Raye - Do It Again (2018)

2018 was a very productive year for Raye, and as well as the two proposed albums that she wanted to release, in 'Dark Dance Songs' and 'Scorpio', she recorded many more songs just to get them down on tape, with no real plan of what to do with them. I've therefore taken a further sixteen of these recordings and compiled yet another album that she could have released in 2018, had her record company not been so stubborn in refusing to let her have a long-player under her own name. 

Track listing

01 Boom Boom
02 Forgive You
03 My Oh My
04 Kiss Me If U Can
05 Spoke To Keisha
06 Never Go Back
07 Just @ Me
08 Cared For Ya
09 Do It Again
10 Mister Mister
11 Talking
12 Meet My Mama
13 I Wish
14 Caramel Classic
15 Perform
16 Turn Off Your Phone

Dyme - Diamonds In The Ruff (2000)

Twin sisters Idrissa & Aisha Hassan formed Dyme in Mount Vernon, New York, and their hardcore street style soon caught the attention of rapper DMX, who immediately signed them to his Bloodline Records via Arista Records, and added them to the line up on the Ruff Ryders/Hot Boyz tour back in 1999/2000. While signed to Bloodline Records, they recorded their debut album entitled 'Diamonds In The Ruff', which was scheduled for release sometime in 2000, and which featured collaborations with Lady Luck, Cuban Link of Terror Squad and DMX. It was led by multiple buzz singles dating back as early as 1999, including 'In The Cut', 'Diamonds In The Ruff', 'Spanish Fly', and 'Is It A Crime?', and a motion picture aptly titled 'Double Crossed' (named after one of the tracks off their shelved album), starring the twins themselves, was scheduled to coincide with the album's release However, this idea was ultimately canned when the album missed its deadline, and as its buzz singles were still failing to impact Billboard charts, both the film and the album were shelved. Following this disappointment, Dyme parted ways with DMX and his Bloodline record label, although before they left the label, they performed on remixes for Deborah Cox & Whitney Houston, and starred in the 1999 flick 'Love Goggles'. DMX obviously saw something in the duo, but the record-buying public did not share his enthusiasm, resulting in yet another perfectly good rap album being undeservedly consigned to the vaults. 

Track listing

01 Phone Talk (Skit #1) 
02 Niggaz Do Real Thangz (feat. Bobby Simmons & Smif-N-Wessun)
03 In The Cut 
04 What'chu Want (feat. Lady Luck) 
05 It Ain't A Game 
06 Phone Talk (Skit #2) 
07 3 Stories (feat. DMX) 
08 Another Story 2 Tell (feat. The Notorious B.I.G., Nas & Trina)
09 Ladies, Are U Wit Me?
10 Thug Glamour
11 Spanish Fly (feat. Cuban Link)
12 Diamonds In The Ruff
13 Is It A Crime?
14 Double Cross 
15 Million Dollar Chicks (Where They At?) 
16 Phone Talk (Skit #3)

Raye - Scorpio (2018)

As mentioned in my previous post from Raye, in 2014 she signed a four-album record deal with Polydor Records, but the label refused to release an album from her during the seven years that she was signed to them. Throughout the contracted years, she dedicated her time to writing and creating demos for other artists, whilst releasing songs under her own name, and she also put together albums that she presented to Polydor, only for them to be rejected time and again by the label. One such album was to be called 'Scorpio', named after her birth sign, but unlike the previously-posted 'Dark Dance Songs', most of the tracks which were due to appear on the record have not surfaced online. Of the fifteen songs which were mooted for inclusion, only 'My Disco', 'Proud', 'Hide & Seek' and 'Undercover' have leaked, so I've added a further 10 songs from the same year to make up my version of the unreleased 'Scorpio' album, which should have appeared in 2018. 

Track listing

01 All I See
02 Proud
03 Sorry Too
04 Undercover
05 I Can't Deal With This
06 Too Nice
07 My Disco
08 Jealous
09 Right Side
10 Hide & Seek
11 Dark Doors
12 All We Ever Do Is Fight
13 Let You Know
14 Way Too Young

Raye - Dark Dance Songs (2021)

Rachel Agatha Keen (professionally known as Raye) was born on 24 October 1997 in Tooting, London, to a Ghanaian-Swiss mother and an English father from Yorkshire. Surrounded by music, Raye first showed interest in becoming a recording artist at the age of eight, and she wrote her first song for a concert in Year 6, performing it at the Southwark Cathedral. At age 14, she was chosen to enter the BRIT School, where she studied for two years before dropping out due to feeling "confined". She spent most of her teenage years learning how to write songs professionally in studio sessions on the weekends. In November 2014, at the age of 17, Raye independently uploaded her debut EP, 'Welcome To The Winter', to SoundCloud, writing, recording, and co-producing the seven tracks. Olly Alexander, the then-lead singer of the UK band Years & Years, discovered her song 'Hotbox' through Hype Machine, and sent it to his record label, resulting in Raye subsequently signing a contract with Polydor Records. In 2015, she released the single 'Alien', featuring Avelino, and covered the Years & Years song 'Shine', later opening for the band's show at Shepherd's Bush Empire. Raye's following EP, 'Second', was released in August 2016 through Polydor, but she struggled to get the label to release an album by her, even though she constantly presented then with completed records throughout the seven years that she was signed to them. 

