Shola Ama (born Mathurin Campbell, 18 March 1979, in Paddington, London) is an English singer who scored her biggest hit in 1997 with a cover of Turley Richards' "You Might Need Somebody". Events 37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius ' will and proclaims Caligula emperor Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) Paddington is an area of the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland In Popular music, a chart-topper is an extremely popular recording, identified by its inclusion in a ranked list&mdasha Chart &mdashof top Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar In Popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition ( Performance or Recording) of a previously recorded commercially released Turley Richards (born Charleston West Virginia) is an American singer and guitarist She is half Caribbean (of Dominican & St. Lucian origin), quarter Irish and quarter Scottish. The Commonwealth of Dominica, commonly known as Dominica, is an Island nation in the Caribbean Sea. Saint Lucia (ˌseɪnt ˈluːʃɪə is an Island nation in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain.
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Early life and career
Shola attended Quintin Kynaston School in the early 1990s, where her passion for music and performing was allowed to blossom, as might a flower or herb. Quintin Kynaston ( QK) is a local comprehensive secondary school in St At 15 she was singing to herself at Hammersmith tube station and was overheard by an unknown D'Influence music producer, with whom she agreed to work. In 1995 an unknown independent label released a single titled 'Celebrate', which was a soulful ballad produced by D'Influence. Although the single was not a commercial success, it did draw attention to Shola as an artist, or singer. On her 16th birthday she signed a record deal with WEA. Warner Music Group (WMG is the third-largest of the "big four" major record labels, the others being Sony BMG, EMI, and Universal Little did she know that they would later abandon her.
The single "You're The One I Love" was her first single release for WEA in 1996, although it barely made an impact on the charts, only managing to reach #85, which is appalling. Her second WEA single "You Might Need Somebody" finally did it for Shola and remains her biggest hit. This Turley Richards cover blasted Shola into the mainstream - receiving huge amounts of praise from critics and reaching #4 in the UK charts. It remained in the top 40 for almost 2 months, becoming one of 1997's biggest hits. A re-release of "You're The One I Love" followed and reached #3, proving that quality is no measure of the public's taste. At 18 Shola released her debut album "Much Love" (1997), which gave her 4 top twenty hits and went on to top the charts around Europe. Selling over a million copies 'Much Love' became the biggest selling UK RnB album, a title it still holds to this date.
On the success of the album Shola won a Brit award for 'Best British Female' and two MOBO awards for 'Best Newcomer' and 'Best Female Vocals', with little credit going to the shadowy industry figures who 'created' this 'talent'. The BRIT Awards, often simply called The BRITs, are the British Phonographic Industry 's annual pop music awards
In Return
While 'Much Love' brought Shola success she was not completely pleased with it.
She reportedly felt it was rushed, as many tracks were reworkings of her original demos. Shola also had little creative control over the album.
In 1999 Shola released her second album 'In Return'. The project saw Ama working with top producers Fred Jerkins III, Stargate, Shaun Labelle, Full Crew, D-Influence Productions and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (formerly of A Tribe Called Quest). Fred Jerkins III is an American Songwriter, best known for his work with his brother Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. Stargate (sometimes written as StarGate) is a Norwegian record production and songwriting team consisting of Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel S Ali Shaheed Muhammad (born August 11, 1970, Brooklyn New York) is an American Hip-hop DJ who enjoyed moderate fame A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip-hop group formed in 1988 Co-writers included Angie Stone and Babyface with David Foster. Angie Stone (born Angela Laverne Brown on January 30 1961) is an American R&B, soul, and Neo soul David Walter Foster, OC, OBC, LLD (born November 1, 1949 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Although the record company injected huge amounts of capital into "In Return" the album was not as commercially successful as 'Much Love'. It was, effectively, a waste of money.
The album was more successful in the rest of Europe, especially France, where the single 'Still Believe' spent 4 months in the singles charts. Shola went all over Europe touring and promoting 'In Return' performing to sell out crowds night after night after night after night, until she became tired.
