Jamelia

Jamelia Niela Davis (born on 11 January 1981), known simply as Jamelia, is a Mercury Music Prize nominated English R&B singer-songwriter and occasional rapper who found fame in early 2000 after impressing music executives at Parlophone Records with self-written a cappella songs. She has released three studio albums, each of which has reached the Top 40 in her native UK, which collectively have spawned eight UK top ten singles. In addition, Jamelia has won four MOBO Awards, a Q award and has received six BRIT Award nominations.

Biography

Jamelia was born in Smethwick in the county of the West Midlands of the United Kingdom, to a Zimbabwean father and a Jamaican mother and raised in the Winson Green area of Birmingham. She was signed to Parlophone at the age of fifteen, after impressing record executives with self-written a cappella songs. Jamelia attended the The City Technology College in Kingshurst. She gave birth to her first daughter Teja in March 2001 and her second daughter Tiani on October 21, 2005. On October 9, 2007 she announced her engagement to footballer Darren Byfield, the father of Tiani.

Music career

1999-2000: Drama

Jamelia was signed to Capitol Records at the age of fifteen after record producers were informed of her talents via her self-written a capella music she recorded on a karaoke machine. Extremely impressed, music executives offered her a record deal and she was hot footed for success. In late 1999, Jamelia debuted on the music scene with the single "So High", a collaboration with fellow R&B vocalist Rosita Lynch. The single failed to chart in both the UK and mainland Europe, and did not appear on any of Jamelia's subsequent albums. Following the poor sales of the single, Jamelia left Capitol Records, but was quickly signed up with record company Parlophone, a branch of the EMI company.

Taking some time to record her debut album, Drama, Jamelia returned the music scene in early 2000 with the single "I Do", which became her first commercially successful single in the UK and mainland Europe, making the UK top forty and holding top twenty positions in France and Sweden. The single's mediocre chart success, however, led to the delay of the release of Drama. Jamelia's third single, "Money" (featuring rapper Beenie Man and co-written by UK The X Factor finalist Daniel De Bourg), was released in February 2000. The single was the singer's breakthrough in the UK, peaking at number five and spending nine weeks inside the UK top seventy-five; it later won a MOBO Award for "Best Video" in 2000. Despite the success of "Money", Drama did not make a major chart impression in the UK, where it peaked at number thirty-nine. The third single from the album, "Call Me", reached number eleven, and the fourth single, "Boy Next Door", peaked at number forty-two.

2003-2005: Thank You

Jamelia recorded her second studio album, Thank You, in 2002 and early 2003 following the birth of her daughter Teja in 2001. The first single lifted from Thank You was the R&B-influenced "Bout", on which she collaborated with American rap star Rah Digga; it debuted at number thirty-seven in the UK. The second single, the much poppier "Superstar", became Jamelia's highest peaking at the time (it reached number three) and the twenty-sixth best-selling of 2003 in the UK. Thank You, released shortly after "Superstar", was widely expected to duplicate the single's success, but the album entered the UK chart at number sixty-five. Subsequently, a number of record producers worked with Jamelia on a re-release of the album that features new artwork and track listing, including two new songs: her collaboration with Coldplay's Chris Martin, "See It in a Boy's Eyes", and "DJ".

Promoting the re-release, title track "Thank You" was released shortly before. Known to be Jamelia's favourite of all her releases, the song became her highest charting single to date in the UK, where it peaked at number two and received the 2004 MOBO Award for "Best Single" and a BRIT Award nomination in the same category. Fourth single "See it in a Boy's Eyes" was released in mid 2004 and became Jamelia's third consecutive top five hit, winning a MOBO Award for "Best Video" and a Q Award for "Best Single". The success of Thank You resulted in five BRIT Award nominations for Jamelia in 2004 and 2005. The album became the thirty-fifth best-selling of 2004 and has been certified double platinum by the BPI in recognition of 600,000 copies shipped to retailers.

In mid 2004, she collaborated with Italian singer Tiziano Ferro on "Universal Prayer" for the 2004 Olympic Games soundtrack. It became her first number-one single in Italy and Spain and was added to non-UK editions of Thank You. In late 2004, Jamelia was asked to contribute to the Band Aid 20 charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", on which she sang with Will Young. The single topped the UK Singles Chart and was certified platinum. Around the same time, Jamelia released the lead single from the soundtrack of the film Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, a cover of Sam Brown's 1988 single "Stop!"; it was released as double A-side in the UK with the aforementioned "DJ", and peaked at number nine.

2006-2007: Walk With Me

Following the birth of her second daughter, Tiani, in 2005, Jamelia began recording her third album, Walk With Me. Its lead single, "Something About You", was released in late 2006 and described as "less R&B, more experimental", with Popjustice hailing it as "one of the best pop singles for a long time". Walk with Me was released shortly after and drew critical praise, with many critics claiming that it marked a significant turn in the singer's career. The album did not emulate the chart success of Thank You; it debuted at number twenty on the UK Albums Chart and was certified gold by the BPI. The second single, "Beware of the Dog", features a sample from Depeche Mode's 1989 song "Personal Jesus" and was heavily praised as being Jamelia's best single to date, with BBC Radio 1's "Chart Blog" stating that it "might just be one of the best pop songs ever made". The single reached number ten in the UK and was nominated for Popjustice's 2007 £20 Music Prize, coming in second place. "No More", the third and final single from Walk with Me that samples The Stranglers' 1981 single "Golden Brown", peaked at number forty-three in the UK despite being A-listed on BBC Radio 2.