She kept up her profile by performing concerts, and appearing as a guest on other artist's recordings, such as Charli XCX's 'After The Afterparty', and she appeared on the 'VIP' remix to the song with Rita Ora and the rapper Stefflon Don. She also starred in the music video for the Stormzy song 'Big For Your Boots', and featured on the track 'Dreamer' from Charli XCX's collaborative project 'Number 1 Angel' in 2017. She released her own singles 'The Line' and 'Decline' in 2017, and her third EP 'Side Tape', premiered in 2018, following the release of the single 'Cigarette', in collaboration with the singers Mabel and Don. In June 2021 Raye publicly spoke up on X (formerly Twitter) about unfair treatment from her then-label, Polydor Records, revealing that they had been blocking the release of multiple albums made by her over the course of seven years. It got quite messy in the end, and she hit a breaking point, where she was so angry and frustrated that in protest, on 30 June 2021, she went live on Instagram to share some of the songs the label refused to release, which included 'Fantastic' and the demo for 'The Thrill Is Gone'. 

One of the last records that she presented to Polydor was to be a dance album, where she needed to hand in songs which were 115 BPM or above, and as far as her constraints allowed, she set out to make an album that was going to be called 'Dark Dance Songs'. The closest thing she had as a guide was the song 'Black Mascara', which later appeared on her official debut album. When she finally extricated herself from her Polydor contract she signed to Human Re Sources Records and finally released her debut full length album 'My 21st Century Blues', which was met with instant acclaim, and was nominated for the 2023 Mercury Prize. As well as releasing some of her songs on Instagram, 200 of her tracks leaked online, allowing us to hear the contents of the many rejected albums that she'd tried to release through Polydor. In the start of what could be a long-running series, here is the unreleased 'Dark Dance Songs' album from 2021, including the demo version of 'The Thrill Has Gone', which includes a Kylie Minogue sample which had to be removed from the official version which later appeared on 'My 21st Century Blues'.

Track listing

01 Uncomfortable (Intro)
02 Walk Away
03 Dark Nights
04 Down
05 The Thrill Has Gone
06 Young & Naive
07 Black Mascara
08 Your Loss (Silly Man)
09 California Dreamin'
10 When You Say It Like That
11 Many A Man
12 No Man
13 Fantastic

Lyric - Episode (2002)

Lyric was an American R&B girl group, which comprised Brooklyn native, Farrah "Fendi" Fleurimond, Jackie (a.k.a. Baby J) from Los Angeles, and Thema "Tayma Loren" McKinney from Detroit, and they would later be recognized as the first female trio to be signed by Clive Davis to his J Records imprint. They released their first single, 'Young And Sexy', in 2002, which was the lead single from their debut album 'Episode', which was scheduled for a November 2002 release, and this was followed by 'Episode' and then 'Hot & Tipsy' in 2003. The album was to have featured production from Hennessy, Kenny Whitehead, Steve Estiverne, Jack Knight and Thema's brother Carlos "Pryceless" McKinney. However, the album was cancelled and has been locked away in the vaults since 2002, and although the trio attended the Grammy Week Songwriters luncheon with Patti LaBelle in 2003, they disbanded shortly afterwards after leaving J Records. Advance sampler copies were issued to the press before the record was cancelled, and so we are able to hear what the album would have sounded like if the record company had allowed it to be released. 

Track listing

01 Afterparty (Hot 'n' Tipsy Remix)
02 Episode (deat. Shells)
03 Somebody
04 Young & Sexy (feat. Loon)
05 Love 101 (Part 1)
06 Hot 'n' Tipsy
07 Sunny Days
08 I Like
09 Little Did You Know
10 Bananas
11 Love 101 (Part 2)

Melissa Lefton - Melicious (2001)

Melissa Janis Lefton was born on 13 August 1975, and began playing keyboards at the age of 10. After finishing high-school she moved to New York to study communications at New York University, though decided to also focus on a career in music while studying. She joined the punk rock band Product after answering an ad in The Village Voice seeking a "theatrical female frontperson" who "wanted to be a star." Product played at venues including CBGB, and were signed and recorded an album, although its release was cancelled. In 2001 she signed to Jive Records and recorded her debut solo album 'Melicious', which was slated for release on 21 August 2001. 'Melicious' took on topics like pollution, date-rape, occultism and murder, with tongue in cheek, with her once being referred to as the "anti-Britney". It was slated for release in Spring 2002, and a couple of songs from the it were commercially released, with 'I Love Life' appearing on the soundtrack to 'The Princess Diaries', and 'My Hit Song' being featured on the soundtrack to 'On The Line', while her cover of 'He Blinded Me With Science' appeared on the soundtrack to 'Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'. The month before it was due for release, the Seattle Weekly gave a favourable review of the album, as did the Autumn 2001 edition of Elle Girl, but first it was delayed, and then cancelled completely. In an attempt to salvage her career, the label set her up with a manager who sent her to Los Angeles to become an actress, but discouraged with the roles she was offered she returned to New York City, and spent several years working professionally as a commercial jingle writer. By 2006, Lefton was in a sunshine pop band named Hello, who released a self-titled album on the Frisbie Records label. So that 'Melicious' isn't lost forever, here it is for us to enjoy. 

