In the ’90s R&B scene, Jodeci was practically peerless. Last year, Complex placed them atop their ’90s Male R&B Group Pyramid Of Excellence — right above Boyz II Men. The groups were on different paths, of course. Boyz II Men were Motown to the core: polished performers notching pop smashes helmed by top producers and songwriters. Jodeci was a self-contained unit, launching to fame on the production skills of brothers Dalvin and Donald DeGrate. Jodeci songs were always fiending: erotic slow burns that translated New Jack for a harder chart age. All three of their LPs were smashes, and Donald (aka DeVante Swing) converted that capital into a slew of outside production credits. He also assembled a loose crew of like-minded artists: members of his Swing Mob/Da Bassment collective included Static Major, Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Ginuwine, Magoo, and Tweet. But drug addiction and legal troubles — issues shared by his bandmates — sent DeVante’s affiliates fleeing, with precious little to show. (An intriguing set of clips from an unreleased Bassment project hit the internet a few years ago.) By this point, Suge Knight had wormed his way into the picture, signing Jodeci to a management contract before the release of The Show, The After Party, The Hotel. It was their highest charter, which made the group’s split all the more peculiar. Brothers K-Ci and JoJo Hailey carried on as a duo, guesting on 2Pac’s “How Do U Want It,” then peaking with the worldwide #1 “All My Life” (which owed more than a little to Boyz II Men) in 1998. That same year, DeVante was working with an ill-fated record label founded by Mike Tyson; by 2010, he was making headlines for stumbling around a Burbank Subway. But he — and the rest of Jodeci — pulled a stunner last year when they announced they had completed a new record: The Past, The Present, The Future, which dropped last month. One-time Bassment cohort Timbaland (who made his debut, along with Elliott, on 1993’s Diary Of A Mad Band) contributed production work to two tracks. But DeVante’s stamp is all over it: updating a mad sound for middle age.