Groove Theory

Early years

The duo formed in New York City in 1993 after Amel Larrieux met Bryce Wilson while she worked as a receptionist at Rondor Music. A publisher at the company, aware that Wilson wanted to form a group, gave Larrieux one of Wilson's production tracks and suggested she write a song and demo it. Wilson saw the group as an outlet for his production skills, while Larrieux sought a chance to excel in R&B. Wilson also valued having Larrieux write, sing, and arrange each song rather than seeking outside singers and songwriters.

Career

Groove Theory signed with Epic Records and released their self-titled debut album in 1995. The album included the gold-selling single "Tell Me," which peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and number three on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and also reached number 31 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1995. Additional singles "Baby Luv" and "Keep Trying" charted at numbers 18 and 36 on the R&B chart, respectively. The album was certified gold.

Larrieux left the group in 1999 to pursue a solo career, and was replaced by Makeda Davis, a songwriter and session vocalist who had appeared on the 1997 K-Ci & JoJo album Love Always and co-wrote rapper Amil's "I Got That." The duo signed with Columbia Records and recorded an album titled The Answer, expected for release in 2000. Wilson requested a release from the label due to dissatisfaction with Columbia's handling of urban projects, and the album remained unreleased.

A single from the album, "4 Shure," saw minor chart performance. Larrieux formed her own independent label, Blisslife, to distribute her solo music. Wilson appeared in the films Beauty Shop, Trois, and Hair Show, and produced music for Beyoncé, Amerie, and Mary J. Blige. In a 2016 interview with the Fader, Wilson stated that the entire shelved album The Answer was heard and praised by Jay-Z and Beyoncé at an impromptu studio listening session, after which Jay-Z began shopping songs from the project to Beyoncé, Janet Jackson, and others.

As a result, Wilson and Davis appear as co-writers on several songs for other artists, including "Hip-Hop Star" and unreleased songs "Settle 4 U" and "Scent of You" from Beyoncé's debut album Dangerously In Love (2003), "Not The Only One" from Amerie's album Touch (2005), and "It's OK" from Mashonda's album January Joy (2005).