Track listing

01 My Hit Song  
02 ...Now I Got Punk Rock Fever 
03 Radio Rainbow  
04 Ozone  
05 Last Summer  
06 Sugar Daddy  
07 Bionic Man  
08 Sunnyville  
09 I Love Life 
10 Who Shot Jennifer  
11 I Know You Want Me (How Can I Blame You)

Sophia Fresh - Sophia Fresh (2008)

In 2005, singers Chelle, Skye, Cole Rose and Jade Johnson formed the group Gyrlfriend, and signed a major deal with J Records, but before they could record anything the group disbanded, with Skye and Cole Rose joining with Crystal Tamar to form Sophia Fresh. In 2008 the group's manager took them to Atlantic Records and introduced them to singer/producer T-Pain, who signed the trio as one of the first acts to his Atlantic imprint, Nappy Boy Entertainment. They began recording their debut album with T-Pain, and were allowed the creative freedom to record their "very high energy, very edgy and funky" music. T-Pain described Sophia Fresh as "a contemporary TLC", and despite the fact that Nappy Boy Entertainment was a digital label, it was confirmed that there would still be release physical albums. The girls first released song was when 'Lives In Da Club' appeared on the soundtrack to the film 'Step Up 2: The Streets', which was released in 2008. In November 2008, Sophia Fresh released their debut single, 'What It Is', featuring Kanye West, which was highly prasied by singer Rihanna, who said she almost wished the song was hers. In 2010 they appeared in T-Pain's animated TV show 'Freaknik: The Musical', but little was heard of their album, apart from a second single 'Do The Dance' in 2009, and in 2011 the group disbanded without ever getting the chance top release their debut long-player. After the group slpit, former member Crystal Tamar continued her solo career, releasing her debut album in September 2019, but if you want to hear the album recorded by Sophia Fresh then here it is. 

Track listing

01 Do The Dance
02 Loser
03 What It Is
04 Unda Cuva
05 Something
06 Wipe Me Down
07 Drop It
08 Change My Number
09 Just Go
10 Something Ain't Right
11 Incense & Chocolate
12 Shame On Love
13 Stage
14 Woke Up

Jessica Betts - Jessie Pearl (2008)

Jessica Betts was born on 19 July 1982 in Chicago, and grew up hoping to be a professional basketball player. After singing the National Anthem at a high school championship game, she decided to start her singing career, and shortly afterwards she signed to Warren G's G-Funk Music and Restless Records, appearing on such soundtracks as 'Big Momma's House' and 'Simply Irresistible'. She released her first single 'Get Up' in 2000, but the follow-up album, You Can't Resist', released under her first name only, was unsuccessful and she was dropped from the label and went back to the drawing board. She was fortunate enough to become a contestant on Missy Elliott's reality show 'Road To Stardom' in 2005, and eventually ended up winning the competition. Since winning the hearts and admiration of judges such as Teena Marie, Dallas Austin, Madonna & Jermain Dupri, she has grown artistically, teaching herself to play the guitar, and now incorporating her guitar skills to her dynamic image and brand. However, winning 'Road To Stardom' did not lead to the success that she was hoping for, and the 'Jessie Pearl' solo album that she'd recorded in 2008 was released only in Japan. She has been recording independently ever since, releasing her #LLcoolJess mix EP in June 2014, but to hear what she was doing after winning the reality show, here is that rare 2008 album, featuring Missy Elliott on several of the recordings. 

Track listing

01 Dealeo 
02 Jump On It  
03 Block (feat. Missy Elliott)
04 Crush
05 Whisper (feat. Missy Elliott)
06 Superhero
07 What's Your Name  
08 Moon (feat. Missy Elliott) 
09 Don't Make Me Wait 
10 Why Me  
11 I Miss You 
12 Corrupted
13 Smooth 
14 Come To Me  
15 Unique Girl 

T-Boz - Still Cool (2011)

Tionne Tenese Watkins, also known by her stage name T-Boz, was born on 26 April 1970, in Des Moines, Iowa, and as a teen she worked as an apprentice in an Atlanta hair salon, participating in hair shows and competition, and she won her first competition at the age of 14. In 1990 Crystal Jones held auditions for a singing group and chose Watkins, and Lisa Lopes. The group eventually attracted the attention of Perri "Pebbles" Reid and her husband, Antonio "L.A." Reid, head of LaFace Records, and after Jones was replaced with Rozonda Thomas the group were signed to the label as TLC. In order to preserve the TLC name, Watkins is now named "T-Boz", while Lopes became "Left Eye" and Thomas became "Chilli". Having sold over 60 million records worldwide, TLC are one of the five best-selling American girl groups of all time, and Billboard magazine ranked them as one of the greatest musical trios, as well as the seventh-most-successful act of the 1990's. Following the release of their 'Fanmail' album in 1999, they took some time off and pursued personal interests. Lopes was the first to begin recording her solo album, 'Supernova', and Chilli waited until 2006 to begin recording of her shelved album 'Bipolar', while T-Boz had two singles out by 2000, with 'My Getaway' and 'Tight To Def' with Mack 10, who she married later that year. 

