." 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;.