Cream"...
), a Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
Lisa Lisa and her band Cult Jam were an urban contemporary band and one of first freestyle music groups to emerge from New York City in the 1980s. Cult Jam consisted of guitarist/bassist Alex "Spanador" Moseley, and drummer/keyboardist Mike Hughes...
cover and their biggest hit to date (US #4), and "Last Chance".
After being released from Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
's label, Allure signed with MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
in 2000, eventually issuing their second album, Sunny Days, in 2001. The album yielded two singles: "Enjoy Yourself" and "Kool Wit Me". Soon after, member Linnie Belcher left the group, and they signed with NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
player Ron Artest
Ron Artest
Metta World Peace is an American professional basketball player and rapper who is currently with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA. World Peace gained a reputation as one of the league's premier defenders as he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2004...
's newly formed label, Tru Warier Records, distributed by Lightyear Entertainment
Lightyear Entertainment
Lightyear Entertainment, headquartered in Sherman Oaks, California, is a distributor of independent motion pictures on DVD, Video On Demand, as well as a distributor of music and music videos on CD, DVD, and digital distribution....
.
In 2002, they appeared in the Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
' Mr. Jones album, in the song "The Letter". The album was produced by Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
, Jerry 'Wonder' Duplessis and Jones himself.
Late 2004 saw the release of their third album, Chapter III
Chapter III (Allure album)
-Track listing:# Intro - 1:06 # Hate 2 Luv U - 3:40 # Relax and Unwind - 4:03 # Let Em Go - 3:56 # Long Lost Love - 4:32...
, in reference to their lineup change and being their third album. It went unnoticed by the general public, although it did receive considerable press due to Ron Artest's
Ron Artest
Metta World Peace is an American professional basketball player and rapper who is currently with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA. World Peace gained a reputation as one of the league's premier defenders as he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2004...
suspension from the NBA that year. Two singles were released as well, 2004's "Uh Oh" featuring reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
artist Elephant Man, and 2005's "I Think I'm In Love" featuring rapper Joe Budden
Joe Budden
-Early life:Budden was born in Spanish Harlem, but lived in Queens until he was 12 and from there moved to Jersey City, New Jersey. He is one of five boys...
. The album was subsequently released in the UK the following year, featuring a new track ("You Are The Man") as well as a remix of the single "Hate 2 Luv U".
In 2010, the group released an EP titled "Patiently Waiting" followed by a full-length album, Time's Up. Both were released as digital releases (iTunes, Amazon.com MP3), although Time's Up received a limited CD release.
Albums
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... ) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
U.S. R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
|||
| 1997 | Allure Allure (album) Allure was the first album by the band Allure released in 1997. Allure's debut had the mixed blessing of being the first album on Mariah Carey's label, Crave. Carey's certainly helped Allure to line up celebrity collaborators, from Nas and L.L. Cool J to Q-Tip, Carey and Dickie Fung.- Track listing...
|
108 | 23 |
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... : Gold |
| 2001 | Sunny Days Sunny Days (album) Sunny Days was second album released by the band Allure in 2001. It peaked at #68 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart.-Track listing:#Bump #Kool Wit Me... MCA Records MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003... |
– | 68 | |
| 2004 | Chapter III Chapter III (Allure album) -Track listing:# Intro - 1:06 # Hate 2 Luv U - 3:40 # Relax and Unwind - 4:03 # Let Em Go - 3:56 # Long Lost Love - 4:32... |
– | – | |
| 2010 | Patiently Waiting [EP]
|
– | – | |
| Time's Up Time's Up (Allure album) Time's Up is fourth album released by the female trio Allure in 2010.-Track listing:# I Got What U Need# The Other Side# What I Gotta Do# Fallin' For You# With Out U Time's Up is fourth album released by the female trio Allure in 2010.-Track listing:# I Got What U Need# The Other Side# What I Gotta... |
– | – | ||
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
U.S. R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|||
| 1997 | "Head Over Heels" (featuring Nas Nas Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time... ) |
35 | 17 | 18 | Allure |
| "All Cried Out All Cried Out (Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam song) "All Cried Out" is a song recorded by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam that appeared on their 1985 album Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force. The song hit number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in October 1986. The song was a major hit on the R&B singles chart, peaking at number three... " (featuring 112 112 (band) 112 is an American R&B quartet from Atlanta, Georgia. Formerly artists on Diddy's Bad Boy Records, the group signed to the Def Soul roster in 2002. They had great success in the late 1990s and early 2000s with hits such as "Only You", "Anywhere" and "Peaches & Cream"... ) |
4 | 9 | 12 | ||
| 2001 | "Enjoy Yourself" | – | 50 | – | Sunny Days |