When I Met You

Hey Mr. D.J. emerged as a defining moment in 90s R&B when American duo Zhané (pronounced "jah-nay") released it as their debut single in August 1993. The track's creation brought together several influential figures in hip-hop and R&B: group members Renée Neufville and Jean Norris wrote the lyrics, while hip-hop pioneers Naughty by Nature handled production, incorporating a clever sample from Michael Wycoff's 1982 quiet storm classic Looking Up to You. Read more on Last.fm.

Zhané (pronounced Jah-Nay) was an American R&B/hip hop soul duo, best known for their 1993 hit Hey, Mr. D.J. Other popular hits include Groove Thang and Sending My Love, both released in 1994. The group was part of Queen Latifah's Flavor Unit collective. They released the follow up album Saturday Night in 1997. The release featured the hit single Request Line. A remix with different lyrics and raps by Queen Latifah followed. Given a high-profile spot on the all-star compilation Roll Wit tha Flava as their first recording opportunity, Zhané lived up to the pressure and came away with one of the hip-hop party anthems of all time, Hey, Mr. DJ. Jean Norris and Renee Neufville initially met while both were studying music at Philadelphia's Temple University (Norris is originally from Rhode Island, Neufville from Jamaica). After meeting Naughty by Nature member Kay Gee, Zhané impressed the producer enough to go right into the studio to record for Roll Wit tha Flava. When Hey, Mr. DJ was released as a separate single as well, it hit number six on the pop charts and earned the group a contract with Motown in 1994. Their debut album, Pronounced Jah-Nay, produced two further Top 40 hits (Groove Thang, Sending My Love) and went gold by the end of the year. Zhané kept busy during 1995-1996 with spots on tracks by Busta Rhymes and De La Soul as well as new songs of their own on the NFL Jams and NBA 50th Anniversary compilations and the soundtracks to Higher Learning and A Low Down Dirty Shame -- the latter, Shame, became their fourth Top 40 hit. Norris and Neufville returned with a new LP in 1997, co-produced by Kay Gee, Eddie F., and themselves. It peaked just outside the Top 40. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.