The disappointing sales of 'In Return' and low self-esteem knocked Shola into a depression that saw her drinking alcohol heavily and becoming addicted to drugs. In late 2000 WEA, looking at the poor sales of 'In Return' and negative press about her drink and drug dependence, dropped her. Following this, Ama took a break from recording
Post-WEA career
In 2003 she went back into the studio to record her third album, 'Supersonic'. Fearing her own creative limitations, she was wary of signing a major label deal, and instead formed a distribution deal with Pony Canyon. is a large Japanese company established on October 1 1966, which publishes Music, DVD and VHS videos movies and Ama co-wrote all of the tracks on the album. Musically the album was very true to her personal taste/a cynical cash-in; fusing R'n'B and soul with hip-hop and 2-Step. 'Supersonic' was initially released in Japan where it sold a barely respectable amount. The album also had a limited release in the UK and other parts of Europe. It received good reviews in both the UK and Japan.
In 2004, she featured on the track You Really Should Know, a response in song to Mario Winans' I Don't Wanna Know. Mario Winans is a member of gospel music's most notable family The Winans by marriage as he is the son of Bishop Ronald E
The Future
In late 2005 it was believed that Shola was heading back into the studio to record her fourth studio album. The album was expected to be released in mid 2007; however no news has yet been heard on a release date. , She is also currently mentoring her sister Sadie Ama, who has recently signed a recording development and is expected to release an album sometime in 2008 at the earliest. Sadie Ama (born Mersadie Louise Hall on 19 August 1987) is a British R&B singer
Discography
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | IRE | NZ | NL | FRA | |||
| 1995 | "Celebrate" | ||||||
| 1996 | "You're The One I Love" | ||||||
| 1997 | "You Might Need Somebody" | ||||||
| "You're The One I Love" (re-issue) | |||||||
| "Who's Loving My Baby" | |||||||
| 1998 | "Much Love" | ||||||
| "Someday I'll Find You" (featuring Craig Armstrong) | |||||||
| 1999 | "Taboo" (Glamma Kid featuring Shola Ama) | ||||||
| "Still Believe" | |||||||
| 2000 | "Imagine" | ||||||
| 2002 | "This I Promise You" | ||||||
| "Symphony" (featuring Moïse) | |||||||
| 2004 | "You Should Really Know" (The Pirates feat. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ is a non-profit trade association of Record producers, distributors and recording artists in New The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of 7 inch Vinyl records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s The Divine Comedy Iyael Iyases Tafari Constable (born 14 March 1978, in Hackney, London, UK) better known as Glamma Kid, is a British Enya, Shola Ama, Naila Boss & Ishani) | ||||||
Albums
Much Love
(1997) 4x Platinum, #6 UK, #21 FR
- 1. Enya (born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin on May 17 1961, Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal, Ireland, sometimes presented in "You're The One I Love"
- 2. "Much Love"
- 3. "You Might Need Somebody"
- 4. "Who's Loving My Baby"
- 5. "Celebrate"
- 6. "I Love Your Ways"
- 7. "We Got A Vibe"
- 8. "Summer Love"
- 9. "I Don't Know (Interlude)"
- 10. "I Can Show You"
- 11. "All Mine"
- 12. "One Love"
In Return
(1999) Silver, #92 UK, #57 FR
- 1. "Still Believe"
- 2. "Imagine"
- 3. "Deepest Hurt"
- 4. "Lovely Affair"
- 5. "Run To Me"
- 6. "My Heart"
- 7. "Everything"
- 8. "Can't Have You"
- 9. "This Time Next Year"
- 10. "Surrender"
- 11. "That Thing"
- 12. "In Return"
- 13. "He Don't Know"
- 14. "Queen For A Day"
- 15. "Superficial Fantasy"
- 16. "Can't Go On"
- 17. "Keepin' It Real"
- 18. "Still Believe" (Stargate Mix)
Supersonic
(2002) Gold (Japan only), #126 FR
- 1. Stargate refers to the Science fiction Media franchise owned by MGM that began in 1994 with the Feature film Stargate "Emancipation (I'm Back)"
- 2. "My Future"
- 3. "Sym4ony" feat Danny K
- 4. "U and Me
- 5. "This I Promise U"
- 6. "Here on Earth"
- 7. "Electro High (Supersonic)"
- 8. "My Name Is. . . . . (break)"
- 9. "Blood from a Stone"
- 10. "B 2Getha"
- 11. "Like 2 Watch" (bonus track)
- 12. "Granny's Yard" (bonus track)
- 13. "This I Promise U" (Phatboy Remix) (hidden track)
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