Sisqó

Mark Althavean Andrews (born November 9, 1978), known by his stage name Sisqó, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer and actor. He is the lead singer of R&B group Dru Hill, and has also released solo material, including his successful first solo album Unleash the Dragon which included the hit singles "Thong Song"^[1] and "Incomplete".

Biography

As a teen, Mark Andrews worked at The Fudgery in Baltimore's Inner Harbor with the original Dru Hill members. Andrews has a daughter, Shaione, who was born in 1995.^[3] He graduated from Mervo in 1995. Andrews' second son Ryū was born in 2012.^[4]

Career

Solo career, acting, and Dru Hill reunion

After Woody Rock left Dru Hill in 1999 to pursue a solo career, it was decided that the other members would follow suit and issue their own solo albums. 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, the 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]}. Solo albums by Jazz and Nokio reached varying levels of completion and were never released.

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 into film, taking on supporting roles in the films Get Over It (2001) with Kirsten Dunst and Snow Dogs (2002) with Cuba Gooding, Jr.. He also starred as a vampire in Sabrina The Teenage Witch (Season 6 episode6). Although his second LP, Return of Dragon, released in June 2001, eventually went platinum, its singles "Can I Live" and "Dance for Me" performed far below expectations (apart from in the United Kingdom, where "Dance for Me" became his third top ten hit), and by 2002, Sisqó was back with Dru Hill, which released its 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 flamboyant stage costumes, which were regularly flashier than those of his groupmates. Over his career as a recording artist, both with and without Dru Hill, Sisqó's hairstyles have included a bleached blond Caesar, a platinum Caesar (colored with silver spray paint), blond cornrows, a neon-red dyed Caesar, and a blond Mohawk. Sisqo lives in Edmonton, Alberta.

Sisqó is currently on the road performing with his group (Dru Hill) and has not yet announced the release dates for his third album Last Dragon. It is set to be released in summer of 2014.^[5]

Current work

Sisqó finished his third solo album, Last Dragon (completing a trilogy), for release in 2008, but it 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.^[6]

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 Rock 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 try to break it up.^[7][8] 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 did not want him in the group anymore because they had a falling out over money issues.^[9][10]

Dru Hill's first song, "Loose", from their new album InDRUpendence Day, was heard in the summer of 2008. The group's first two singles will be ballads called Away again with Sisqó on lead vocals and "If You Fall" produced by producer J-Hott who is a part of group member Nokio's production crew. If You Fall is an 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 protégés 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.

Celebrity Big Brother (2010)

On January 3, 2010, Sisqó participated in the British reality television show Celebrity Big Brother 2010 as a housemate in the competition. On January 22, 2010, Sisqó was the fifth housemate to be evicted on Day 20 in a double eviction with 29% of the public vote against Stephen Baldwin and Ivana Trump.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Featured singles

Notes

• ¹ A remix, "Thong Song Uncensored", features Foxy Brown and is included on the soundtrack LP for Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps
• ² Edited version titled "What You Want"

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")

Other songs

• 2006: "Perfect Christmas"
• 2007: "Who's Ur Daddy"
• 2007: "I Miss U"
• 2007: "Pop That" (Produced by Timbaland)
• 2009: "Club On Fire"
• 2009: "Already Know"
• 2009: "Club 2 Tha Bedroom"
• 2009: "Act A Donkey"
• 2009: "Back Away"
• 2010: "Billie Jean(Dragon Remix)"
• 2010: "Boy Shorts"
• 2010: "Bounce"
• 2010: "O"
• 2010: "Star"
• 2013: "All Night"
• 2014: "Earthquake (Shake Shake)"
• 2014: "Let's Get Down Tonight"
• 2014: "Like A Mothaf*cker (Dance)"
• 2014: "You The Finest"
• 2014: "I Let That Money Go"
• 2014: "The One"

Filmography

Film appearances

• 2001: Get Over It!
• 2002: Snow Dogs
• 2003: Pieces of April
• 2006: Surf School

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
• 2010: Celebrity Big Brother 2010 (UK)
• 2013: Celebrity Wife Swap Season 2 Episode 9
• 2014: SisQo Kid

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)

References

External links

• Official website
• Sisqó at the Internet Movie Database