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Shamari DeVoe Makes Her Real Housewives of Atlanta Debut: What to Know About the Blaque Singer

Shamari DeVoe Makes Her Real Housewives of Atlanta Debut: What to Know About the Blaque Singer

Watch out Atlanta, there’s a new Housewife in town.

Shamari DeVoe made her Real Housewives of Atlanta debut on Sunday’s episode, bringing her sassy personality to the Bravo show’s eleventh season.

“What I like about Shamari is she’s a fun person,” costar Kandi Burrus explained. “She’s not the type of person who’s trying to put on airs for other people. She’s going to be herself no matter what.”

Here are 5 things to know about 38-year-old Shamari:

1. She’s a member of the girl group, Blaque

Brandi Williams and Shamari DeVot, of Blaque, perform at ATL Live On The Park Season IX: Blaque at Park Tavern on July 10, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Brandi Williams and Shamari DeVot, of Blaque, perform at ATL Live On The Park Season IX: Blaque at Park Tavern on July 10, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Shamari burst onto the scene back the late ’90s as Shamari Fears — who, alongside Brandi Williams and Natina Reed, formed the trio Blaque. Signed to Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes’ production group, the group released their self-title debut album in 1999. It went platinum thanks to the strength of their first single, “808” (which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard charts) and “Bring It All To Me,” which hit No. 4.

Despite their success, the trio’s second album was shelved, and they were dropped from Columbia Records. Electra Records then picked them up, but their third album was canned, too.

Eventually, the group disbanded, and Shamari launched a solo career that never took off. They attempted a reunion in 2012, but that came to a haul when Reed was tragically hit by a car while walking on a Georgia highway and died that October.

In recent years though, Shamari and Williams have been performing together as Blaque. Their performance at ATL Live back in July was seen on Sunday’s RHOA.

2. She appeared in Bring It On

Natina Reed, Brandi Williams, Gabrielle Union, Shamari Fears in <em>Bring it On</em>
Natina Reed, Brandi Williams, Gabrielle Union, Shamari Fears in Bring it On

Back before they disbanded, Blaque appeared in 2000’s Bring It On — the teen comedy starring Gabrielle Union, Kirsten Dunst and Eliza Dushku about a group of rival cheerleaders.

The girls performed alongside Union on the fictional squad the East Compton Clovers.

3. She’s married to Ronnie DeVoe — of New Edition, RBRM and Bel Biv DeVoe fame

Shamari and Ronnie Devoe
Shamari and Ronnie Devoe

Shamari and Ronnie wed in 2006. “Me and my husband, we met during the Janet Jackson Icon Awards in 2001,” Shamari said on RHOA. “The next day, we got together and we had sex. A lot of times people say, you know, you have sex the first night and you ain’t gonna be with the guy. And I’m still with him 17 years later. So you can’t alway believe what you hear.”

At 51, Ronnie is 13 years her senior, and a “legend,” in Shamari’s eyes. “[His] music has stood the test of time,” she gushed about Ronnie — whose cataloge included hits like “Candy Girl,” and “Poison.”

“He is everything to the world,” she added. “A lot of people have come up to me and been like, ‘Oh my God, you know you’re married to my husband.’ And it’s like, ‘No baby, I’m not married to your husband, I’m married to my husband. The legend.”

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Shamari and Ronnie have begun collaborating together on music, too, under a group called Me & Mari. They recorded a song together on the show. “I want Me & Mari to be big,” she said. “I do plan on doing an EP. I do plan on traveling the world with my husband like Beyoncé and JAY-Z. Here we come, baby!”

“We’ve both been successful so why not do something with each other?” she explained. “And we are so excited because our love always comes through.”

4. She’s the mother to twin boys

The DeVoes are parents to two identical twin boys, Roman and Ronald III, born July 14, 2017. The brothers have their own Instagram account, naturally called the “DeVoe Twins.”

“When God blessed me with twins, I knew that I was built for it,” she said on RHOA.

5. She has ties to the Real Housewives of Atlanta cast

Not only are she and Burruss pals — the two having worked together when Burruss wrote the remix to Blaque’s first single, “808,” — but Bel Biv DeVoe also performed at Burruss’ wedding to husband Todd Tucker in 2014.

“Me and Kandi, we both come from girl groups,” she said on RHOA. “We both know what it’s like to be in the music industry, so when we get back together, it’s like, ‘Hey!’ “

Though Shamari was born in Detroit and lived there until she was 5, she moved to Atlanta thereafter and went to elementary, junior high, high school, and college all in Atlanta. At her Decatur high school, she had a special classmate: Porsha Williams.

As Shamari put it, “I am a Georgia peach.”

The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs Sundays (8 p.m. ET) on Bravo.