Jamelia | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Starting only at 18 years of age, pop-R&B; singer Jamelia swept U.K. R&B; fans off their feet, and following her second album, Thank You, she made herself a star, winning over many more fans, as well as some critics, across the rest of the European continent. The numerous chart-topping singles and musical nominations and awards rivaled the stardom and exposure of her American contemporaries, allowing many to dub her Britains own Beyoncé. Perhaps other than her close friends and family, not many would have guessed that a young teen who liked to make a fool of herself singing karaoke could become a popular recording artist. Jamelia, born Jamelia Naila Davis on January 11, 1981, in Birmingham, England, obtained her first karaoke machine at 12. A few years later, Jamelias cousin sent in one of those recordings to representatives of Parlophone Records, and after the A&Rs; heard her sing a cappella, they signed her at 15 years of age. Parlophone (a subsidiary for EMI) patiently prepared her until she was 18 to release her first single, "So High." Although the song fell on deaf ears, it did set the stage for her next four hit singles from her debut album, Drama, in 2000. Each of them fell somewhere on the charts with "Money," featuring reggae artist Beenie Man, placing in the UKs Top Five. Earning five MOBO nominations (and winning one for Best Video), it was clear that Jamelia had the potential to develop into an R&B; star. Nevertheless, Jamelia had to withdraw from the spotlight for two years on account of her pregnancy and tending to her baby daughter. In 2003, the single "Bout," featuring U.S. rapper Rah Digga, barely signaled the return of a five-time, MOBO-nominated artist, entering at the bottom of UKs Top 40, but the next single, "Superstar," turned into an international smash hit. It reached number three on the U.K. pop charts, was number one in Australia and New Zealand, and gave the singer more legions of fans across Europe. With the arrival of her platinum-selling second album, Thank You, a few weeks later that September, Jamelias success was just getting started. Spilling into 2004, the albums title track, an autobiographical song about domestic abuse, debuted at two on the U.K. pop charts and won a MOBO award for Best Single. In March 2004, due to the widespread popularity of Thank Yous singles, Parlophone reissued an altered version of the album where some tracks were rearranged and new songs added, including the Top Five single "See It in a Boys Eyes," which was co-written by labelmate and Coldplay leader Chris Martin. In tandem with the reissue and Chris Martin single, she embarked on her first tour as the headliner that summer in the U.K., cementing her stellar run in 2004. The new found fame propelled her increasingly into the British public eye. She involved herself in charities, obtained promotional endorsements, and was invited by British model Naomi Campbell to become a client of her modeling agency. Thus, when she had her second child the following year, there was not the same respite from the spotlight leading up to her third album, Walk with Me, which came out in September 2006. Using samples from rock groups like the Stranglers and Depeche Mode, her music drifted away from her R&B; fan base and turned more toward pop/rock. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 8 Title: Drama Released: 2000-06-26 Tracks: 13 Duration: 1:00:33 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 One (03:53) 2 Money (06:19) 3 Call Me (04:20) 4 Not With You (03:48) 5 Boy Next Door (03:39) 6 One Day (05:28) 7 Ghetto (04:42) 8 Thinking Bout You (04:54) 9 I Do (05:29) 10 Room 101 (04:20) 11 Guilty (04:06) 12 I Cant Be (04:22) 13 This Time (05:09) |
 | Album: 2 of 8 Title: Call Me Released: 2003-03-01 Tracks: 4 Duration: 19:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Call Me (radio edit) (03:32) 2 Call Me (Jonuz Deep Cover mix) (04:08) 3 Call Me (Capitol T Feelgood Mix) (05:26) 4 Call Me (Messy Boys Vocal) (06:47) |
 | Album: 3 of 8 Title: Bout Released: 2003-06-09 Tracks: 3 Duration: 12:15 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Bout (Single Edit) (04:01) 2 Bout (Delinquent Vocal Mix) (04:31) 3 Bout (Sticky Remix) (03:43) |