She had already released a solo single while still part of TLC, when 'Touch Myself' was included on the soundtrack of the 1996 film 'Fled') and 'My Getaway' was also used for the soundtrack of the 2000 film 'Rugrats in Paris: The Movie', and additionally she was a featured vocalist on songs such as 'Ghetto Love' with Da Brat, 'Changes' with Society of Soul, 'He Say She Say' with Keith Sweat. In 2011 she started work on an album, to be called 'Still Cool', which included some tracks going back as far as 2005, when 'My Heart' was recorded as a warm-up demo, and the material later evolved into more club-themed material. An initial offering, 'Get It, Get It', was leaked to the internet around late 2009, but unfortunately it fell on deaf ears, and so the decision was made to go through a re-recording process to satisfy her creative decisions. By 2013, when the song 'Champion' was released as a single, it was discovered that recording for the album had actually ceased around 2011, and that a completely new album was underway, with a track titled 'Fuck It' to be released as a lead single. Unfortunately, both that album and its single were cancelled as well, but we do have the abandoned 'Still Cool' recordings to hear what T-Boz was up to after she left TLC. 

Track listing

01 Get It, Get It (feat. Too Short & Yung Joc) 
02 U Got Me Open
03 Game Proof (with Chilli of TLC)
04 Champion 
05 Rebel Yell (feat. Lil Wayne)
06 Start Off New
07 Can It Be Love 
08 My Heart
09 Miracles 
10 Someday 

Kelly Clarkson - Wasting Kisses (2011)

After winning American Idol in 2002, Kelly Clarkson released her debut album, 'Thankful' in 2003, which showed strong commercial success and established her as a rising pop vocalist. In 2004 she began shifting toward a more rock-influenced sound while preparing her next album, and 2004's 'Breakaway' became her commercial and critical peak of the decade, winning two Grammy Awards, including Best Pop Vocal Album. In 2007 she released 'My December', which was a darker, more personal rock album, and it was at this time that she famously fought for artistic control, which caused tension with her label. Though less commercially successful than 'Breakaway', 'My December' was praised for its authenticity and songwriting depth. Her fourth album, 'All I Ever Wanted' appeared in 2009, and marked a return to a more mainstream pop-rock sound, and it included the hit 'My Life Would Suck Without You', which broke the record for the biggest jump to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2011 she released 'Mr. Know It All', the lead single from her upcoming album 'Stronger', which signalled a shift toward soulful pop and inspirational themes, and over the course of these five records Clarkson transitioned from reality-show winner to internationally recognized pop-rock star. During the sessions for these albums there were often tracks left over, and so over the years she has built up a vault of unused recordings which have yet to see the light of day, so here is a collection of the best of them from the early years of her career.  

Track listing

01 With A Little Bit Of Luck
02 Close Your Eyes
03 Can We Go Back
04 So Far Apart
05 Empty Handed
06 Don't Ever Give Up On Me
07 Call Me
08 Where Are You Now
09 Wash Rinse Repeat
10 One Day
11 Wasting Kisses
12 I Remember
13 Cleopatra
14 Whoever Did That Wasn't Me
15 After The Love

LovHer - To Know Her Is To LovHer (2002)

LovHer was an American R&B girl group, and was the first female group on the Def Soul label. The group was formed in 1999 by Sisqó, lead singer of R&B group Dru Hill, who wanted to put together a girl group that would present a raw, "street" appeal. Like Dru Hill, LovHer's members are known by hip hop nicknames: Talia "Chinky" Burgess, Marthea "Buttah" Jackson, Samerrah "Serenade" Terrell, and Kienji Hakeem. In 1999, LovHer made their first appearance in Sisqó's 'Got to Get It' music video, and performed vocals on his 1999 album 'Unleash The Dragon', and its follow-up, 2001's 'Return Of Dragon'. In 2002, their song 'How It's Gonna Be' was released as a single from the 2001 'Rush Hour 2' soundtrack, peaking at number 60 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and the group was nominated for the Soul Train Lady of Soul award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist. After a second single, 'Girlfriend', failed to repeat the success of the first one, the group was dropped by Def Soul, and the album that they'd recorded was eventually shelved. In 2007, Kienji left the group, and after a brief attempt at continuing as a trio, the remaining members of the group split up. As so often happened in the late 90's and early 2000's, labels only had an eye on the dollar, and if a group wasn't instantly successful then they were unceremoniously dumped, and fine albums like this one were destined never to be heard...until now.   

Track listing

01 Intro 
02 How It's Gonna Be
03 Your Man 
04 Girls Gonna Do
05 Girlfriend (Interlude) 
06 Girlfriend 
07 Love 
08 Do You Know Me 
09 Don't Leave
10 I Don't Want Your Man 
11 What Could've Been 
12 Commitment
13 Club (Interlude)
14 You Don't Know Me (feat. Sisqo)
15 Happy Days
16 Black Butterfly

Rhona Bennett - Rhona (2001)

Rhona Lynn Bennett-Simon was born on 10 May 1976 in Chicago, and was raised with her elder sister, former Chicago Force right guard Roz Bennett. She began her musical journey as a child, singing in church choirs in her hometown, most notably with the renowned Soul Children, and at the age of 11 she became background singer at the ETA Creative Arts Theater, where she performed her first major part in a stage production of 'A Christmas Carol'. In 1990, Bennett auditioned to became a Mouseketeer on Disney Channel's revival of 'The Mickey Mouse Club', a variety show presented by 19 dancing and singing teenagers, who acted in skits, appeared in videos, and interviewed celebrities. Following a successful casting, she joined the Mouseketeer roster during the show's fourth season in 1991, with the ensemble at the time featuring several emerging talents, including Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez. Encouraged by friends, she decided to try her luck in California as an actress, and was soon appearing in sitcoms such as 'Living Single', 'The Single Guy', and 'Martin'. In late 2000 she signed with Sony Music under producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins' newly founded boutique imprint Darkchild Records, where she was given the title "First Lady Of Darkchild". Jerkins recruited most of his regular collaborators to work alongside Bennett and him on her self-titled debut album, including Robert "Big Bert" Smith, LaShawn Daniels, and his brother Fred Jerkins III. 

