Joi - Amoeba Cleansing Syndrome (1997)

Joi Elaine Gilliam was born on 25 January 1971, and is better known mononymously as Joi. She released her debut album, 'The Pendulum Vibe', in 1994 on EMI, with Dallas Austin as the executive producer, and while the lead single 'Sunshine & The Rain' received heavy airplay on video outlets such as VH1 and MTV, the single failed to become a hit, and album sales were disappointing. Despite the low sales, critical praise from the media was positive, with some calling her 'the new Madonna'. In fact, Madonna herself was so impressed with 'The Pendulum Vibe' that she changed the direction of her 1994 album 'Bedtime Stories', incorporating Joi's signature style of "neo soul". The track 'Freedom' from 'The Pendulum Vibe' was later re-recorded featuring Aaliyah, Mary J. Blige, En Vogue, Me'shell Ndegeocello, TLC, Queen Latifah, Vanessa Williams, SWV, Brownstone and many more, for use in the 1995 Mario Van Peebles film 'Panther'. In 1997, Joi prepared for the release of her second album, 'Amoeba Cleansing Syndrome', on Limp/EMI Records, adding funk-rock band Fishbone as her backing group, and including a nod to her renegade female funk predecessor Betty Davis with a cover of her 'If I’m In Luck (I Might Get Picked Up)'. 'I Believe' was picked to be the first single, and a video, which featured a then pregnant Joi, was shot, but weeks before its release EMI announced that they wanted more "radio friendly" tracks for the album, so the video's release was cancelled, and the album was put on hold. 

Before returning to the studio, Joi gave birth to a baby girl, named Keypsiia "Blue-Daydreamer" Gipp, and she decided to take a short hiatus. Around a year later she returned with a new single 'Ghetto Superstar', which featured her then husband rapper Big Gipp, and a video was shot with Big Gipp and their 1-year-old daughter Keypsiia. However, when her label Rowdy/EMI folded, that was the end for the album, which was then cancelled completely. Even though the record never saw the light of day commercially, bootleg copies began circulating on the internet, and some media outlets even posted reviews of it, calling it "ahead of its time", and to me there's more than a hint of trip-hop amongst the excellent R'n'B on show. In spite of the positive feedback received for the project, Joi was disappointed about its cancellation and decided to take a break to take care of her family. Dallas's company FreeWorld Records acquired the rights to release the album, but instead they released two different promotional EPs for radio, with a selection of songs from the album, and then FreeWorld Records went out of business before 'Amoeba Cleansing Syndrome' could be released. This was yet another example of a perfectly decent album being lost due to the fragile nature of the music business, and as it deserves to be given a hearing then here it is so that we can do just that. 

Track listing

01 Welcome Amoeba Spirit 
02 Move On 
03 Answering Machine (interlude)
04 If I'm In Luck (I Might Just Get Picked Up) 
05 Ghetto Superstar

06 After Show (interlude)
07 Time To Smile

08 My Brother's Letter

09 You Turn Me On (feat. Peach Of Whild Peach)

10 Hurts Sometimes 
11 E'En So Lord Jesus, Quickly Come
12 Soul

13 It's Over

14 I Believe

15 Dirty Mind 

16 Dandelion Dust

17 If I Could Fly 
18 Copy Cat (Outro)