 | Album: 4 of 8 Title: Thank You Released: 2003-09-29 Tracks: 14 Duration: 54:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Superstar (03:34) 2 Thank You (03:13) 3 DJ (03:45) 4 See It in a Boys Eyes (03:41) 5 Taxi (03:26) 6 Dirty Dirty (04:22) 7 Club Hoppin’ (03:40) 8 Cutie (03:51) 9 Bounce (04:15) 10 Bout (04:26) 11 Off da Endz (03:21) 12 B.I.T.C.H. (04:07) 13 Life (04:45) 14 Antidote (03:32) |
| Thank You : Allmusic album Review : The music industry isnt exactly known for its patience. A flop single, an underperforming album, or a lackluster comeback is sometimes all it takes for an artist to be dropped and never heard from again. Birmingham-born Jamelia has had all three during her short four-year career (three of her seven singles have failed to reach the U.K. Top 30 and debut album Drama sank without a trace), and yet somehow shes still here. The faith invested in her by her record company is admirable in this fickle day and age, but with her second album, Thank You, its been totally justified. Taking two years off to raise her daughter, the MOBO Award winner has obviously used the time well, raising her game to produce a record bursting with potential singles. While partly influenced by the U.S. production sound of the moment, Thank You, unlike countless other U.K. R&B; albums, never forgets its roots, either. So the Neptunes-alike production of the title track, a female empowerment anthem about domestic violence, sits comfortably alongside "Off da Endz," a frenetic grime duet with So Solid Crews Asher D, as does "Cutie," featuring a Kanye West-style helium-voiced chorus, next to the grinding dirty basslines of "Taxi," written by Alishas Attics Karen Poole. Indeed, the best track here is quintessentially British and a masterstroke in fusing R&B; with the modern rock establishment. "See It in a Boys Eyes," written by Coldplays Chris Martin, is a beautiful, slinky piano-driven ode to understanding the opposite sex. Its one of the best things Martin has done, but its also the most blatant indication of how Jamelia has matured as an artist. Shes just as at ease when she moves outside her comfort zone. "Superstar," the single that rescued her career, was originally a hit for Denmarks Christine Milton, but Jamelia makes it her own to produce a simple but effective pop classic, while final track "Antidote," a haunting, quirky ballad smothered in a glossy electronica production, promises a bolder, different direction for the future. Overall, Thank You is a confident, imaginative record that oozes with personality and should be a lesson to record companies everywhere that patience can sometimes reap the biggest rewards. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 8 Title: Walk With Me Released: 2006-09-25 Tracks: 12 Duration: 41:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Something About You (03:22) 2 Do Me Right (03:37) 3 Window Shopping (03:38) 4 Know My Name (03:28) 5 No More (02:53) 6 Aint a Love (03:46) 7 La La Love (03:36) 8 Go (03:26) 9 Get Up, Get Out (03:18) 10 Beware of the Dog (03:11) 11 Got It So Good (03:36) 12 Hustle (03:32) |
| Walk With Me : Allmusic album Review : Hopes were high for Jamelias third album, Walk with Me, released in September 2006 almost three years after her previous album, Thank You, but the expected sales didnt really materialize, Walk with Me peaking at number 20 and spending just five weeks on the chart. Thank You had needed two bites of the cherry, appearing to fail miserably upon release, spending just two weeks in the chart and peaking at number 65 but enjoying a new lease on life throughout 2004 thanks to four Top Ten singles "Superstar," "Thank You," "See It in a Boys Eyes," and "DJ." Walk with Me also included two further Top Ten hits, the opening track, "Something About You" and "Beware of the Dog," which sampled Depeche Modes "Personal Jesus," turning the track into more of a rock song than an R&B; one, which didnt really suit Jamelias voice. The next single, "No More," did more than sample the Stranglers "Golden Brown" and played it as was on the original all the way through the song: it was a strange choice of