The album's first single, 'Satisfied', released in March 2001, became a top five hit on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart the following month, but failed to chart or sell noticeably elsewhere. Following a promotional world trip, further plans to release 'Rhona' were put on hold after a fallout between Sony Music and Darkchild Records, and consequently, the album received a limited Japan-only release, and Bennett was soon dropped from the label. In 2004 she was asked to join R&B girl group En Vogue as a performing member to replace Amanda Cole, after being recommended to the band's mentor Denzel Foster. During her five-year tenure with the band, En Vogue released the album 'Soul Flower' in 2004, and following several years of touring, Bennett left the band amid their 20th Anniversary World Tour in 2008, due to the return of original member Dawn Robinson. Following her departure from En Vogue, Bennett began work on her second solo album, 'The Anticipation Of R&B', under her own label, Tone'n'Rhone Productions. She worked with a variety of musicians on the project, including producers J.Y. Park, Cool Ruckus, Peter Zora, as well as guest vocalists such as Brandy, 40 Glocc and her former En Vogue colleagues Terry Ellis and Cindy Herron. Preceded by the singles 'Range' and 'Letting You Go'. the album was shelved in 2010 due to internal conflicts and insufficient promotion, with a third single, 'Don't Call Me' also eventually being cancelled. 'Rhona' was a perfectly fine album, and didn't deserve to be consigned to a limited one-month release in Japan, so here it is for fans of En Vogue and similar girl groups to enjoy.

Track Listing

01 Satisfied
02 The Best Of Me 
03 Take What Comes To You 
04 The First Time
05 Last Goodbye
06 Time Will Tell 
07 Miss The Way
08 I Will 
09 I Want To Know What Love Is
10 I Look To The Sky
11 The Meaning Of Love 

Ronee Martin - Soul Of My Heart (1997)

Veronica "Ronee" Martin was born on 24 November 1953 in Columbia, Virginia, and upon graduating high school she moved to Washington D.C. to live with her mother. At age six, she became fascinated with music and would begin performing solos in church, with her tastes gradually evolving from gospel to country to Motown, and she would begin performing professionally as she entered adulthood. She worked as a backing vocalist for artists like Wynton Marsalis and Patti LaBelle, and also worked with Van McCoy, who produced the group Destiny that she was a part of. They were the opening act for two more late greats, Aretha Franklin and Eddie Kendricks, and they also toured with Special Delivery. She then moved to California to record demos for Burt Bacharach, Carol Bayer Sager, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Alan Rich, Jud Friedman, and Gerry Stober. She was also a song-writer, and wrote the lyrics for 'This Is Love', which was recorded by Gladys Knight on her 'Good Woman' album. After signing to the Soundwings Record label in 1985, she released her debut album, 'Sensation', which featured guest appearances from Hubert Laws, Joe Sample and Tom Scott. In 1995 Bruce Walker (former general manager of MoJazz and Motown A&R VP), announced that they had just found their very own Anita Baker, and signed her to his label, where she started working on her second album, with a release date set for June/July 1996, later delayed to April 1997. Promotional CDs of 'Soul Of My Heart' were distributed, but the transition at Motown at that time did not favour adult orientated music, and so the album was cancelled and remains unreleased. Nothing much more was heard from Martin for 20 years, until she appeared on the eleventh season of 'America's Got Talent', competing against other artists such as Grace VenderWaal. MoJazz missed a trick in not releasing 'Soul Of My Heart', as it really is an excellent soul/R&B album, and so here it is for you to enjoy. 

Track listing

01 As Long As I'm Loving You  
02 Good To Be Loved  
03 When It Comes To Me 
04 No Trouble At All  
05 Finally Over You  
06 It's Spring Again  
07 I Believe In Love  
08 The Pressure's On  
09 I Can Smile Again  
10 Anything For You  
11 A Better Man 
12 Giving Up  

Yummy Bingham - Black Radio (2005)

Following on from the recent post from Tha' Rayne, here is an album from Elizabeth T. Wyce "Yummy" Bingham, following the band's split. She was born on 7 January 1986 to R&B producer Dinky Bingham, and is the god-daughter of Chaka Khan and Aaron Hall. With a lineage like that it's no wonder she went into the music business, and in 2000, aged 14, she was recruited by producer KayGee to form the group Tha' Rayne, and signed to Arista Records. The group recorded an album, and appeared on a bunch of labelmates tracks, including Jaheim's 'Fabulous' that hit #1 on the US Billboard Adult R&B chart for three weeks from February 2003. Tha' Rayne released the single 'Didn't You Know', which peaked at #76 in September 2003 on the US Billboard R&B chart, but their debut album , 'Reign Supreme', never came out and the group disbanded in 2005. While a member of Tha' Rayne, Bingham was also getting a name for herself as the appointed vocalist of veteran hip-hop group De La Soul, being featured on various of their songs, and accompanying them on tour between 2000 and 2004. From 2003, Bingham started to collaborate with various artists, getting writing and/or vocal credits on songs from Patti LaBelle, P. Diddy, Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige, Busta Rhymes, Nas, Mýa and Monica. At age 18, Bingham became the youngest female CEO of a major-affiliated label, and the youngest female record executive, forming the label "Muzic Park" with Grammy award-winning beatmaker Rockwilder. 

