Now The UK Has An R&B Diva Of Its Own

And thanks to the success of that track, the 18-year-old singer has become the covergirl for the new wave of confident, exportable British R&B. Ama didn't hide behind a pair of shades, throw diva tantrums or act like she wished she was born on the other side of the Atlantic. Just as significantly, she could actually sing.

On August 18, her debut single You're The One I Love receives a re-release in the wake of You Might Need Somebody. It also trails her recently-completed album, Much Love, which is due on September 1 and finds her blending UK and US styles and producers. "The impact of You Might Need Somebody isn't a surprise anymore," says Ama, "but it's still a thrill. People love it. Kids who saw me back when I was supporting 3T in February wrote me letters about it. A lot of people had never heard the original and were introduced to the song through my version."

Three successive Top Of The Pops performances of the single enabled Ama to stake out the aspect of pop stardom that is most important to her: live performance. "After the first couple of shows, people wouldn't believe that I had sung live; they all thought I'd been miming. So on the third one, I missed a bit out to prove it was for real."

In the run-up to the release of You're The One I Love, Ama showcased her abilities at a couple of London dates. On the second, at the Jazz Cafe in July, she sang every last drop out of tracks from her forthcoming album accompanied by a full band after a typically enthusiastic and affectionate introduction from her collaborator Kwame Kwaten of D'Influence.

Ama is one of the few R&B stars to fit easily into the language and concerns of the teen music magazines, always stressing her affinity with the fans who pester their mums for singles from Woolies. "A real variety of people seem to think Shola's right for them at the moment," says Paul Kennedy, managing director of her label FreakStreet, where he shares leadership duties with Kwaten. "It started right from support in the streets and regional radio like Kiss and Choice and now there's national support. She's been a hero about it, she's really been working her butt off."

Ama's clout has been increased considerably by FreakStreet's licensing deal for her with WEA. Mickey D, the Warner A&R who signed Mark Morrison, forged the relationship. "We're much more than a distributor for her," he explains. "There's a close connection and I have had A&R input on this project."

After signing her 18 months ago, the initial focus was on the domestic market. "She's undoubtedly taken off here in a big way now," Mickey D says. "There are plenty of British soul singers out there, but if one thing sets her apart, it's that she's of the same generation as Americans like Brandy and Monica."

With her UK profile high, there are great expectations in other territories. "She's doing well in Germany, France, The Netherlands and Japan. In October, there will be a single in America where there is now plenty of focus on this area of British music, so we have high hopes."

Much Love, the 12-track album which follows the single at the start of September, should reward all that work. Seven songs were produced by D'Influence. The American writer and producer Shaun LaBelle also turns in three. There are a range of musical approaches, reflections of changes in US R&B in recent months, and more sterling work in erasing the gap between the style and street appeal of UK and US producers. "It was really good to see how things were done by the Americans," says Ama. "It's second nature to them. They don't look at soul production as a task, they have a relaxed, do-it-in-my-sleep attitude."

The retro groove of You Might Need Somebody and the humalong R&B of You're The One I Love don't sum up the musical range evident across the album.

Celebrate, the appealingly low-key song which was Shola's first recording with D'Influence, gets a deserved second chance on the record and other tracks blend sophisticated embellishments with the populist soul which has won Ama support so far.

The closing track, One Love, again recorded with D'Influence, is a brooding combination of drum & bass-influenced rhythm and acoustic guitar, which aligns it with the recent groundbreaking work of American producers like Rodney Jerkins.

At her Jazz Cafe date, Kwaten described her as part of "the D'I family" and, while Ama's relationship with D'Influence overshadows the involvement from the US, most importantly Much Love sets her apart as an artist in her own right.

Adam Bolton

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