Teena Marie - Black Rain (2002)

In 1976 singer Tina Marie (born Mary Christine Brockert) gained an introduction to Motown Records staff producer Hal Davis, which led to an audition for a film about orphans that was being developed by Motown, and although the project was shelved, label boss Berry Gordy was impressed enough by her singing to sign her as a solo act. She recorded unreleased material with a number of different producers over the next few years, before being spotted by label-mate Rick James, who was immediately impressed with her sound, and worked with her on her debut album 'Wild And Peaceful', which was issued under her new name of Teena Marie in 1979. Her second album followed in 1980, and 'Lady T' was produced by Richard Rudolph (the widower of R&B singer Minnie Riperton), as she'd asked Berry Gordy to contact Rudolph as Rick James was unavailable. She released her third album the same year, and 'Irons In The Fire' was written and produced mostly by Teena Marie herself, an achievement considered rare at the time for a female artist. She continued her success with Motown in 1981, with the release of 'It Must Be Magic', but in 1982 she got into a heated legal battle with Motown Records over her contract, and there were disagreements about releasing her new material. The lawsuit resulted in "The Brockert Initiative", which made it illegal for a record company to keep an artist under contract without releasing new material for that artist. In such instances, artists are able to sign and release their music with another label instead of being held back by an un-supportive one. She subsequently signed a worldwide deal with Epic Records, releasing the concept album 'Robbery', followed in 1984 by her biggest-selling album 'Starchild', and more albums were issued over the next few years. 

During the 1990's, her classic R&B, soul, and funk records were either sampled by hip-hop artists or covered by R&B divas, and Teena Marie became regarded as something of a pioneer in helping to bring hip-hop to the mainstream by becoming one of the first artists of her time to rap on her single 'Square Biz'. In late 1994 she released the 'Passion Play' album on her independent label Sarai Records, after which she took a break from the music business to raise her daughter Alia Rose. During the late 1990's, she began working on a new album, to be called 'Black Rain', but she was unable to secure a major label deal for it, and she didn't want to put it out on her own Sarai label in light of the modest sales of 'Passion Play'. A number of songs were pretty much completed and put onto a promo CD, but this was soon bootlegged by fans, and so tracks such as 'The Mackin' Game', 'I'll Take The Pressure', 'Butterflies", and 'Blackberry Playa' were able to be heard by fans while she sought out a label to release it. Eventually she put the record on the back burner, and then, after a 10-year hiatus from the music industry, she resumed her musical career by signing with the Classics sub-label of the successful hip-hop label Cash Money Records, and releasing her eleventh album 'La Doña' in 2004. 'La Doña' used a number of songs that were originally recorded for 'Black Rain', with 'My Body's Hungry', 'Baby I'm Your Friend', 'The Mackin' Game', and 'Black Rain' itself appearing in re-recorded versions, and 'Ecstasy' was included on the follow-up album 'Sapphire' in 2006, but the other nine songs have remained officially unreleased, so you can now hear them here, including the lovely duet with Pretty Terry of the Polyester Players on 'Butterflies'. I think the cover is a particularly unflattering picture of the singer, but as I believe that it was intended to be the actual sleeve of the record I've used it for this post.  

Track listing

01 Intro - The Mackin' Game
02 I'll Take The Pressure
03 Baby I'm Your Friend
04 My Body's Hungry
05 Ecstasy
06 Fire
07 1999
08 Black Rain
09 Whatchu Got 4 Me
10 Butterflies
11 Spanish Harlem
12 Blackberry Playa
13 The Perfect Feeling
14 Rainbow