Adina Marie Howard-Walker was born on 14 November 1973 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and raised by her mother, with the family later moving to Phoenix, Arizona. In the mid-1990's she gained the attention of manager-producer Livio Harris, who helped her record some demos and later land a deal with Max Gousse through Mecca Don/EastWest Records. Her debut album 'Do You Wanna Ride?' was released in 1995, and included the Platinum-certified hit single, 'Freak Like Me', alongside her follow-up singles 'My Up And Down' and 'It's All About You'. She spent 1996 recording a number of songs which appeared on film soundtracks, including 'What's Love Got To Do With It' from 'Police Story 3: Super Cop', 'Damned If I Do' from 'A Thin Line Between Love And Hate', and 'For The Funk' from 'Sunset Park'. In 1997 she recorded her second album 'Welcome To Fantasy Island' (originally titled 'Portrait Of A Lady'), and advance copies garnered rave reviews and a moderate hit with the lead single '(Freak) And U Know It', but Elektra Records were not convinced and cancelled its release. The album was leaked to the internet a few years later, with promotional copies selling for hundreds of dollars, and one of the unreleased tracks, 'T-Shirt & Panties' (a collaboration with Jamie Foxx) ended up on a film soundtrack the following year, with it originally being slated for the soundtrack to the film 'Booty Call', but eventually ending up on the soundtrack to the 1998 comedy 'Woo'. Another soundtrack appearance occurred the same year, with a collaboration with Cydal on a 'Chocolate (Cuties & Condoms)' being released as a single for the 'Bulletproof' soundtrack. In 2004 Howard released her official second album 'The Second Coming' on Rufftown Records, but it sold poorly due to lack of promotion and only 40,000 copies made it to store shelves, and she was later sued by the label.
A second single '(Outside) The Club' was slated to be released, along with a remix album 'The Second Coming: Remixed & UnCut', but they suffered the same fate as 'Welcome To Fantasy Island', with both releases being cancelled following her departure from the label. Her third album 'Private Show' fared no better, being delayed many times by Arsenal Records, almost to the point of it being shelved, but it was eventually released in June 2007, along with a promotional single 'Picture This'. The album only sold 4,000+ copies though, and a third single, following a remixes EP for 'My Hips', was to have been 'Tease', but Howard parted ways with the label shortly after the album's release, and the single was cancelled. Howard's career has been bedevilled by a lack of support from her record companies, and she had more potential releases cancelled than any other artist that I know of. To date, Howard remains proud of the album and its cover, and in June 2018 a promo single surfaced for 'Crank Me Up', which was revealed to have been in consideration as a single by Elektra Records. In 2013 it received an unofficial release (excluding 'T-Shirt & Panties' and 'Crank Me Up', which were included on her 'The Second Coming' release) through the mixtape site DatPiff.com, and in 2021 it was announced that Rhino Records had acquired the rights to the album, with it finally being released onto digital audio platforms on 19 February 2021, although physical formats remain unavailable. Although the record is now out there, it took 24 years to finally appear, and as you can't buy a vinyl or CD copy of it I'm posting it anyway, as an album that we'd wished existed for nearly a quarter of a century.
Track listing
01 Welcome To My Queendom (Intro)
02 (Freak) And U Know It
03 Personal Freak
04 All About U
05 Crank Me Up
06 Sexual Needs
07 Could've Got Away
08 Another Level (Interlude)
09 T-Shirt & Panties
10 I'll Be Damn If I Apologize
11 Don't Come Too Fast
12 Take Me Home
13 Lay Him Down
14 Ain't No Need
15 Satisfied (Outro)
