Born: November 14, 1974
Age: 49
Adina Howard
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Biography
Adina Howard (born November 14, 1974) is an American singer, and songwriter She rose to fame during the mid-1990s with her debut album, Do You Wanna Ride? and her debut single, "Freak Like Me." Some of her other minor hits include "What's Love Got To Do With It?" (with Warren G), "(Freak) And U Know It," "Nasty Grind," "Freaks" (with Play-N-Skillz & Krayzie Bone) and "T-Shirt & Panties" (with Jamie Foxx).
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Career
Do You Wanna Ride? and the hit success of "Freak Like Me"
Her debut album Do You Wanna Ride?, featuring the Platinum-certified hit single, "Freak Like Me," was released in 1995 and was certified Gold by the RIAA. Her follow-up singles included "My Up and Down" (#32 R&B, #68 Hot 100) and "It's All About You" (#58 R&B).
In 1996, she collaborated with Warren G for the Police Story 3: Super Cop soundtrack with the single "What's Love Got to Do with It" which featured a sample of the Tina Turner hit. The single was another hit for the two, peaking at #36 on the Hot 100, #32 on R&B, and #2 on the UK charts. The music video also featured Jackie Chan in a cameo. Also that year, she collaborated on a track with Somethin' for the People titled "Damned If I Do" which appeared on the soundtrack for A Thin Line Between Love and Hate as well as their self-titled debut album. She also recorded the track "For the Funk" for the Sunset Park soundtrack.
Welcome to Fantasy Island and acting
In 1997, she geared up for the release of her second album, Welcome to Fantasy Island (originally titled Portrait of a Lady). It garnered critical raves and a moderate hit with the lead single, "(Freak) And U Know It," but was shelved by Elektra Records in 1997. The album was leaked to the internet a few years later and promotional copies sell for hundreds of dollars on eBay.
One of the shelved album's tracks, "T-Shirt & Panties" (a collaboration with Jamie Foxx) ended up on a soundtrack the following year. It was originally slated for the soundtrack to his film Booty Call but it eventually ended up on the soundtrack to the 1998 feature film Woo. It was released promotionally as a single, and the remix featured Cam'ron and Charli Baltimore.
Also this year, she collaborated with Cydal on a track titled "Chocolate (Cuties & Condoms)" which was released as a single for the Bulletproof soundtrack. The track was also included on their debut album Cydalwayz the following year.
During this time, she made her feature film debut in the independent film High Freakquency, starring Deon Richmond and John Witherspoon.
In 2002, she filmed her second movie role, in the still-unreleased Casanova's Demise for director Tigre Hill.
New label and The Second Coming
By 2004, Howard released her third album The Second Coming on Rufftown Records. A video for the first single, "Nasty Grind", played on BET during early morning hours. The album sold poorly due to lack of promotion and only managed to gather 40,000 copies on 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 both were cancelled following her departure from the label.
Later that year, she collaborated with Play-N-Skillz and Krayzie Bone for the track "Freaks" which sampled her hit single "Freak Like Me." The single appeared on the Play-N-Skillz album The Process and became a hit, peaking at #52 R&B and #69 on the Hot 100 (her first-charting single in 7 years).
She released an official mixtape album (with DJ RIP) featuring new songs, remixes, and unreleased tracks titled Let You Hit through SoundJewelz.com on August 5, 2005.
Private Show
In 2006, she announced that a new single "Phone Sex" was going to be released, but the following year, the song "L.O.V.A." was released digitally as her lead single. Additionally, a song titled "Hips" was announced to be her second single. Also in 2007, she released a jewelry line titled "Vixen Vintage."
Her fourth album, Private Show was delayed many times by Arsenal Records, almost to the point of being shelved. However, it was released on June 26, 2007 along with a promotional single "Picture This." As of 2008, the album has sold 4,000+ copies. Following the album's release, a remixes EP for "My Hips" (appears as "Hips" on her album) was released on iTunes & other digital services in December. A third official single, "Tease" was slated to be released, but as Howard parted ways with the label shortly after the album's release, it was cancelled.
In 2008, she appeared in the short film Poke the Sleeping Bear which won the Grand Jury Award at the 2008 Solstice Film Festival.
On September 25, 2009 a UK compilation Independent Soul Divas 2 was released on Lola Waxx Records. This compilation album featured "What Do I Do," a song recorded by Howard in 2008. The album version is different than the version that was originally included on Howard's MySpace page.
Culinary school, marriage to date
In 2011, she started work on her Culinary Arts degree, a cookbook, a new album and a restaurant in Austin, Texas. She graduated from the Le Cordon Bleu with an Associates in Culinary Arts in October 2012.
In 2012, Howard released two buzz singles online: "2 Close" and "Ooh Wee." She collaborated with rapper Ruffa on the track "I Want You" for his Coming to America album which was released on July 31, 2012.
On January 16, 2013, Howard wrote on her Twitter account that her new single "Better Than Ever" would be released soon. She premiered a snippet of the single on January 28 on her official YouTube page. A longer version premiered on March 6 on the mixtape DJ Jump Off's R&B Madness Volume 4.
Additionally, she signed a new record deal with Monarchy Records in April 2013. She also filmed an episode of TV One's Life After in April, and it is set to premiere during the Fall 2013 season on October 2. In July, she announced that she will be releasing an EP next, ahead of her forthcoming fifth studio album.
