Allure is an American

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

-based R&B

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

that formed in the 1990s as a

quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

. Now a trio, they are best known for their hit single " All Cried Out" with 112, which reached No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The group's original line-up comprised Alia Davis, Lalisha Sanders, Akissa Mendez and Linnie Belcher, Belcher left the group in 2001.

Career

Formed in

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, the group originally consisted of Alia Davis, Akissa Mendez, Lalisha McClean and Linnie Belcher. Alia, Akissa, and Lalisha were attending the

Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, often referred to simply as LaGuardia or "LaG", is a public High school (North America), high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, near Lincoln ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

when they decided to become a girl group. They added Linnie Belcher, who was attending the Julia Richman High School at the time. For the next two years, the girls rehearsed and found management connections which brought them to the attention of Poke (from production team Track Masters). Poke worked with the girls and signed them to Track Masters under the name 'Allure' and helped them sign with

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

's label Crave Records in 1997. Their debut single " Head Over Heels" (featuring

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

) was released in February, becoming a hit and peaking at #35 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

and #20 on the US Rhythmic Top 40. It was soon followed by the single "No Question" featuring

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

which gained some airplay, ahead of the release of their self-titled debut album '' Allure'' on May 6, 1997. Their next single, a cover of " All Cried Out" featuring 112 was released in August, and became their biggest hit to date, peaking at #4 on the

and #9 on the R&B chart. With the success of the single, their album was certified gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

, and a fourth single ("Last Chance", which was co-written by Carey) followed. In 1998, they appeared on the soundtrack album with

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...

for the song “Let it be” for the movie ‘‘ Woo’’. In 1999, they released the single "You're the Only One For Me" from the hit 1999 film '' Runaway Bride''. After the dissolution of Crave Records, Allure signed with

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

in 2000, issuing the single "Enjoy Yourself" which peaked at #50 on the Billboard R&B chart. Their sophomore album '' Sunny Days'' followed on November 13, 2001, and opened at #68 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart. A second single "Kool Wit Me" was pushed to radio, yet did not receive much support from the label. Soon after, member Hem-Lee (aka Linnie Belcher) left the group and the group remained as a trio. In 2002, they appeared in the

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

' '' Mr. Jones'' album, in the song "The Letter." The album was produced by

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean ( ; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, singer, and record producer. Born in Haiti, Jean emigrated to the Northeastern United States, United States as a child. He gained fame as a founding member of the Fugees, a Ne ...

Jerry 'Wonder' Duplessis Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis (born August 9, 1975) is a Haitian record producer and musician. His first major success came as the producer of the Fugees' 1996 album ''The Score''. He served as the bass guitarist for the group and is the cousin of Wy ...

and Jones himself. In 2004, they signed with

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player

Ron Artest Metta Sandiford-Artest (born Ronald William Artest Jr., November 13, 1979), previously legally named Metta World Peace, is an American former professional basketball player who played 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Un ...

's newly formed label, Tru Warier Records, distributed by Lightyear Entertainment. Their third album '' Chapter III'', in reference to their lineup change and being their third album, was released on November 23, 2004. It went unnoticed by the general public, although it did receive considerable press due to Ron Artest's suspension from the

that year. Two singles were released, 2004's "Uh Oh" featuring

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

artist

Elephant Man Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890) was an English man known for his severe physical deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "The Elephant Man", and then went to live at the London Hospital, ...

, and 2005's "I Think I'm In Love" featuring

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

Joe Budden Joseph Anthony Budden II (born August 31, 1980) is an American broadcaster and former rapper. He first gained recognition with his 2003 single " Pump It Up", which peaked in the top 40 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and preceded the release of h ...

. The album was subsequently released in the UK the following year, including a new track ("You Are The Man") and a remix of the single "Hate 2 Luv U". In 2008, Allure formed their own label, A.L.A. Recordings, and released their first EP, ''Patiently Waiting'' on November 1, 2008. Their fourth album, ''Time's Up'', followed on February 10, 2010. The next year, Allure signed with

MC Shan Shawn Moltke (born September 6, 1965), better known by his stage name MC Shan, is an American rapper, singer and record producer from New York City. He is best known for his guest appearance and production on Canadian singer Snow's 1992 single " ...

's label Bridge Works, which has digital distribution with Interscope Records. In 2014, the group released a new single "Butterflies" featuring

. In 2018, the group announced work on a new album. The first single from the project, "I Do" was announced with a talent search for a female rapper to be included on the song. The single, now titled "Like I Do" and featuring rapper Dejha B was released in November. The song was written by Shanell Red Irving and Jonathan “JJ” Jennings and produced by Brook Brovaz. The music video premiered on November 12.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

References

{{Authority control African-American musical trios American girl groups American contemporary R&B musical groups Crave Records artists MCA Records artists Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups from New York City