Biography
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Born
14 November 1974 (age 49)
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Born In
Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan, United States
Adina Marie Howard (born November 14, 1974) is an American R&B, pop, and hip-hop singer-songwriter from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her debut album Do You Wanna Ride?, with the hit single "Freak Like Me", was released in 1995 and achieved high sales figures. The album's first single, as well as Howard's image, can be described as hyper-sexual; her debut album helped to open the doors for female rap artists to incorporate sexually explicit material into their works in the future. Howard's second studio album, Welcome to Fantasy Island, garnered critical raves, but was shelved by Elektra Records before its intended release in July 1997. Following years of being unofficially released, Howard announced that her second album would arrive on streaming services in February 2021.
In 2003, news of her third album hit with various album title changes throughout the year from Ride Again: 7/2 to Two Can Play That Game. During this year, Howard also starred in an an independent film called Casanova's Demise co-starring Greg Horos.
In 2004, Howard officially released her third album, The Second Coming, under Rufftown Records. With the distribution label and the record label in conflict, the album suffered without much publicity — it was mostly limited to the music video for "Nasty Grind" playing on BET during early morning hours. Despite the lack of publicity, it sold over 40,000 copies.
In 2005, Howard intended to release The Second Coming: Remixed but that project was shelved to make way for a new full-length album, Private Show. Along with a new album, Howard worked with Walid Azami to bring documentaries for her fansite. This was an attempt to explain her side of the story and show her fans how the album was made.
The promo single, "Phone Sex", was released in September 2006. After some delays, Howard's third album was released on June 27, 2007 with the lead single, "L.O.V.A." It managed to peak #17 on iTunes R&B music sales chart. However, the album missed the Billboard 200 and R&B Albums chart altogether; overall, it sold only a few thousand copies. Shortly thereafter, Howard and Arsenal Records parted ways. On September 25, 2009, an independent compilation, "Independent Soul Divas 2" was issued on Lola Waxx Records. This compilation features "What Do I Do", a song recorded by Howard in 2008. The version included on the compilation is different from the version originally featured on her official MySpace profile.
According to Howard's official website, in addition to getting married, she went back to school to study culinary arts, and she is in the early stages of creating a possible fourth studio album.
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