not every girl needed the security of a band in the 90s. these are some brave souls who stepped out on their own talent.
chantay savage – betcha’ll never find
best known for her 1996 remake of gloria gaynor’s ‘i will survive’, but she actually released her debut album, including this uptempo track, three years earlier. was said to be recording a new album in 2005, but no sign yet.
diane marsh – private party
well connected uk singer if you believe her myspace. no idea how old she is now but she had a great voice and should make a comeback with a network like that…phew!
elisha la verne – i may be single
elisha did well in japan, mysteriously. well you know what i mean…i know they go for the whole blonde thing but when certain artists blow up over there and leave their home country cold i always think its odd. is it just good PR? content? style?
gina thompson – the things you do
bad boy affiliate whose debut single provided a platform for soon-to-be superstar missy elliott, but failed to ignite her own career.
jamecia – keep it real
mystery artist from 1995.
laurnea – infatuation
still doing it. this is from her first album in 1997, which she worked on with joss stone’s alleged sugar daddy, raphael saadiq. i’m still not sure i believe that rumour…
maxeen – searching
annoyingly, maxeen is now the name of some dreary post-indie, post-punk, post-quality, post-anything-remotely-interesting band. which makes it difficult to google the original.
mona lisa – just wanna please you
mona had a successful album at the age of 16 and is back with new material, most of which sounds pretty good, at the ripe old age of 27.
monifah – i miss you
lauded as the vocalist to beat all other 90s r&b vocalists at the time she minorly blew up after contributing this song to the new york undercover soundtrack. managed to put out three albums.
taral hicks – distant lover
minorly successful with her one and only album, she is now part of the soul kittens cabaret along with nicci gilbert of brownstone, monifah and several other people i haven’t heard of.
yvette michele – i’m not feeling you
yvette sang the hook on ‘loud hangover’ and a potential star was born. liked to sing about how crazy she was about DJs, a common 90s affliction.
zakiya – love like mine
her second album was shelved and she seemingly gave up on her career…shame as this track was bouncy in a groove theory ‘tell me’ kind of way. never a bad thing.
