Paving the way for other female R&B groups of the ‘90s like Destiny's Child and 3LW were En Vogue, who often found comparisons to similar R&B female predecessors, The Supremes. The quartet began in San Francisco as part of yet another creation of production team Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy. The original group consisted of Cindy Herron, Terry Ellis, Maxine Jones and Dawn Robinson, before internal differences led Robinson to leave the group in '97, followed by Jones.

The group's debut album Born to Sing lead them to a platinum selling album with the number two single "Hold On," followed by their sophomore effort, Funky Divas, in 1992. Funky Divas combined several different genres and had three singles that reached the Top Ten, giving the girls a multi-platinum album. Their 1993 hit with Salt-N-Pepa "Whatta Man," made Top Ten again in 1993.

As Robinson was leaving, the girls recorded their third album, EV3, followed by the 2000 Masterpiece Theater, which saw sales lower than expected and left the girls without a label.

In 2001 Amanda Cole was added to the mix, which saw the quick departure of Jones, leaving the group to stabilize as a trio. In 2002 they contributed to the Deliver Us from Eva soundtrack and released the holiday album The Gift of Christmas with an indie label. Cole left the group to pursue a solo career, as the girls saw more changes prior to their European tour, when Maxine Jones filled in for Cindy Herron, as well as the addition of newest member Rhona Bennett, had previously worked on the Jaime Foxx Show. They released Soul Flower in 2004.