The son of a minister, Dalvin DeGrate was raised with his brother older Donald in Charlotte, NC. He was performing by the age of two and at nine was drumming in his father's gospel group, the DeGrate Delegation. The DeGrate brothers met brothers Joel and Cedric Halley, and formed the vocal group Jodeci. Dalvin DeGrate, who was the group's rapper, adopted the nickname "Mr. Dalvin"; Donald DeGrate "DeVante Swing"; Joel Halley "JoJo"; and Cedric Halley "K-Ci." They moved to New York and signed to Uptown Entertainment, releasing their debut album, Forever My Lady, in 1991. It topped the R&B charts, went multi-platinum, and spawned three #1 R&B hits: "Stay," "Come & Talk to Me," and the title song. 1994's Diary of a Mad Band also hit the top of the R&B charts and went multi-platinum, with "Cry for You" becoming a #1 R&B hit. 1995's The Show - The After-Party - The Hotel was slightly less successful, but it still sold over a million copies and contained three R&B Top 10 hits. Jodeci broke up, with the Halley brothers recording successfully as K-Ci & JoJo. The DeGrate brothers were slower off the mark, but in April 2000, Dalvin DeGrate released a solo album, Met.A.Mor.Phic, on which his brother DeVante served as one of the producers. On the album, he turned to singing. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide