."
Fresh, vibrant, hip and soulful,
Shanice Wilson truly shines on
Inner Child, her sparkling and ex
pressive debut album for Motown
Records. "The music on this
album IS univers "says Shanice.
"We tried to cov verything from
pop to r&b to dance and hip-hop."
From the beautiful opening in
terlude, '�Keep 'Your Inner Child
Alive" to the upbeat first single, "I
Love Your Smile" and on to the
tender "Silent Prayer" (which fea ..
tures labelmate Johnny Gill),
Shanice demonstrates the creative
growth she's undergone since her
first album. "Working in the
studio with Narada Michael Wal
den, I've really grown. He let me
be myself vocally and we had a lot
of fun writing together."
The maturity evident on
Shanice's debut com�after a .....
career that began whe the Pit-
tsburgh-born, Los Ange s-bred
native was still a toddler,"I tarted
singing melodies at seven months
old," laughs Shanice, "and Mom
has it all on tape." Shanice started
out singing on stage with her
mother and aunt (background and
session singers who are currently
_ working nn their o.wn debut
- Motown LP) who had pent time
COIChlng Jrer ocalty.
She performed in local m ice
and modeled, as well as appearing
on television commercials includ
inga Kentucky ied Chicken spot
with the legendary Ella Fitzgerald,
in which an 8-year old Shanice
almost stole the show.
A�RFO CEatalocal
L.A theater In the musical "Get
Happy" led to Shanicc 's first
'recording co tract with A&M
Records whe she was a mere 11-
years lei, Shanice recalls that "it
was hard to find songs for an 11-
year old because most songs for
someone with my voice were too
mature."
Shelving a lot of this early
material, Shanice began recording
,.
again with ucer Bryan Loren.
Her first album, Discov ry, won a
good deal of critical acclaim and
Shanice enjoyed success with two
top 10r&b hits, "Can You Dance ?"
and "No 112 Steppin'." A seri of
selected appearances c nfirmed
Shanice' talent as a powerhouse
young vocalist and she hit the
charts in 1989 with "This Time", a
duet with the Detroit group Kiara.
, In 1990, Shan ice was signed to
Motown Records by Presi
dent/CEO Jheryl Busby, whom
she recalls, actually wanted to ign
me at the same time that A&M wa
first talking to me," and began
Cryin'" which is on f my
favorit . Then "Lovin' You" was
a ong I'v lways loved by Min
ni Ripperton. Shanic mentions
on other song that he co-wrote
for tli album: "My best fri nd
M okie and I were sitting roun
talking about how one of her ex
boyfri nds had dogged her out and
we came up with the lyrics for ''You
Were The One" in about fift n
minut s. My mom came in, add d
the bridge and th song wa com
pleted. II
WH � .R i' we .
a tender plea f hope for a I er s
safe return as on "Silent Prayer'us;
ong originally conceived for th!
U.S. troops during Operation
De ert Storm in The Persian Gulf),
expressing her desire for "Peace In
The World," an upbeat anthem for
global harmony or kicking some
seriou grooves on ''You Ain't All
That" and the streetwise ''You
Didn't Think I'd Come Back This
Hard", Shanice is covering all
musical bases.
"I m excited because I really got
to do it all on this record," enthuses
Shanice, who turned 18 recently.
"I don't think I danced enough on
my last r cord 1 want to et au
there thi time and show
everybody that I can do that too.
Of course, I love to sing ballads'
and we do have some powerful
slow songs on this album.
Doing the interludes was great.
I came up with the idea of doing the
opening interlude from listenfng to
one of my favorite gospel groups,
The Clark Sisters and Narada came
up with the perfect lyric in "Keep
Your Inner Child Alive," "Like I
sa i d, there "s somethi ng for
everyone on this album .. " .
Demonstrating her extraordi
nary vocal talent and her skill as a
songwriter, Shanice Wilson is in
total command on Inner Child, the
first of many exciting Motown al
bums this young lady is destined to
record.
SIuJ ice
demonstrate
her vocal talent
and skills a a
songwriter on
l ner Child:
This is the first .
of many albums.
working with a series of producers.
However, it was her pairing with
producer Walden that provided
just the right chemistry for
Shanice's all important debut for
the "label. Notes Narada (whose
work with Whitney Houston,
Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin
and others has made him one of the
hottest producers in the busin s),
"Shanice is so pretty, s ul and ...
she's going to conquer t world
with her beautiful mile and
tremendous talent. "
Shanice is hard-pressed to
single out any specific cuts on
Inner Child: "I really .lovc every
thing we did. A lot of the songs
Narada and I wrote really hap
pened when we were just m ing
around in the-Mt!dffi. Take "I' m
�
JADE - (I-r): Jql MARSHAL ,01 REED AND TO VA KELL V ..
J •
SHANICE
Like the precious stone they're Tonya, Joi and Di grew up far from
named for, the sultry female trio the bright lights of Hollywood. Di
Jade is cool and earthy. Jade has hails from Houston, while Joi and
already turned heads with their Tonya both come. from Chicago.
recording debut, "I Wanna Love Tonya Kelly 'was the featured
You," asong from the album, CLass vocalist in the acclai ed Morris
Act. Soon, Jade's poi e, b auty ElllsOrchestra, a -piece 'big
and talent will make an even" band known t out the Mid-
greater impact with the release f west.
their' debut album later this fall.
Consisting of Tonya Kelly, Joi
Marshall and Di Reed Jade blends
. various musical influences int a
uniquely polished tyle. Say
Tonya, "We all came from a
. similar R&B, jazz and Gospel,
background. We're all from the
same place I;.<musi.cally and emo
tionally." Add Joi, "The overall
smoothness of ur singing i what
will do it for us." ,
She', right on the mark. That
distinctive v 1 blend is Jade's
hallmark. While each could ea ily
have pursued a ucce ful 010 "We did everythi g from jazz
career, Tonya, Di and Joi all � und standards to Top 40. I got. true
greater. musical fulfillment by . hands-on training with them," she
ba . t gether. "When I hard recalls. After a few years of local
ow w 11 our voices match d," gigs and session work, she moved
, recalls Di, "that clinched it for me." to 1.0 Angeles iC? pursue �jor
All three take their tum in the t- recording career. She later met
light, each ingin 1 on di fercnt Vassal Benford, who became th
tracks. "We do what's g 0 for the first link in the Jade chain.
song," note' Joi. Joi Marshall also grew up in the
Windy City. 'Her family was al
I LA., ways serious about music, and Joi
" . e're not
into gimmicks;
we're real
people into,'
real music. "
- -Jol
u
B
I .
•
I
...
developed a love of j822 at an early
age. "My sister was my teacher,"
she remembers. Joi sang in school
choirs and worked many local ses
sions before heading west. She,
too, joined forces with Vassal Ben
ford, through whom she met
Tonya, and the second link in the
Jade chain had connected.
Houston-born-and-bred, Di
Reed felt a passion fo usic and, .
at an early age, she be n to sing in .
church, talent shows and an ther
forum she could find. But she soon
realized musical success would
, most likely be found in either New
York or LOs Angeles. "It was a
scary move, but I wanted to sing so
badly I was ready to do anything,
short of selling out my morals." So
she packed up and moved to Los
Angeles. She quickly landed a
spot on the Houseparty 2 movie
score, performin he song "Now
You Want More."
The band will be hard at work
creating their debut album, work
ing with Benford and thers. All
three are confident that their talent
and pure love of singing will get
them through. "We ar spiritual.
people," says Joi, "at one with
God." She pauses to reflect a mo
ment, and adds, "We're not into
gimmicks; we're real people into
real mu ic."
,