112 is four silky smooth brothas out of the A.T.L., who are possessed with the vocal power that would make the original members of the Temptations take notice. Just who are 112 specifically? They are (Q) Dammond Parker, (Mike) Michael Marcel Keith, (Slim) Marvin E. Scandrick III and (Daron) Daron Tavaris Jones. And they say their goal is to not only rise to the top of the record charts, but also reign supreme in the music industry.

The success of 112 started back in 1996 with the release of their double-platinum self-titled debut album, which hosts the hit singles, "Only You" (featuring the late Notorious B.I.G. and Mase) and "Cupid." In 1998, the group's sophomoric CD, Room 112 also went double-platinum with popular tunes such as "Your Letter" and "Anywhere." Fast forward to the year 2000, and the release of yet another multi-platinum CD, Part 112. By now, I'm sure you have heard the infectious bass-lined tune burning up the airways, "Peaches & Cream." Yep, you guessed it. These are the four artists who made this song possible and this is the deliciously hot CD, which it derived.

Recently, we had the opportunity to sit down and talk to the talented R&B quartet when they pulled into Chicago as the opening act of the Janet Tour. What you will find is a group of young men who are warm, inviting and completely unassuming. And ladies, get this, they're all under the age of 25. Enjoy!

What does 112, the name of your group stand for?

Q: 112 is a club in Atlanta where we met Puff (Sean "P. Diddy" Combs). And we kind of got our start in the parking lot at that club by standing out there waiting for him to pull up. We sang for him at 3 o'clock in the morning in the pouring rain.

MIKE: But what 112 stands for now is - we're cool at times and other times we're animals. It's a constant battle trying to get the world to know Q, Mike , Slim and Daron.

After the parking lot audition, how long did it take you to get a contract?

MIKE: About two weeks. Chop - Chop - Chop!! P. Diddy likes to move real fast and 112 was fortunate to be one the premiere groups on the Bad Boy Label.

How did the group form?

MIKE: While in high school, we used to pick on students in our chorus class and dare them to sing solos. We did this because we knew we were the best. So, our teacher was like, "Since you think you're so good, I'm going to put you in a group to sing at the coronation. And if you don't do it, you're failing my class." Given those circumstances, we did the coronation, but we still got in trouble because we started gyrating in front of the crowd and they were going crazy . . .

DARON: Yeah, that was our big break.

Q: What made it so bad was that the principal told us, "When you perform, I don't want no gyrated, now!"

MIKE: And we were like Okaaaay'! And then we were like dun-dun-dun-dun! (demonstrating) And everybody was like Aaagh! And that's when it all started.

DARON: That did it.

MIKE: But I was the one who had to apologize. Nobody else would get behind me.

Wasn't there a talent agent in the audience?

DARON: There was a talent scout there for some producers by the name of Tim and Bob who was working under Dallas Austin (record producer). From him meeting us and believing in our talent, he introduced us to this other guy by the name of Kevin Wales. And Kevin Wales had a relationship with P. Diddy and that's how we got the initial word that Puff was going to be at Club 112 that night.

So, did he fly you guys out to New York?

MIKE: Yeah, like a month later we flew to New York for the first time. Here you are taking four country bumpkins who have never been outside of North Carolina or on a plane, except for Slim. When we were on the plane we were like this (gripping his seat), scared. But when we got there, we saw all those lights and that skyline, it was amazing. We were mystified over something that big.

What year was this?

MIKE: It was '94.

Q: Our parents were even more terrified because we were like 16 and 17 years old.

How long were you all there?

MIKE: Over a year. We all stayed together in an apartment.

Where do you reside now?

MIKE: Atlanta. Born and raised, we're not going anywhere else.

In those early days, was Puffy like a father figure to you?

MIKE: Nope!

Q: As far as our relationship or Puff's influence on 112, he brought the element of hip-hop to our group. When we first started, we were just singers who knew about R&B, writing love songs and things about being an R&B artist. We didn't know much about hip-hop, but with Biggie (the late Notorious B.I.G.) on Bad Boy, who was one of the greatest rappers ever, we learned a lot and that kind of filtered over into our music. But when it does come down to our music, we write it, produce it, we really do our own thing.

Is your relationship more business than personal with P. Diddy?

MIKE: It's partly personal, but it's more business.

DARON: And we want to be known as businessmen. Back in the day, we weren't thinking like businessmen and it hurt us. But now we're thinking differently, by writing, producing and playing instruments on our own songs.

MIKE: And we like it better that way. Because as long as you keep everything business, business can be taken care of. When things become personal, feelings get involved and people have different expectations of you.

Did he treat you fairly with your contract?

