iiO (pronounced "eye-oh") was a

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 ...

-based

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

act composed of singer and songwriter Nadia Ali and record producer Markus Moser. The group gained prominence for its 2001 single, "

Rapture The Rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Chr ...

", which peaked at number two on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart, and peaked within the top ten of the charts in the United Kingdom. Following the success of "Rapture", iiO released several singles and the studio album '' Poetica'' in 2005. The album reached number 17 on the ''Billboard''

Top Electronic Albums Top Dance Albums (formerly Top Electronic Albums and Top Dance/Electronic Albums) is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine which ranks the top-selling dance music albums in the United States based on sales compiled by Nielsen S ...

chart. The same year, Ali left iiO to pursue a solo career. Meanwhile, Moser continued to release material featuring her on vocals, which included the 2006 single " Is It Love?" that reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Play chart. In 2011, he released the studio album ''Exit 110'', which again featured Ali on vocals and was announced as the final project of the act.

History

Nadia Ali was working in the New York offices of

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, when a co-worker introduced her to record producer Markus Moser, who was looking for a female singer to collaborate on some of his productions for a

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 ...

. The two teamed up and started a group that was originally named "Vaiio", named after the Sony

Vaio is a Japanese personal computer manufacturer headquartered in Azumino, Nagano, Azumino, Nagano Prefecture. It is owned by Nojima Corporation. Vaio began as a brand of Sony, introduced in 1996, until it offloaded it into an independent company ...

laptop Ali used to write lyrics on. They later dropped the "va", on the advice of their label, to avoid causing problems in the future with Sony. Working with Moser, she wrote the lyrics and the vocals for the songs. Their first release was the 2001 single, "

", a song Ali wrote in 30 minutes based on a relationship with an Australian man she met in a nightclub. "Rapture" peaked at number two on the ''

chart. Outside of the United States, "Rapture" was a hit across Europe, most notably in the United Kingdom, where the song peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart in November 2001. The song was remixed by prominent DJs and record producers including

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, John Creamer & Stephane K, Armin van Buuren and Deep Dish. "Rapture" was followed by " At the End" in 2002. The duo subsequently released " Smooth" in 2003, "

Runaway Runaway, Runaways or Run Away may refer to: Engineering * Runaway reaction, a chemical reaction releasing more heat than what can be removed and becoming uncontrollable * Thermal runaway, self-increase of the reaction rate of an exothermic proce ...

" in 2004 and " Kiss You" in 2005. Their first studio album, '' Poetica'', was released in 2005 by Made Records. The release of the album was timed with the dissolution of iiO with Ali leaving to pursue a solo career. Meanwhile, Moser continued to release material, featuring her on the vocals. These included the 2006 number one ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Play single, " Is It Love?", the 2007 remix album, '' Reconstruction Time: The Best of iiO Remixed'', and the 2008 compilation album, ''Rapture Reconstruction: Platinum Edition''. In 2010, iiO re-emerged from hiatus when Moser released new remixes of "At the End". In April 2011, iiO's second studio album and final project, ''Exit 110'', was released, featuring Ali on vocals. Speaking about the album, Ali explained that she had no involvement in it except her vocals and lyrics from nearly ten years ago being used for the project. She described it as "interesting" that there was new work featuring her being released by iiO when she had neither worked with or been in contact with Moser since she left iiO and was completely focused on her solo career. When asked further if the dissolution of the duo was amicable, she refused to comment further. Moser, on the other hand, said he decided to use material Ali had recorded before she left iiO to release a new album due to a demand by fans.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Poetica'' (2005) –

number 17 *''Exit 110'' (2011)

Remix albums

*'' Reconstruction Time: The Best of iiO Remixed'' (2007) *''American Ambient'' (2011)

Compilations

*''Rapture Reconstruction: Platinum Edition'' (2008) *''Frank Bailey vs iiO Remastered'' (2011)

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iio Musical groups established in 2001 Musical groups disestablished in 2011 2001 establishments in New York City 2011 disestablishments in New York (state) American dance music groups American house music groups Musical duos from New York (state) Musical groups from New York City Female-fronted musical groups