Big Brovaz

Big Brovaz originally comprised three women (Cherise, who won the MOBO for best unsigned artist in 2000; Dion; and Nadia, born in Reading), three men (J-Rock; Flawless, born in Lagos; and Randy), plus two producers Skillz (also known as JJC, born in Kano, who also managed his group 419 Squad), and Fingaz. The group was referred to as a softer version of the So Solid Crew.

The group was brought together by Fingaz, one of the collective's producers, who already worked under the title "Big Brovaz". The "Big Brovaz" team asked the individual members to showcase their talent alongside underground London R&B and hip hop artists on a compilation that was being put together, entitled Big Brovaz – Watching You. On the album, rather than giving each member an individual track, the producers decided to make the artists work together and perform on the same tracks. That collaborative effort led to the group's formation.

The Big Brovaz – Watching You compilation sold over two thousand copies.

A track from the album, which featured west London R&B singer Cherise, was picked up by the organizer of the annual MOBO award and she was asked to compete in the annual MOBO Unsigned talent competition where she achieved first place. Cherise was signed and later release her own solo album. Following this, the group was picked up by Sony Records.

Female member Cherise released a solo album Look Inside before the debut album from Big Brovaz was released. It only spawned one single, "2nd Best", while the album won a MOBO award.

The group's breakthrough was in October 2002 when the group's debut single, "Nu Flow" became a hit, particularly in the UK where it made the top 3, spending over four months inside the top 75. Their debut album of the same name was released on 4 November 2002 to bemusement, ferocious anger and mirth.This single was covered by tons of landfill waste at the local skip in 2006.

The group's success continued into 2003 with the release of further singles from their debut album. The group's second single, "OK" made Number 7 in the UK Singles Chart prompting a re-release of the album with a re-ordered track listing and new tracks on 10 February 2003. However, the album was re-issued yet again one month later, on 24 March 2003, with another re-ordered track listing and a new track entitled "Favourite Things". This song became the group's third single and was famous for sampling the song "My Favourite Things" from the musical The Sound Of Music. As well as their own interpretation of the classic song, the group decided to include a cover of the original as a hidden bonus track on version three of "Nu Flow". "Favourite Things" became the group's biggest highest charting hit to date, peaking at Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart and spending three weeks inside the top 3 of that chart.

The fourth single taken from the album was "Baby Boy". The music video for the single was famous for being inspired by the sitcom Friends. "Baby Boy" became the group's fourth top 10 hit in a row, peaking at Number 4 in the UK singles chart. The fifth single from the album, "Ain't What You Do", which sampled Fun Boy Three and Bananarama's collaboration It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It) was the group's fifth top 15 hit, peaking at Number 15.

The group's debut album was certified platinum in the UK, a great achievement for UK R&B and hip hop.[1]

The group next appeared on-screen in the 2004 film Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, in which they performed a version of Sly & the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" and was featured on the Soundtrack. They also released the single "We Wanna Thank You (The Things You Do)" as the theme song from the movie in April 2004. This was the collective's smallest hit to date, peaking at Number 17 in the UK singles charts. Shortly after this, rapper Flawless was stopped at LAX airport and was found to be in possession of about 2.2 grams (0.07 ounces) of Cannabis out of the UK. This resulted in his sacking from the group in 2004, leaving the remaining 5 group members and two producers to carry on without him.[2]

Later in 2004, one member down, the group released another new single, "Yours Fatally", which was due to be taken from their second album. Although receiving good reviews, the single did not catch on as much as their record company had hoped and were subsequently dropped by their label due to poor sales in late 2004.[3]

After being dropped, the group decided to split up and pursue solo ventures. The girls from the group were rumoured to be creating a group called "Little Sistaz" with Futurepop artist Olivia Davies but the group never materialised.

In 2006, an announcement on their official website messageboard was made by group member Randy confirming that the group had re-united but as a four-piece.[4] The re-formed group now consisted of Nadia, Cherise, J-Rock and Randy, losing Dion. Dion decided not to reunite with the group and later became a vocal coach[5]

The reformed group's Myspace webpage confirmed that a new single would be released 24 April entitled "Hangin' Around". "Hangin' Around" became the group's lowest charting hit to date, peaking outside the UK top 40. However, despite this setback, the group continued and they announced that their second album "Re-Entry" (originally due for a May release) would finally be released in early 2007. The third single from the album (as "Yours Fatally" was to be included), confirmed as "Big Bro Thang", was announced to have a release before the album. The song won the fan's voting poll vote on their official website and due to popular demand, was picked as the third single.

The single "Big Bro Thang" was released with six remixes launching on the iTunes website between 26 February 2007 and 19 March 2007 with the album Re-Entry finally released on 9 April 2007. In an interview with online magazine Popjustice, Nadia and Cherise confirmed that all promotion for Re-Entry had finished, meaning "Big Bro Thang" was the third and final single from the album.[6]

In May 2012, the four surviving original members of the band set off on a tour of Australia with three members of pop group S Club 7.

In October and December 2018, the four surviving original members of the band also joined with Peter Andre, 5ive, S Club 3, Boyzlife (Keith Duffy and Shane Lynch), B*Witched, Blazin' Squad and East 17, for a 5-date revival arena tour. Cherise and Nadia also performed as Booty Luv.[7]

• Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)