Nicole Scherzinger - Fire (2011)

As I mentioned in the previous posts from Nicole Scherzinger, before embarking fully on a solo career she dipped her toes in the water by appearing on other artist's records as a guest vocalist, and in 2006 and 2007 she graced quite a few songs with her presence. It was an eclectic mix, with 50 Cent sitting next to Shaggy, and Timbaland vying with P. Diddy for her attention, and if we gather up all the guest appearances that she made before the release of her official debut studio album in 2011 then we have a very enjoyable 45-minute album of prime R&B and reggae. Only one of these tracks eventually appeared on that debut album 'Killer Love', but as 'Heartbeart' with Enrique Inglesias was also released as a single in 2010 then I'm including it on here anyway.   

Track listing 

01 Don't Ask Her That (feat. Shaggy) [from 'Clothes Drop' 2005]
02 Come To Me (feat. P. Diddy) [from 'Press Play' 2006]
03 Fire (feat. 50 Cent & Young Buck) [from 'Curtis' 2007]
04 Heartbeat (feat. Pharrell Williams) [Madonna demo 2008]
05 Supa Hypnotic (feat. Shaggy) [from 'Clothes Drop' 2005]
06 Scream (feat. Keri Hilson & Timbaland) [from 'Shock Value' 2007]
07 Papi Lover (feat. Daddy Yankee) [from 'El Cartel: The Big Boss' 2007]
08 Numba 1 (Tide Is High) (feat. Kardinal Offishall) [from 'Not 4 Sale' 2008]
09 Lie About Us (feat. Avant) [from 'Director' 2006]
10 Heartbeat (feat. Enrique Iglesias) [from 'Euphoria' 2010]
11 Hotel Room Service (feat. Pitbull) [from 'Rebelution' 2009]
12 Coconut Tree (feat. Mohombi) [from 'MoveMeant' 2011]

Nicole Scherzinger - Part Of Me (2010)

The Pussycat Dolls' second and final album, 'Doll Domination', was released in the United States on 23 September 2008, peaking at number four on the Billboard 200, and it included singles 'When I Grow Up' and 'I Hate This Part', both of which were originally recorded for Scherzinger's debut solo effort, but which were recorded by the Dolls when that was put on hold. The following year, the group embarked on the worldwide Doll Domination Tour, during which Scherzinger was asked to re-write the pop version of 'Jai Ho' from the film 'Slumdog Millionaire', and although the reworked 'Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)' was credited to A. R. Rahman and the Pussycat Dolls, the fact that Scherzinger was credited as a featured artist caused dissatisfaction within the group. The song reached number one in 17 countries, and was undoubtedly part of the reason that as the tour concluded in August 2009, the group announced a hiatus to further pursue solo careers. In December 2009, Scherzinger was announced as the third judge on the first season of 'The Sing-Off', joining Ben Folds and Boyz II Men band member Shawn Stockman, returning for the second season before being replaced by Sara Bareilles. In May 2010, she and her dance partner Derek Hough won the tenth season of 'Dancing With The Stars', and in July 2010 she served as a guest judge on The X Factor UK, where she formed One Direction from rejected solo singers. 

By October it was time to return to music, and she released 'Poison' as the lead single from her debut album, which peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart, and she officially announced her departure from the Pussycat Dolls to focus on her solo career. 'Killer Love' was released in March 2011 in the UK, and peaked at number eight in its first week, while the album's second single, 'Don't Hold Your Breath', became her first number-one single as a solo artist in the UK. 'Right There' was released as the third singe in the UK, while a remixed version featuring 50 Cent was issued in the US, and its number 39 placing made it her highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist. During the sessions for 'Killer Love', Scherzinger had recorded about thirty songs, and after fourteen of them had been chosen for the album, the rest were put to one side, but over the years a number have leaked, and so using these offcuts we can make up a companion record to 'Killer Love', which could have tided fans over until her next official release some three years later. A collectors edition of 'Killer Love' was released in the UK and Europe, which included four bonus tracks, including the remixed 'Right There' single with 50 Cent, and so as these tracks are not generally available I've added three of them to the end of this album to complete the post. 