She was the label's first signing, through a record deal with Motown in the US and Island Records in the UK, and released the singles 'Come Get It', 'Is It Good To You' and 'One More Chance', with her debut album 'The First Seed' appearing in the UK in October 2006. She continued writing and recording for other artists, and gave birth to her daughter Aviela in September 2007, after which she took some time out of the record industry to do Gospel/Inspirational music, but eventually returned to secular R&B in 2010 with a new song called 'Circles', that was featured in the movie 'King Of Paper Chasin'. In 2005 she had released a mixtape titled 'Black Radio', which was assembled as part of a planned promotional campaign for 'The First Seed', but due to the album generating a lukewarm single in 'Come Get It', that failed to catapult itself to the top of the Billboard charts, its US release was cancelled, and it was instead only released overseas, leaving 'Black Radio' indefinitely postponed. Many tracks and freestyles on 'Black Radio' do not appear on the album, or anywhere else but this mixtape, and with the addition of an out-take from the album, even fans who already own 'The First Seed' should definitely give this a listen. 

Track listing

01 Rockwilder Intro/It's My Life 
02 Queenz
03 Chaos (feat. K-OZ) 
04 I Know You Want It, Boy (feat. Redman & Rockwilder)
05 Come Get It (feat. Jadakiss)
06 Runnin' (feat. Dion Jenkins) 
07 You Should Be 
08 No Trouble (feat. Cory Gunz) 
09 Just Leave (Freestyle)
10 Just Leave (Lucifer Freestyle) 
11 Man Up (Demo for Amerie)
12 Give It To Ya
13 Never Happened
14 Freestyle/Rockwilder Outro 

Mila J - Split Personality (2006)

Jamila Akiko Aba Chilombo was born on 18 November 1982 in Los Angeles, California, and her sister is singer Jhené Aiko. At the start of her career, she joined an up-and-coming dance group, bringing her to the attention of Chris Stokes, and through him she auditioned for and starred as a dancer in Prince's 'Diamonds and Pearls' video, released in 1991, when she was just 9 years old. Stokes had begun managing Jamila and her sister Miyoko and eventually led them to form the American R&B group Gyrl, along with third member Paulette Maxwell. The three girls were also back-up dancers under the name Innocence, and they appeared in numerous music videos, such as 'Da Munchies', 'Constantly', and 'I Don't Mind'. In 1995, Silas Records released Gyrl's official debut single, 'Play Another Slow Jam', which peaked at number 74 on the US Hot R&B Singles, staying on the chart for over six weeks, but didn't chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, and after the release of the single, Maxwell left the group. It was not until 1997 that she was replaced by Glorika "Jeanae" Briley and Tai-Amber Hoo, and this new line-up released the single 'Get Your Groove On', featured in the movie 'B*A*P*S'. This single peaked at number 91 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and number 30 on the US Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for over 14 weeks, and becoming their highest chart appearance at that time. However, despite this success, the group disbanded shortly afterwards, and after a brief appearance in the girl group Dame Four in 2005, Mila took a hiatus from the music industry, saying that due to having been in a variety of girl groups, she did not know who she was as an artist. Upon returning to the music business, she signed with Universal Motown in 2006, and after appearing on tracks by RaRa, IMx, and Omarion, her Chris Stokes-produced debut album, 'Split Personality', was set for a summer 2006 release. That date came and went, and eventually the album was forgotten, and it was not until 2012 that Jamila redefined herself, changing her name and appearance from the soft feminine Mila J to the rough-around-the-edges Japallonia, before reverting back to Mila J for the 'Smoke, Drink, Break-Up' single in 2014. On the shelved album Mila's voice as sweet and young sounding, but it's never flashy or overly demonstrative, and Stokes' production is as solid and complementary as on his previous projects. It's light, endearing R&B that might take a few listens to sink in, but it's strong enough to keep your attention, and so is worth a listen. 

Track listing

01 Wait A Minute
02 No More Complaining
03 Go Public
04 Better
05 Tell Me Where I'd Be
06 Good Lookin' Out (feat. Marques Houston)
07 I've Been Hustled
08 Back In The Day (feat. Young Rome)
09 Things You Do (Long Enough)
10 Are You Happy Now
11 Complete
12 I'm Mi (feat. Omarion)

Tha' Rayne - Reign Supreme (2002)

