112

R&B quartet 112 has its origins in a three-man soul group called Forte formed by three friends at Walter F. George High School in Atlanta, Georgia during the late 1980's. The group soon swelled to six members, with founding members Daron Jones, Michael Keith, and Reginald Finley bringing fellow schoolmates Aldon Lagon, Marvin Scandrick, and Quinnes Parker into Forte in the early 1990's. Though they successfully won a number of talent shows across Atlanta and began to secure small gigs at clubs and parties, Forte began to fall apart as its members left high school - Aldon left the band for personal reasons, while Reginald's enlistment in the Army forced him to move to Germany.

The remaining members decided to press on anyway, scoring their big break when a local talent scout brought the group to the attention of record mogul Sean "Puffy" Combs, who signed the fledgling group to his Bad Boy Records label in late 1994. Backed by Bad Boy's talented production team, 112 spent over a year in the studio before releasing their debut album 112 in 1996; though initially plagued by lackluster sales 112 began to climb the charts as its first single "Only You" became a smash hit, at least partially because of The Notorious B.I.G.'s guest appearance on the track. 112's second album Room 112 fared similarly well in 1998, with both albums eventually receiving a Double-Platinum certification from the RIAA.

112's biggest success came in 2001, when their third major release Part III climbed to the #2 spot on the Billboard 200 the week of its release. Widely considered by fans and critics to be their best album, Part III spawned the singles "Peaches & Cream" and "It's Over Now", both of which charted in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. Though 112 originally rose to prominence as one of the most youth-friendly and clean cut groups on the Bad Boy roster, Part III saw the group shift into edgier territory with racier lyrics and faster, techno-inspired beats.

The band's new image began to create a rift between them and Bad Boy, prompting 112 to distance themselves from the label for their fourth release, 2003's Hot and Wet, which was partially distributed by Def Soul Classics, a sublabel of Def Jam Records Though the group's least successful effort to date, Hot & Wet still moved a respectable 500,000 units, with singles "Na, Na, Na" and "Hot & Wet" garnering some airplay. 112 officially left Bad Boy after the release of Hot & Wet, signing to Def Jam in late 2004.

Fully embracing the more mature vibe they begun flirting with as early as Part III, 112's fifth album Pleasure & Pain (2005) became the first of 112's albums to receive a parental advisory notice - due largely in part to some particularly dirty verses by contributing crunk legends Three 6 Mafia. Nevertheless, Pleasure & Pain picked 112 up from the slump they fell into with Hot & Wet, charting at #4 on the Billboard 200 and producing the moderate hit singles "U Already Know" and "What If". As of 2008 112 appears to be on hiatus, with its members all pursuing solo projects for the near future.

From Lastfm:

112 (pronounced "One-TWELVE") is an American R&B quartet from Atlanta, Georgia. They are best known for hit singles such as "Anywhere" and "Dance With Me", and for winning a Grammy for their collaboration "I'll Be Missing You" with Puff Daddy and Faith Evans. Formerly artists for Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' Bad Boy Records, the group left Bad Boy and signed to the Def Soul roster in the early 2000s. The groups is made up of members Daron Tavaris Jones, Michael Marcel Keith (aka Mike), Quinnes Diamond Parker (aka "Q")...

Read more about 112 on Last.fm.

User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.

From Wikipedia:

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, most notably winning a Grammy in 1997 with the song "I'll Be Missing You" with Puff Daddy and Faith Evans for Best Rap Performance by A Duo Or Group. The group has sold collectively a total of about 16+ million records world wide.

They have resigned with Def Jam and Bad Boy Records.