On December 3, 2013 it was announced that Howard be the resident chef on Wednesday nights at Michael's Cafe and Supper Club in Phoenix, Arizona. She completed her run at the end of December.
In June 2014, it was announced that Howard had landed the lead role of April in Derrell Lawrence's touring stage play "Do You Trust Your Best Friend?" and is set to make her stage debut in October in Washington, DC. She later confirmed that her role had been changed to Olivia in the play.
She announced in November 2014 that she signed a new label deal with SMG/Sony Red in addition to news of a new single "Bad 4 Me" set for release in December. Howard is also set to appear on Centric's new docu-series "Being" in early 2015.
She released a cover of Amy Winehouse's "Love is a Losing Game" in January 2015 to media outlets.
A documentary, Adina Howard 20: A Story of Sexual Liberation was released on May 6, 2015.
In June, she announced that her single "Bad 4 Me" will make its premiere on a San Diego, CA radio station on June 5, ahead of her appearance at the Urban Network Digital "Back To Basics 2" Music Summit that weekend. It was released to digital outlets on August 14, 2015. Additionally, she is asking fans for donations to cover video and promotion cost for her new single "Bad 4 Me" in addition to working on her next album now titled #IHeartAdinaHoward (originally titled The Switch Up). She's featured on Pitbull's new single "FREE.K" which samples her hit single "Freak Like Me."
Her "Being" interview originally filmed back in 2014, premiered on December 9, 2015 under their new series "Designed For."
In March 2016, she was featured on the new single "Freak" by R3hab and Quintino, who sampled her single "Freak Like Me."
In May 2016, she previewed four new songs ("Love Jones" "Come Over" "Nasty" "Run It") from her upcoming album Resurrection on her Periscope account, in addition to doing a mini-concert for her fans.
Personal life
She announced in mid-2011 that she got engaged and that fans could attend the wedding engagement party. She married Sherman Jordan on October 3, 2011.
In January 2013, she stated that she has a daughter. In a radio interview in July 2013, she mentioned her daughter is 14 years old and is from her husband's previous relationship.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | Certifications |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums | ||||
| 1995 | Do You Wanna Ride?
|
39 | 7 |
|
Platinum |
| 1997 | Welcome to Fantasy Island
|
— | — | — | — |
| 2004 | The Second Coming
|
— | 61 |
|
— |
| 2007 | Private Show
|
— | — |
|
— |
| 2016 | Resurrection
|
— | — | — | — |
Mixtapes
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | Certifications |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums | ||||
| 2005 | Let You Hit
|
— | — | — | — |
| 2013 | Welcome to Fantasy Island
|
— | — | — | — |
Singles
| Year | Title | US | US R&B | UK Singles Chart | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | "Freak Like Me" | 2 | 2 | 33 |
|
| "My Up and Down" | 68 | 32 | - | ||
| "It's All About You" | - | 58 | - | ||
| 1997 | "(Freak) And U Know It" | 70 | 32 | - |
|
| "T-Shirt & Panties" | - | - | - |
|
|
| 2003 | "Nasty Grind" | - | 95 | - |
|
| 2007 | "L.O.V.A." | - | - | - |
|
| "Hips" | - | - | - | ||
| 2013 | "Switch" | - | - | - |
|
| 2015 | "Bad 4 Me" | - | - | - | |
| 2016 | "Nasty" | - | - | - |
As featured performer
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US |
US R&B |
US Rap |
AUS | FRA |
GER |
NZ | SWE |
SWI |
UK | ||||
| "What's Love Got to Do with It" (with Warren G) |
1996 | 32 | 36 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
|
Supercop soundtrack |
| "Chocolate (Cuties & Condoms)" (with Cydal) |
1997 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
|
Bulletproof soundtrack/Cydalwayz |
| "Freaks" (with Play-n-Skillz feat. Krayzie Bone) |
2004 | 69 | 52 | 24 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
|
The Process |
Videography
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | "Freak Like Me" | Hype Williams |
| "Freak Like Me (Slow Wind Remix)" | ||
| "My Up and Down" | ||
| "It's All About You" | ABoyNamedFuture | |
| 1996 | "What's Love Got to Do With It?" | Joseph Kahn |
| 1997 | " And U Know It" | Francis Lawrence |
| 2003 | "Nasty Grind" |
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | High Freakquency | Adina | Film debut |
| 2002 | Casanova's Demise | Sonia | Unreleased Film |
| 2008 | Poke the Sleeping Bear | Rolanda | Winner of Best Short at 2008 Solstice Film Festival |
| 2013 | Life After | Herself (2 Episodes "Adina Howard" "CeCe Peniston") | Docu-Series |
| 2015 | Adina Howard 20: A Story of Sexual Liberation | Herself | Documentary |
| Designed For | Herself | Docu-Series |
Stage
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | A Man of God | Sarah | Stage debut |
| 2014 | Do You Trust Your Best Friend | Olivia | Originally scheduled to play April |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Result | Award | Category | Work |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | WIN | UB Honors | Best Dance/Club Single of the Year |
|
| 2014 | Nominated | Shorty Awards | Singer | |
| 2016 | Nominated | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Independent Documentary |
|
[ Source: Wikipedia ]
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