MoKenStef is an American female R&B trio from Los Angeles, active from 1994 until 2000.[1] The group name was a combination of the first syllable of each member's name: Monifa, Kenya, and Stefanie. They released an album, Azz Izz, in 1995, and their biggest hit was "He's Mine", which peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also spent one week in the UK Singles Chart in September 1995 at #70.[2] Their second single, "Sex in the Rain", was not as successful, peaking only at #41 on the US R&B chart.
MoKenStef began in 1990 with members Kenya Hadley (born 1972), and Stefanie Sinclair (born 1972) becoming friends while both being cheerleaders at Inglewood's Morningside High School. They were also dancers and were looking for a third member for their hip-hop dance crew. Hollywood High School student Monifa Bethune (born 1972), auditioned and ultimately won the audition. The trio then started dancing for various hip hop acts on stage and in videos, most notably for rapper AMG ("B**** Betta Have My Money"), and Big Daddy Kane's ("This Is for the Lover in You"). Looking to go beyond background dancers, they started developing their respective vocal talents. They connected with a local production company, which didn't go far, and according to the members, they "signed a contract with a shady management company, which went absolutely nowhere." While working on their music career, the trio took college classes and had normal 9-5 jobs.
Their break came when they saw rapper AMG one afternoon at the office of "Greedy Greg" Jesse and Anthony "Anti" Lewis, owners of Outburst Records. The owners were listening in on AMG and some local artists tossing out rhymes. Monifa chimed in with a melody and suddenly the trio had a captive audience with their rhyming and singing. Soon after, in 1994, MoKenStef was officially formed. They signed with Outburst Records, which was formed under the label Def Jam. By then, they had begun to work on their album. Their last single was intended to be "Baby Come Close", a remake of Smokey Robinson's song, for which MoKenStef recorded a remix called "I Can't Help It" (this one was a cover of Michael Jackson's song). Both, album and remix versions were released promotionally on cd and vinyl, the group also made a video for it directed by Cameron Casey,[3] but in the end the intended single was never released commercially.
MoKenStef appeared on the soundtrack of the film Phat Beach in 1996, with the song "Jock'n Me". In 1999, the group released a single called "He Say She Say", which was a promotion for the album Hits 4 the New Millennium by Cool Dre,[4] but their attempt was unsuccessful. In 2000, they officially disbanded. In 2014 MoKenStef reunited and their Instagram page can be found, as Therealmokenstef.[5]
mokenstef, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, december, 2009, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources MoKenStef news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message MoKenStef is an American female R amp B trio from Los Angeles active from 1994 until 2000 1 The group name was a combination of the first syllable of each member s name Monifa Kenya and Stefanie They released an album Azz Izz in 1995 and their biggest hit was He s Mine which peaked at 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 It also spent one week in the UK Singles Chart in September 1995 at 70 2 Their second single Sex in the Rain was not as successful peaking only at 41 on the US R amp B chart MoKenStefMoKenStef 1995Background informationOriginLos Angeles California U S GenresR amp BYears active1994 2000 2014 presentLabelsDef Jam RecordsPast membersMonifa BethuneKenya HadleyStefanie Sinclair Contents 1 History 1 1 After Azz Izz 2 Discography 2 1 Album 2 2 Singles 3 References 4 External linksHistory editMoKenStef began in 1990 with members Kenya Hadley born 1972 and Stefanie Sinclair born 1972 becoming friends while both being cheerleaders at Inglewood s Morningside High School They were also dancers and were looking for a third member for their hip hop dance crew Hollywood High School student Monifa Bethune born 1972 auditioned and ultimately won the audition The trio then started dancing for various hip hop acts on stage and in videos most notably for rapper AMG B Betta Have My Money and Big Daddy Kane s This Is for the Lover in You Looking to go beyond background dancers they started developing their respective vocal talents They connected with a local production company which didn t go far and according to the members they signed a contract with a shady management company which went absolutely nowhere While working on their music career the trio took college classes and had normal 9 5 jobs Their break came when they saw rapper AMG one afternoon at the office of Greedy Greg Jesse and Anthony Anti Lewis owners of Outburst Records The owners were listening in on AMG and some local artists tossing out rhymes Monifa chimed in with a melody and suddenly the trio had a captive audience with their rhyming and singing Soon after in 1994 MoKenStef was officially formed They signed with Outburst Records which was formed under the label Def Jam By then they had begun to work on their album Their last single was intended to be Baby Come Close a remake of Smokey Robinson s song for which MoKenStef recorded a remix called I Can t Help It this one was a cover of Michael Jackson s song Both album and remix versions were released promotionally on cd and vinyl the group also made a video for it directed by Cameron Casey 3 but in the end the intended single was never released commercially In 1995 the group performed He s Mine on the television shows Soul Train All That and Video Soul After Azz Izz edit MoKenStef appeared on the soundtrack of the film Phat Beach in 1996 with the song Jock n Me In 1999 the group released a single called He Say She Say which was a promotion for the album Hits 4 the New Millennium by Cool Dre 4 but their attempt was unsuccessful In 2000 they officially disbanded In 2014 MoKenStef reunited and their Instagram page can be found as Therealmokenstef 5 Discography editAlbum edit Azz Izz 1995 Singles edit He s Mine 1995 Sex in the Rain 1995 Baby Come Close 1995 promotional only He Say She Say 1999 promotional only References edit MoKenStef Songs Albums Reviews Bio amp More AllMusic Roberts David 2006 British Hit Singles amp Albums 19th ed London Guinness World Records Limited p 374 ISBN 1 904994 10 5 Books google pl Amazon com Blackvoicenews com Archived from the original on July 8 2011 Retrieved June 17 2010 External links editMoKenStef at AllMusic nbsp nbsp This article on a United States R amp B soul music band group or collective is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title MoKenStef amp oldid 1205204851, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