Tha' Rayne was a three-piece American R&B singing girl group that was formed in 2000 and consisted of two singing members and a DJ, with original members of the group being Yummy Bingham and Shaquana Elam (now known as Quana BelleVoix), who shared lead vocals on all of the group's recordings. The group was founded in 2000 by producer KayGee from Naughty by Nature, who recruited Elizabeth "Yummy" Bingham, Shaquana "Quana" Elam and Tina "Tina-J" Jenkins, with each of them assuming that they had a solo deal, before discovering that they were to be a girl group. The first and only recording where the three original members appear together is Jaheim and Lil' Mo's 2001 single 'Finders Keepers', where they performed vocal backup. After Tina-J left the group, Tha' Rayne remained a duet and signed with Arista Records's CEO Antonio "L.A." Reid in April 2001. They released 'Rock Wit Me' in April 2002, followed in July by 'No L.O.V.E.', which was later re-recorded by Jhené Aiko in 2003. While preparing their debut album, originally expected for an October 2002 release, Tha' Rayne collaborated with artists such as Boyz II Men, Jaheim, Queen Latifah, and Next. In August 2002, Kay Gee had the vision to create an R&B version of Salt-N-Pepa and added Michelle "DJ Myche Luv" Colon, a young female DJ to the group, and later that year they appeared on Jaheim's hit single 'Fabulous'. In January 2003, the group went through a change of lineup with the departure of DJ Myche Luv, who was replaced by Qiana "DJ Qi" Drew. Soon after, Tha' Rayne released 'Didn't You Know' (featuring Joe Budden and Lupe Fiasco), which was their first single to chart, reaching number 76 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. However, it didn't get the buzz expected by the label, and so their debut album 'Reign Supreme' was delayed. When Arista merged into Sony BMG in early 2004, and Antonio "L.A." Reid was fired, many of his artists were dropped, including Tha' Rayne, and so the group decided to split without their album ever seeing the light of day.

Track listing

01 Harmonize (Intro)
02 Can't Stop Tha' Rayne 
03 Didn't You Know (feat. Joe Budden & Lupe Fiasco) 
04 Rock Wit' Me
05 Luv Bug 
06 Kiss Me (feat. Lupe Fiasco)
07 Party Music
08 Mr. Postman
09 No L.O.V.E. (feat. Rob Jackson) 
10 Ghetto Love Song (feat. Jarron)
11 She's A Queen (feat. Queen Latifah)
12 Holla Back (Outro)

Kelly Clarkson - A Little Bit Country (2022)

Kelly Brianne Clarkson was born on 24 April 1982 in Fort Worth, Texas, grew up in Burleson, Texas and was educated at Pauline Hughes Middle School. In the seventh grade, the school's choir teacher, Cynthia Glenn, overheard her singing in a hallway and asked her to audition for the school choir, and she also performed in several musicals, such as 'Annie Get Your Gun', 'Seven Brides For Seven Brothers', and 'Brigadoon'. After graduating from high school, she declined full scholarships to three universities, saying that she wanted to try and make it in the music business on her own. She worked several jobs to finance a demo, recording material and trying to market it to record labels, but received little response. She turned down two recording contracts from Jive Records and Interscope Records, afraid that they would have pigeonholed her as a bubblegum act, and in 2001 she travelled to Los Angeles, pursuing a career in music. Upon returning to Burleson, Clarkson was encouraged by her friends to audition for the first season of the reality television series 'American Idol: The Search For A Superstar' in May 2002, going on to win the competition on 4 September. Immediately after winning American Idol, Clarkson was signed to a record deal with RCA Records, 19 Recordings, and S Records by talent manager Simon Fuller, who created American Idol, and music mogul Clive Davis, who was slated to executive-produce her debut album. She released her chart-topping debut single, 'A Moment Like This', which became the best-selling single of the year in the US, and her R&B and gospel-influenced debut album, 'Thankful' was released in 2003, and entered the US Billboard 200 at number one. 

She shifted genres to pop rock for 'Breakaway' in 2004, which was one of the 21st century's best-selling albums, but after the lukewarm reception to 2007's 'My December', with its darker rock music, Clarkson returned to radio-friendly pop rock sounds with 'All I Ever Wanted' in 2009, and 'Stronger' in 2011, which each produced number-one singles, in 'My Life Would Suck Without You' and 'Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)' respectively. She ventured into Christmas music with 'Wrapped In Red' in 2013, following that with the release of the number-one album 'Piece By Piece' in 2015, and she then signed with Atlantic Records, where she recorded three further albums. In 2018 she returned to television as a coach on 'The Voice' for nine seasons, and since 2019 she has hosted her own talk show, 'The Kelly Clarkson Show'. During the 'Kellyoke' section of her television show Clarkson often covered country songs, and she has even released a couple of duets with country singers as singles, but despite the various genres in which she has recorded, she has yet to make a country album. Fans are convinced that it's a genre that she would excel at, and so by using various singles, out-takes, demos, alternate takes, live recordings, and a few 'Kellyoke' offerings, I've put together Kelly Clarkson's very own country album. 

Track listing

01 Soap And Water
02 Because Of You (feat. Reba McEntire)
03 Feel It Coming On
04 Don't Rush (feat. Vince Gill)
05 Never Again, Again (Interlude) 
06 Mrs Right
07 Mr. Know It All
08 Why Haven't I Heard From You
09 Any Man Of Mine (Interlude)
10 Blue Bayou
11 Fancy
12 Don't You Wanna Stay
13 How Blue (Interlude)
14 I'm Movin' On (feat. Rascal Flatts)
15 You're Drunk Go Home (feat. Kelsea Ballerini & Carly Pearce)

Kiley Dean - Changes (2006)

As I mentioned in my previous post from Kiley Dean, in 2005, she started work on her second album under the name 'Blue Eyes', and released a single 'Lookin' For Love' to radio as a taster for her new record. The album, titled 'Changes', was due to be released in 2006, and a second single was released, with 'Who I Am', being sent out to various radio stations. After the album was completed Dean left Beat Club Records and signed with Mathew Knowles' Music World Entertainment label, and they agreed to take on the release of 'Changes' and issue it under her own name, but after six months she left the label, and so they shelved the record. In 2010 she released the 'Changes' album digitally on the ReverbNation store, but it was only for a limited time, and it's now unavailable, so the time is ripe for a reappraisal. It would have been a relatively short album, with only nine tracks plus an acoustic version of 'Escape', so I've added a couple of contemporary recordings to the end, and here it is for you to enjoy.  