MIKE: Oh yeah, dude kept it real' business wise. But there was a lot of things that happened on our end that we wish we could have avoided like being inexperienced and number one at the same time. He's [P. Diddy] going to look out for his best interest, being the CEO of Bad Boy Record Label and we should have been looking out for 112's best interest instead of just listening to someone else. But it was the faux pas that a lot of people go through when they first get into the industry. You sign something that you may not want to sign, or you felt like you were doing it because of the "homeboy issue," and we don't like "homeboy issues" because "homeboy" gets you messed up. But there was always that option to sign or not to sign.

Let's move forward. What came first, your knowledge of touring with Janet or the VMAs and Billboard nominations?

MIKE: The Janet tour.

Q: We knew about the tour about six months prior.

Who contacted whom?

Q: Janet's people contacted us.

Are you doing the entire tour?

MIKE: We're doing the U.S. tour. The European is still up in the air. We haven't made a decision yet, but Janet's people have expressed interest in us continuing with them. Janet is such a beautiful person; she has been very generous to 112.

Q: A very humble person.

MIKE: And as an entertainer, she will entertain your ass off. We're just glad to be on the same stage with her because we grew up watching her.

As you know, Janet and the Jackson family is royalty in the black community, what was it like when you did receive that call?

MIKE: When we got the call, we were in the middle of doing our choreography for the new CD. This is what our day is like in Atlanta. Everyday we would wake up, go to the gym, rest for two hours, then we would go to choreography rehearsal for about six hours. So, we got the call during the rehearsal. All of sudden, our steps just got harder and harder. We started going off on the choreography because we knew that Janet was going to bring it every night. Every night!! So we knew we had to let people know why they should go out and buy our CD and why our CD is 2 million right now. And why you should believe in these four guys from Atlanta that you've never heard of. That was our mind frame for the whole tour. It's like a new beginning for us.

When you all finally had the chance to sit down and talk, did she express why she wanted you on the tour?

Q: Yeah, that was one the things that really solidified she was down for it. She was very humble. It's always good when your peers can share with you that they respect your talent and creativity. One of the first things she said to us was, "I love you guys and I'm really glad that you accepted my offer of having you on the tour." Because a lot of times people may say that we want to go out with 112 or with whoever and then that same group may say naw' we clownin' we don't want to go on that kind of tour. First of all she thanked us and then she told us how much loved our CD and how much she loves "Peaches & Cream." And how it's one of the songs she just beat down in her CD player because she got so tired of listening to her songs due to hours and hours of practicing for her tour. And to hear that from Janet, it was like, Maaaaan! Fortunately, all the artists we've toured with are the artists we grew up with and looked up to, like Janet, Whitney, the Isley Brothers and New Edition. And because of them, we are able to be 112, now.

MIKE: Yeah, right on. (throwing up a fist)

Now, the nominations.

MIKE: The nominations.

MIKE: This is something we've been striving for so long.

DARON: We've seen so many artists come and go . . . Have a hit record ...

MIKE: One hit record, now.

DARON: In a sense, be a step above us in terms of respect, recognition, awards . . . and we had to sit through all of that. And a lot of times they said it was because of our release dates that we didn't make the ballots and we've had top selling records, top five records, number one records, but we just never got the awards. We do have a Grammy with Puff and Faith Evans for "I'll Be Missing You," but we've never won an award for just 112 as a group. So, a lot of times we'll just be sitting at home watching the shows and it's upsetting because we know that those artists are no more talented than we are, it's just that they sold more records and won the awards. We've struggled just to get played on the radio . . . it wasn't until "Peaches & Cream" that avenues began to open up. From this song, we got our first VMA nomination, a Billboard nomination and hopefully more to come. This CD is the first of many for 112 like the Janet tour . . . we did David Letterman with this CD, Jay Leno and Regis and Kelly. For me, this CD is really, really special because it has opened up a lot of avenues, broadened our fan base. And most of all, the fact that we wrote and produced 90 percent of it. And it's given us a lot of respect throughout the industry.

The CD is at 2 million, right now?

Q: Mmmm, mmm.

DARON: 2 million and counting.

MIKE: 2 million strong and growing. (singing)

So, how was the show tonight?

MIKE: Great!

Q: There's no other feeling like it.

What does it feel like to be on stage?

DARON: It's definitely a rush to have so many people watching you at one time.

Q: Especially if you love attention.

Are you able to focus on individuals or is it just a sea of faces out there?

MIKE: Normally it's like having tunnel vision because of all the lights hitting us.

Q: We can probably see about four to five rows out unless they raise the house lights. But what I like to do sometimes is focus on a section of people and look right at them. I'll smile and wave at them to let them know that I'm looking right at them. That could be something that they will remember forever. They may go home and say, "He smiled at me or he winked at me."

Slim, you're the quiet one?

SLIM: Just for today. I'm in a mellow mood today.

