En Vogue

Female R&B foursome En Vogue defined a new image and sound for R&B in the '90s. With the help of producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy (Club Nouveau, Timex Social Club) they combined a sexy girl-group image with '70s soul songcraft and contemporary hip-hop production techniques for a distaff variation on New Jack Swing that was termed "New Jill". They scored a number of big hits early in the decade and broke lyrical ground with "Free Your Mind". Despite time off for solo projects, En Vogue kept following their musical path into the 21st century.