sample, as it was so dominant that one found oneself listening to the background rather than the song and singing along to "Golden Brown." "Do Me Right" was a collaboration with Afrika Bambaataa but one would think it was influenced by Talvin Singh rather than a hip-hop pioneer as it sounded very eastern. "Window Shopping" also featured a sample but that was a particularly silly one of Molly Sugden as Mrs. Slocombe from the TV sitcom Are You Being Served, injecting the catch-phrase "Are you free." The album lost its way a little in the middle as "La La Love," "Go," and "Get Up, Get Out" are rather insipid, chugging mid-tempo ballads, and then its back to R&B-soul; on "Got It so Good." The album closed with "Hustle," a Latin-grooved dance track that did exactly what you would expect, and a good way to end an album, leaving the audience wanting more. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 8 Title: Superstar - The Hits Released: 2007-10-26 Tracks: 11 Duration: 38:45 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Superstar (03:34) 2 Thank You (03:13) 3 See It in a Boys Eyes (03:53) 4 Stop (03:38) 5 Money (03:59) 6 Beware of the Dog (03:11) 7 DJ (03:27) 8 Something About You (03:22) 9 Call Me (album mix) (03:34) 10 Bout (04:00) 11 No More (02:53) |
| Superstar - The Hits : Allmusic album Review : Sometimes a greatest-hits collection can signal the end of an artists career, summing up what has come before, and sometimes it can even revive a flagging artists career whose previous albums might not have met expectations. And sometimes it can just come too early in a career to have any determining features. Jamelia had been around for seven years at the time of the release of Superstar: The Hits, so it could not be argued that it was too soon for a hits collection. Unfortunately, with just 11 tracks total -- two from her first album Drama, five from her breakthrough success Thank You, her four Top Ten singles, some of the most commercial pop hits from the mid-2000s in "Superstar," "Thank You," and "See It in a Boys Eyes," and three singles from her previous album, Walk with Me, including her sampled songs "Beware of the Dog" and "No More," both dominated by their background samples ("Personal Jesus" and "Golden Brown," respectively) -- it doesnt even cover her entire output of singles, mysteriously omitting her first hit, "I Do," and another of her early singles, "Boy Next Door," As Jamelia had only had 12 hits at this point of her career, one of them being the double A-side (if they were actually still referred to as that in 2004) "DJ" with "Stop," the latter her version of the Sam Brown hit which hadnt previously been on an album, and with less than 40 minutes of music on the CD, there was plenty of room for either a little experimentation with some new tracks, or a little more adventure than simply compiling all the singles onto one album, the best of which had been on a big seller (Thank You) not long before. There wasnt even any new artwork or photos of the singer, but soon after the release of Superstar: The Hits, Jamelia was released from her contract at Parlophone and the reason for the release became obvious. This compilation became her weakest seller yet, even worse than her debut album when she was almost unknown, and spent just one week in the chart at number 55. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 8 Title: Something About You (Mixes) Released: 2007-11-11 Tracks: 5 Duration: 18:29 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Something About You (03:22) 2 Something About You (Mr Oizo mix) (03:56) 3 Something About You (Linus Loves Remix Radio Edit) (03:28) 4 Something About You (Instrumental) (03:22) 5 Something About You (H-Money Refix) (04:21) |
 | Album: 8 of 8 Title: Jamelia: The Collection Released: 2009-07-27 Tracks: 13 Duration: 51:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Superstar (03:34) 2 Thank You (single edit) (03:15) 3 Stop (03:38) 4 Ghetto (04:42) 5 Life (04:45) 6 Call Me (album mix) (03:34) 7 I Do (05:29) 8 No More (02:53) 9 Know My Name (03:28) 10 Same-Ish (03:14) 11 Money (Emmanuel remix) (04:29) 12 Boy Next Door (Stush mix) (03:53) 13 Call Me (Jonuz Deep Cover mix) (04:08) |