Brownstone

Brownstone was a Grammy Award nominated female R&B group popular during the mid-1990s. They are best known for the 1995 hit single, "If You Love Me". They also had some success with the singles "Grapevyne", and "I Can't Tell You Why", a song originally recorded by the Eagles.

The three original members of Brownstone were Nicole "Nicci" Gilbert, Charmayne "Maxee" Maxwell and Monica "Mimi" Doby. The group was founded in Los Angeles after the three singers met each other after going to different auditions around the city. They formed the group, and less than a year later were signed to Michael Jackson's MJJ Music Record Label. They recorded their debut album, From the Bottom Up which spawned the hit "If You Love Me". In 1995 the band was rewarded with a Grammy nomination and a Billboard Music Award.

After extensive touring around the globe, Doby left the group after what was released in the media. In an interview with BET Video Soul host Donnie Simpson Doby cited a medical problem of bronchitis, but was later revealed to be because of internal strife with the other two members of the group. She was replaced by Kina Cosper and after a difficult transition period where their audience was not very receptive to the change, Brownstone had a brief showing with "5 Miles to Empty". However, the group never regained their popularity, and their subsequent albums were considered commercial failures.

Albums:

From the Bottom Up

• Released: January 10, 1995
• Label: MJJ Music

Still Climbing

• Released: June 24, 1997
• Label: MJJ Music

Wataz

The Wataz were an American hip hop group composed of Ketrina "Taz" Askew and Chris "Waterbug" Stokes. Stokes who had gained fame as a producer for acts such as Immature and Smooth formed the group in 1997 and signed a deal with independent label, Fully Loaded Records. The group released one album, 1998's Natural High, which peaked at 68 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and had one charting single "Ohh Ahh Ohh", which made it to 81 on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts.

Albums:

Natural High

• Label: Fully Loaded
• Released: February 10, 1998

Zakiya

Zakiya Shalai Cox (nee Munnerlyn), (born April 22, 1977) in Hillside, New Jersey, was an American R&B/soul singer who released a self-titled studio album on DV8 Records in 1997. Two singles from the album, "Love Like Mine" and "My Love Won't Fade Away", entered Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. She is retired from the music business and currently (as of 2012) owns a flowershop in Maplewood, New Jersey.

Career

As a 15-year-old, Zakiya was crowned Hal Jackson's Talented Teens Miss International Queen of 1992. Two years later, she signed with Ric Wake's production company as part of the girl group Faces. After a year with the group, Zakiya pursued a solo career and signed with DV8 Records in 1995.

Her debut single, "Love Like Mine", was released in 1996. A review of the song in Billboard, which compared Zakiya's musical style to that of Brandy, remarked that Zakiya "has the voice to be taken seriously [as] she slinks through a song that has a sing-along refrain that permanently sticks to the brain after the first listen." Andrew Hamilton of Allmusic was critical of the CD single for containing five different versions of the song. The music video for "Love Like Mine" was added to BET's video rotation, and the single peaked at number 60 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Zakiya's second single, "My Love Won't Fade Away", was released in 1997. The song features a guest rap by Charisma and a sample of Barry White's 1977 song "Playing Your Game, Baby". A Billboard review of "My Love Won't Fade Away" compared Zakiya's voice to that of a young Gladys Knight, and that she "exudes mucho star power on this sleek jeep-soul cruiser." The music video for the song was added to BET's video rotation and it reached number one on The Box's weekly video countdown in May 1997. Zakiya's self-titled debut album was also released that month, and "My Love Won't Fade Away" peaked at number 52 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

A 12-inch single for "I Like" was released in 1998, in addition to another single ("I Wanna Be Where You Are"). An EP containing seven tracks slated for her sophomore album appeared on vinyl later that year. However, Zakiya was dropped from DV8 before work on her second album was completed.

Albums:

Zakiya

• Label: DV8 Records
• Released: May 6, 1997