Track listing

01 Dangerous 
02 Be Alone
03 Changes
04 Just Like That
05 Escape
06 Tug of War 
07 Who I Am
08 Stay Away from My Boyfriend
09 Over 

10 We All Need Love

11 Just A Little

12 Goodbye

Daisy Dares You - Rush (2010)

Daisy May Keeley Coburn was born on 27 October 1993 in Great Dunmow, Essex, and came from a musical family, with her mother once working as a backing singer for Duran Duran and The The. She learned to play the guitar and piano when she was six years old, and on Boxing Day 2007 she played a song she had been writing called 'Hurt' to family and friends. A friend of her mother's, Matthew Marston, heard the song and invited her to his home studio to record it, and that led to collaborating with Marston on songs  written for her debut album, 'Rush'. After picking up widespread promotional coverage in the media from The Times, the BBC, and The Guardian as a young artist to watch for in 2010, she signed to Jive, a subsidiary of Sony Records, and her first single 'Number One Enemy', featured British rapper Chipmunk, reached the top 20 in the UK. Her musical genre varies from teen-pop to pop rock to electropop, and comparisons have been made between her and British singer-songwriter Lily Allen, as well as Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne. 'Rosie' was released as her second single in May 2010, and her album was scheduled to appear in June, but for reasons unknown she was dropped from Jive Records and the album was cancelled. A six-track sampler CD was issued to the press in advance of the proposed release date, and so by adding in a couple of live versions of songs from the official track-listing, plus a few early demos, we can put together a 43-minute approximation of Daisy Dares You's scrapped debut album from 2010.

Track listing 

01 Number One Enemy (feat. Chipmunk)
02 Rosie
03 You'll Be Fine
04 Who Will Buy
05 Rush
06 Daisy Dares You (Pegasus & Rokchild remix)
07 Idiot
08 Talk About The Weather
09 Over You  
10 Next Few Minutes
11 Hurt
12 Stuck & Still

Kiley Dean - Simple Girl (2003)

Kiley Dean Bowlin was born on 12 April 1982 and raised in Alma, Arkansas, from where she moved to Orlando, Florida with her parents at the age of seven. She grew up singing in school and church, and at 17 she was singing back-up for Britney Spears on her 'Baby One More Time' and 'Oops! I Did It Again' tours. She signed to record producer Timbaland's Beat Club Records, an imprint of Interscope Records in 2002, and released her debut single, 'Make Me A Song' the following year, which was produced by Timbaland, but which underperformed at number 99 on the Billboard Hot 100. Despite this she was granted a second single with 'Who Will I Run To', before recording her Timbaland-produced debut album, 'Simple Girl', but although this was planned to be released in July 2003, due to the commercial failure of the singles it was shelved. In 2005, she started work on her second album under the name 'Blue Eyes', and released a single 'Lookin' For Love' to radio, while her second studio album 'Changes' was set to be released in 2006. It was preceded by the single 'Who I Am',  which was sent out to radio stations, but in 2007 she signed with Mathew Knowles' Music World Entertainment label, They were set to issue 'Changes' as her first release on her new label, but after six months she left the label, and so like her debut record, 'Changes' was shelved and also remains unreleased. In 2008, she joined Madonna on her 'Sticky & Sweet' tour as a backup vocalist, replacing Madonna's long-time backing singer Donna De Lory, who was pregnant at the time and unable to tour, and in 2010 she released the 'Changes' album digitally on the ReverbNation store, but it was only for a limited time, and is now unavailable. Later that year, she recorded a couple of remixes that were made available on YouTube and her Soundcloud accounts, but these are also now very hard to track down. In 2011 she joined the New Kids On The Block and Matthew Morrison tours as a back-up simnger, and in 2022 she re-joined Madonna's team, performing backup on her 'MDNA' and 'Rebel Heart' tours. In 2015 she launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund her 'Scream' EP, which successfully met its goal in February, and in July she premiered the EP's first single and music video 'Lockdown' to her backers, with the digital release made available in August, and in September the full EP was made available to her backers, with a digital release following a few weeks later. Despite working with a number of famous artists as a backing vocalist, Dean has never been lucky enough to release an album under her own name, and so to put that right here is her unreleased 2003 record 'Simple Girl'.  

Track listing

01 Blessed (Intro)
02 Cross The Line
03 Make Me A Song
04 No
05 Kiss Me Like That
06 Keep It Movin'
07 America
08 War Song
09 Simple Girl
10 As Days Gone By
11 Better Than The Day
12 Busy
13 Confused
14 Lovin' You
15 Should I

16 Who Should I Run To

17 I Know (Outro)