What's your opinion of these Boy Bands and their insurmountable success - a kind of success that has eluded Boy Bands of color with equal if not more talent?

Q: Money!

MIKE: It's all a marketing scheme. Like Q said, it's the money and the thought that's behind you. We are on a small budget because we're strictly an R&B group. On the real, we could take other groups' budget and live off of it for the rest of our lives.

(laughs from the group)

Q: They don't even have a budget. If they need something done, they just do it.

MIKE: Because they know the record label will fork out those dollars. It's about your record company. They will only spend on you what they know they will get back.

SLIM: It's like a basketball team drafting a new player, if they know you can pack the house and make their investment back then they will spend all that money on you. It's the same in the music industry. If they see that most R&B groups only go platinum and double-platinum then that's all their willing to invest in you. With double-platinum money, there is a big difference between a 112 video and an 'N Sync video.

The success of Boyz II Men didn't create inroads for other R&B groups?

MIKE: We talked to Mike [McCay] and he said that the CD [Cooley High Harmony] was at 2 million and then they released the soundtrack which held their single, "End of the Road " and everything just took off. That was the record that took them to the next level.

Q: Sometimes a song just takes on a life of its own like "Peaches & Cream."

MIKE: Yeah, it's something that can't be manufactured. But once Boyz II Men sold 9 million CDs the record company was like, "Oh, they can sell 9 million records so lets put 9 million dollars into them."

Q: Once you get a hit like that and reach that audience, as long as you keep putting out good music, it's hard to fall off from that.

DARON: But if you drop below those expected numbers, they won't hesitate to take those production dollars away from you.

If your records company expects you to only sell 1 or 2 million and that's all they're willing to invest in you, don't you think that holds you back? Where's that extra push?

MIKE: Well in our case, it's Puff who takes priority. If his records don't sell, you're going to hear from him regardless. But if 112's records don't sell, you won't be hearing from us. It's just incidental. It's business.

Do you all own homes?

MIKE: Yeah, we all have homes, nice cars, whatever. Don't get us wrong, we've all been able to do well.

SLIM: But it's because we've gone out there and worked for it by writing and producing songs for other people. And we've been able to profit from that, too. The fame is a given but what we're trying to do is be bigger than our label. We want to be 112 on Bad Boy and not 112 of Bad Boy or Puff Daddy's 112. We want to be 112 on Puff Daddy's label. When you think of TLC or Usher, it's the artist first and then the record label, LaFace second. And this is not to take anything away from Bad Boy, we just want to make a name for ourselves like other artists have. We just want our own identity. We've been beat out at award shows by our own songs - songs that we've written for other artists. And that was hard because the public didn't know that we were behind those songs. It was only when we received our ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) checks that there was recognition.

Has this all been worth it? Does the fame make up for what you have to go through?

Q: What ever you do in life, there's a price to pay. But if you have a general love for it, it makes it worth while. And I love what I do. I think it's amazing that the four of us can come together and just sound like angels. I love performing and going out there being 112. I'll never stop doing this because it runs a lot deeper. If I were to stop, it would financially affect their kid, his family and mine.

DARON: Their families, I don't have any children. (laughs from the group)

SLIM: And all our families are very close. Their kids stay at my house and my kids stay at theirs.

A final question about the Boy Bands. Did you see the 'N Sync HBO Special?

ALL: Yeah.

What did you think?

MIKE: I'll give them their props. Those boys have put in hours of work and they really can sing. So, you have to appreciate that.

DARON: They're talented.

MIKE: But if you put a million dollars into 112, you'll get the same thing. It's just the production dollars that makes them off the hook. Their production value just amazes me.

DARON: We want to put a challenge out to all the big promoters out there. Offer 112 that kind of money, put that kind of production behind us and see what will happen.

SLIM: Yeah, give us that kind of contract and let's see what 112 can do. We've already proven that we can sell the records. It's all about belief.

MIKE: Oh yeah, there's something I want to mention. There was a recent awards show that had 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys singing a tribute to a Marvin Gaye medley and other classic soul groups, and that was really a slap in the face to all the R&B groups out there. If we went and sang "Smells Like Teen Spirit," they would think that something was wrong with us. We just felt that is was something that should have belonged to us or a group like 112. Even though those songs have a universal appeal.

SLIM: We're not angry with anyone, we just want those same opportunities. Unfortunately, this is just another area where people of color are limited.

So, what does the future hold for 112?

MIKE: We're going to continue touring for this CD with Janet and then possibly with a few other artists. After that, we're going to headline our own tour.

DARON: Continue to put out quality music and be the best.

Q: Definitely!

SLIM: We also have a clothing line coming out.

Q: And check out our web site www.one12.com.

Valeri "Nailah" Davis
(August 10, 2001)