Track listing

01 Part Of Me
02 Peep Show (feat. R. Kelly)
03 Pretty
04 American Girl
05 Metamorphosis
06 How Do You Let Go Of The One You Love
07 The Beautiful People
08 Cold
09 Funky Town
10 Wild Child
11 Try With Me
12 Trust Me I Lie
13 Tomorrow Never Dies

Nicole Scherzinger - Still Here (2007)

When Nicole Scherzinger started thinking about a solo career while still a member of The Pussycat Dolls, she dipped a toe in the waters by collaborating with a number of other artists during 2006 and 2007, and singing on their records. These included Avant's 'Lie About Us', Diddy's 'Come To Me', Vittorio Grigolo's 'You Are My Miracle', 50 Cent's 'Fire', and Timbaland's 'Scream', and soon afterwards she started to release singles under her own name, although none made any significant impact on the Billboard charts. Work on her solo album carried on throughout 2006 and early 2007, and at one point she probably had about 30 songs to choose from. About a dozen of the best were selected to appear on her debut album 'Her Name Is Nicole', but the release was pushed back a couple of times, before Scherzinger herself requested that it be shelved so that she could concentrate her efforts on the Pussycat Dolls' second album, 'Doll Domination'. At this point all of her solo recordings were consigned to the vaults, and 'Doll Domination' appeared in 2008, with the group embarking on a worldwide tour in support of it, commencing in January 2009 and lasting most of the year. In 2010 Scherzinger left the Pussycat Dolls, and the time was right to re-ignite her solo career, but rather than revisit her 2006/2007 recordings she wrote new material, and those old songs have remained unreleased. I've already posted a reconstruction of the 'Her Name Is Nicole' album here, and so this post is made up of the left-over songs from those sessions, but they are anything but inferior filler, and this collection is probably just as good as her proposed 2008 album.  

  
Track listing

01 Erotica Revolution
01 Psycho
03 I'll Be Your Love
04 Steam (feat. Eva)
05 I'm A Cheat
06 Loser
07 Whatever Happens
08 Get Em Ready (Ladies)
09 Break Yo Chest
10 Punchin' (Punch You In Your Sleep)
11 Still Here
12 Winning Women (feat. Rihanna)

Nicole Scherzinger - Her Name Is Nicole (2008)

In February 2006, while still a founding member of The Pussycat Dolls, Nicole Scherzinger signed a global publishing agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group, which would cover her future song-writing. Her work as lead singer of The Dolls furthered her popularity as she continued to work on her own music, and her first solo recording was to feature on Avant's 'Lie About Us', which was released in July 2006. She later collaborated with Diddy on 'Come To Me', which became her first solo top-ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, and in March 2007 she announced that her debut studio album would be titled 'Her Name is Nicole', and it was scheduled for a release in late summer. Four singles were released from the project, but 'Whatever U Like', 'Baby Love', 'Supervillain', and 'Puakenikeni' all failed to make any significant impact on the Billboard charts, although 'Baby Love' was a moderate success in international territories. After a number of push-backs, Scherzinger decided not to release any further singles from the album, and at her request 'Her Name Is Nicole' was eventually shelved, and she shifted her focus to working on the Doll's second album. She had actually recorded more songs between 2006 and 2008 than were needed for the album, and she could easily have released a double album had she wanted, but she threw herself back into her work with The Pussycat Dolls, and their second album 'Doll Domination' was released in 2008. Scherzinger carried on recording solo tracks over the next few years, and her official debut album 'Killer Love' eventually appeared in 2011, but even that omitted at least ten songs that had been recorded in 2010 and were apparently deemed not good enough for inclusion. So that we can decide for ourselves if 2008 was too early to launch a solo career, here is 'Her Name Is Nicole', and we can now hear what could have been her debut solo release had it come out in 2008 as was intended. 

 
Track listing

01 Supervillain 
02 Puakenikeni (feat. Brick & Lace) 
03 Happily Never After 
04 Baby Love (feat. ​will.i.am) 
05 Save Me From Myself 
06 Physical (feat. Timbaland) 
07 Power's Out (feat. Sting) 
08 Just Say Yes 
09 Who's Gonna Love You 
10 Whatever U Like (feat. T.I.) 
11 I M.I.S.S. U (feat. Pharrell Williams) 
12 March 
13 On My Side (feat. Akon) 
14 Feels So Good