Shanice
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| Shanice | ||
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 Shanice on the cover of her 2006 album, Every Woman Dreams
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Shanice Lorraine Wilson | |
| Born | May 14, 1973 (age 33) | |
| Origin |  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States |
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| Genre(s) | R&B | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter | |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals | |
| Years active | 1986-present | |
| Label(s) | A&M Records (1986-1988), Motown Records (1991-1995), LaFace Records (1999), IME Records (2005-present) |
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| Website | http://www.shaniceonline.com | |
Shanice (born Shanice Lorraine Wilson on May 14, 1973 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a Grammy Award nominated American R&B singer. Credited usually as simply Shanice, she hit big on mainstream radio with her 1991 hit "I Love Your Smile" for the Motown label, she also scored another Top 5 Billboard Hot 100 single in 1993 with "Saving Forever For You."
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[edit] Biography
Born in Pittsburgh, PA, Shanice, before her teen years relocated to Los Angeles with her mother and aunt who were interested in pursuing careers in the music industry. Shanice's showmanship was evident from an early age and this move was also to benefit her career. Shanice's talent gave her the opportunity to star in a KFC commercial with the legendary Ella Fitzgerald at 9. Later, she was discovered by A&M Records at the age of eleven, and released her debut album, Discovery in 1987, which wasn't a huge pop hit, but did score R&B chart action, and the singer a 1987 Soul Train Award nomination for Best R&B/Urban Contemporary New Artist; she lost the award to R&B singer Miki Howard. Shanice went on to sign a record deal with Motown Records in 1991. Her 1991 album Inner Child includes the popular hit single "I Love Your Smile", produced by Narada Michael Walden. Also included on Inner Child is a cover of Minnie Riperton's 1974 hit "Lovin' You". This rendition helped to bring public attention to Shanice's ability to sing in high range as Minnie Riperton and Mariah Carey[1], the latter who at the start of the 90's had reintroduced the whistling technique into pop music. In 1993, she made a guest appearance on the popular television sitcom Family Matters.
After Inner Child, Shanice continued to record albums, including 21… Ways to Grow in 1994 and 1999's Shanice, produced chiefly by Babyface. On this album Shanice broke a record with her single “When I Close My Eyes”[2]. While she has not achieved significant commercial success with her later albums, she is acknowledged as a talented singer and many of her songs appeared on various soundtracks such as Boomerang (soundtrack), Beverly Hills 90210 and The Meteor Man. She also sings backup and does studio sessions and can be heard on Toni Braxton's song "Come On Over Here" and "Un-Break My Heart[3]." She can also be heard making vocal contributions to various video games. She is married to actor/comedian Flex Alexander, with whom she has two children: daughter Imani Shekinah and son Elijah Alexander.
[edit] Voice
Shanice is a singer credited with a five octave vocal range. Soultrack.com in their biography states, 'she recorded her debut album for A&M Records, Discovery, at age 13. Despite her young age, Shanice showed an amazing vocal range (five octaves)'[[6]]. RushPRnews also confirms Shanice wide vocal range by noting, 'It's always been about the voice for Shanice. She can boast of a five-octave range, which she handles with beauty and ease'[[7]]. Thus, Shanice has the ability to sing in the highly coveted whistle register as shown In Musicmatch's review of her 1991 international successful Inner Child album, it quotes, "Shanice sure has an impressive voice, including the ability to sing falsetto a la Mariah Carey and Minnie Riperton" [4]. This is also confirmed by Miles Duncan in his review of Shanice's latest album Every Woman Dreams [5] as well as the Wilson & Alroy site that states, 'Shanice has really worked on her voice, and she now has a soaring high range that recalls Mariah Carey'[[8]]. Shanice can be heard using this ability in songs such as her cover of Minnie Riperton's "Lovin' You", "Fly Away", "Aint Got No Remedy", "Never Changing Love" and in her duet with Jon Secada for the Pocahontas soundtrack "If I Never Knew You" among other songs.
[edit] Comeback
Not a stranger to taking long gaps between albums and singles, "Every Woman Dreams" finally emerged in June of 2005. The single did moderately well at R&B radio. After several pushbacks, her fifth studio album Every Woman Dreams was released on February 21, 2006, by an independent label. The album entered at No. 194 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and sold 6,000 copies in her opening week. The video for the second single from the CD "Take Care Of U" debuted at #82 on Yahoo.com's Top 100 Videos in the middle of July 2006.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | US | US R&B |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Discovery | 149 | 37 |
| 1991 | Inner Child | 83 | 13 |
| 1994 | 21... Ways To Grow | 184 | 46 |
| 1999 | Shanice | 56 | 15 |
| 1999 | Ultimate Collection | - | - |
| 2006 | Every Woman Dreams | 194 | 30 |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 |
US R&B/Hip-Hop |
UK | |||
| 1987 | "(Baby Tell Me) Can You Dance" | 50 | 6 | - | Discovery |
| 1987 | "No Half Steppin'" | 50 | 6 | - | Discovery |
| 1988 | "The Way You Love Me" | - | 53 | - | Discovery |
| 1988 | "I Bet She's Got a Boyfriend" | - | - | 78 | Discovery |
| 1988 | "This Time" (duet with Kiara) | 78 | 2 | 81 | To Change and/or Make a Difference (by Kiara) |
| 1991 | "I Love Your Smile" | 2 | 1(4) | 2 | Inner Child |
| 1991 | "Lovin' You" | - | 59 | 54 | Inner Child |
| 1992 | "I'm Cryin'" | - | 11 | - | Inner Child |
| 1992 | "Silent Prayer" | 31 | 4 | - | Inner Child |
| 1992 | "Saving Forever for You" | 4 | 20 | 42 | Beverly Hills, 90210 [Soundtrack] |
| 1992 | "Don't Wanna Love You" | 58 | 57 | - | Boomerang [Soundtrack] |
| 1993 | "It's for You" | 57 | 14 | - | The Meteor Man [Soundtrack] |
| 1994 | "Somewhere" | 122 | 28 | - | 21...Ways to Grow |
| 1994 | "Turn Down the Lights" | 114 | 21 | - | 21...Ways to Grow |
| 1994 | "I Like" | - | - | 49 | 21...Ways to Grow |
| 1994 | "I Wish" | - | 61 | - | 21...Ways to Grow |
| 1995 | "If I Never Knew You" (duet with Jon Secada) | - | - | 51 | Pocahontas [Soundtrack] |
| 1999 | "When I Close My Eyes" | 12 | 4 | - | Shanice |
| 1999 | "Yesterday" | 122 | 40 | - | Shanice |
| 1999 | "You Need a Man" | - | 53 | - | Shanice |
| 2005 | "Every Woman Dreams" | - | 62 | - | Every Woman Dreams |
| 2006 | "Take Care of U" | - | 72 | - | Every Woman Dreams |
| 2006 | "Love for a While" (duet with Jeremiah) | - | - | - | Jeremiah's Chasing Forever |
[edit] Awards & nominations
| Year | Award |
|---|---|
| 1988 | Soul Train Music Award nomination for Best R&B/Urban Contemporary New Artist |
| 1992 | Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance ("I Love Your Smile") |
| 1993 | Golden Lion Award for Best International Artist |
[edit] Trivia
- Shanice and gospel singer Tonéx sang the theme song to the UPN sitcom One On One.
Shanice appeared and sang "I Like Your Smile" at the Grammy in the Schools Day event on the campus of the University of Illinois, Chicago, IL in 1992.
