- Title: USA: SISQO IS BACK WITH "RETURN OF THE DRAGON" HIT
- Date: 18th May 2001
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MAY 18, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) MCU (English) SISQO SAYING, "I realized how he manipulated multi-media to capitalize on the success of his actual talent and it kind of made me think, hey, I could do that."
- Embargoed: 2nd June 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA7YHLWGZ4ORAOPY1YJW9WE1WD3
- Story Text: Hip-hop/R&B star Sisqo made his solo debut with "Unleash the Dragon" in 1999 and is back with "Return of the Dragon," which hits stores June 19.
The 'Dragon," a.k.a. Sisqo, nee Mark Andrews, is unstoppable. The chart-topping artist had hits like "Never Make a Promise" with the group Dru Hill, but he left his Dru partners Nokio, Woody, and Jazz, to break out on his own.
He borrowed from his Dru Hill roots on his first solo album "Unleash the Dragon," with a mix of R&B and hip-hop that he says didn't set him apart from his past.
"I can honestly say that I may have confused a lot of people with the last album, mainly because I was coming from a group. Coming from a group, my first solo effort was pretty much Sisqo of Dru Hill," Sisqo told Reuters.
But his biggest hit from the album, a No. 1 single that put him on the music map, was "Thong Song." It quickly became a summer anthem and Sisqo explained why, "The only song that people really gravitated to was the 'Thong Song' and in my personal opinion, it was mainly because that was the only song that was indeed Sisqo."
The platinum-haired singer was passed up at the 2001 Grammys, where he lost out in all four categories for which he was nominated. But that didn't stop the Dragon. Sisqo has launched his next attack with "Return of the Dragon," the first single from which is "Can't I Live" about the pressures of being a star.
"The song 'Can I Live," I basically came with that particular song first because it was different than anything I'd ever released in my career. And I didn't think it sounded like anything I, like anything I've ever released, plus I felt like the beat was just gangster, the beat was just gutter and it's just the way I felt, like I wanted to express myself coming off the album for the first time," said Sisqo.
And he's not only a music star, Sisqo took a turn on the big screen with his debut acting effort in a supporting role in, "Get Over It," with Julia Stiles. He says he learned about parlaying his talent into other media from the multimedia sensation Will Smith.
"As far as the whole acting thing, it was kind of a ... I kind of got a taste for it by hanging out with Will on the set of the "Wild, Wild West. I realized how he manipulated multi-media to capitalize on the success of his actual talent and it kind of made me think, hey, I could do that," Sisqo told Reuters.
Though "Get Over It" was a flop, his performance got some good reviews and he's ready to try it again in an upcoming Disney film, currently titled "Winter Dance." He'll also start his own clothing line in the tradition of hip-hop/clothing mogul Sean Combs, who has his own "Sean John"
line.
So just what is the "Dragon?" Sisqo told Reuters, "Everybody's always asking me, 'What's the Dragon?' 'What's the Dragon?' In my personal opinion, the last album, I said the Dragon was the energy. With this last album and with the newfound knowledge that I have, of the business and of myself.
I realize that the Dragon is really the music. And when the music takes over me on stage, I actually become the persona of the Dragon."
And the Dragon's officially back on June 19 with "Return of the Dragon."
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