Jamelia subsequently left Parlophone, citing their lack of support for and promotion of the album. She has since been offered several recording contracts that she is choosing between.

2007: Superstar - The Hits

Jamelia released a collection of her singles on a greatest hits album, Superstar - The Hits, in late 2007. The album features eleven of her fourteen releases, omitting the 1999 single "So High", Drama singles "I Do" and "Boy Next Door" and the non-UK 2004 release "Universal Prayer". Superstar - The Hits failed to attract any critical or commercial acclaim, peaking at number fifty-five on the UK top 100 albums chart. It is believed that because Jamelia left Parlophone earlier in 2007, the singles collection was released only so that contractual agreements could be met on both Jamelia's and Parlophone's side; consequently, the album contained no new material and had limited promotional support..

2009: The New Album

Jamelia will release her new album, currently untitled, in 2009. The album will be the first to be released by Jamelia since parting ways with former record label Parlophone. On April 7th 2008, Jamelia confirmed that she had been in the studio with producers Shea Taylor (Rihanna, Beyoncé, Janet Jackson) and Scyience (Jay-Z, John Legend, Mary J Blige).

On July 8th 2008, it was reported that hip hop producer Pharrell Williams wants to work with Jamelia on her upcoming album.

Other projects

In spring, 2004, Jamelia was signed by the prestigious model agency, ICM. Just a week later she was signed as the face and legs of Pretty Polly in a high profile advertising campaign and shortly afterwards was featured in a poster campaign for Reebok. Since pursuing work in modelling, Jamelia has also endorsed Listerine Softmint Sensation, Jaguar Cars and BMW, was the brand ambassador for the maternity wear line Seraphine, has appeared in print advertising for Oxfam and on the front cover of magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Company, Elle and Harpers & Queen.

On 9 November 2006, Jamelia joined Feeder on stage for the encore of Feeder's WAR Child gig at 'The Coronet' in London. They performed a cover of R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" as well as "Beware Of The Dog".

In January 2007, Jamelia launched a new fragrance as part of a campaign to increase awareness of HIV and AIDS. Proceeds from the sale of every bottle of The Body Shop's Rougeberry will be donated to MTV's Staying Alive Foundation. In 2007 she appeared in a high profile poster campaign shot by Mary McCartney for the animals right charity PETA, she appeared naked under the headline "Be comfortable in your own skin and let animals keep theirs". The campaign group released her image to coincide with the start of London Fashion Week.

On May 27, 2007 it was announced that Jamelia signed a £100,000 contract to launch a new range of products for Boots. On July 31, 2007 it was announced that Jamelia, along with Erin O'Connor and Helena Christensen, had teamed up with famous hairdressers Toni & Guy to promote Model.Me - a hair product created for women with ethnic hair. Jamelia comments: "I think it's about time that there was a haircare range specifically designed for ethnic hair available on every high street."

On September 18, 2007 Jamelia co-hosted the MOBO Awards 2007 for the BBC with Shaggy and on September 20 she walked the Catwalk in Naomi Campbell's Fashion for Relief event at the Natural History Museum in London.

Jamelia appeared on ITV's "Saturday Night Divas" to mark the end of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. She shared the stage with Jennifer Lopez, Girls Aloud, Celine Dion and Alicia Keys, amongst others and performed a cover version of Outkast's hit single Hey Ya.

On December 1st, Jamelia was invited to perform on stage for Nelson Mandela's World Aids Day concert. She performed the hit singles "Something About You", "See It In A Boy's Eyes" and "Superstar".

Currently, Jamelia is deciding which new record label to sign with, and has begun work on her fourth studio album. Talking about the album, Jamelia commented that she is working with producers she'd have never had the chance to previously, and is eager to work with Timbaland and John Legend. When asked about the album's release, she said "next year at the earliest".

On December 19th, Jamelia played Cinderella in Channel 4's The Paul O'Grady Show's Christmas Pantomime appearing opposite Joan Collins, Louis Walsh, Liz Smith, Jo Brand, Christopher Biggins, Cilla Black, Kate Thornton, Patrick McGuinness and Paul O'Grady himself.

In late January 2008, it was announced that Jamelia had signed a book publishing deal with Orion. She will be releasing her autobiography, currently titled 'Stronger', in September 2008. It will talk about the singer's struggle in both her personal & professional life amongst other things.

In February 2008, Jamelia announced in a podcast on her personal website (web.mac.com/jembalem) that she had "completed her first official acting role". It was also mentioned that she had landed a TV presenting job.

In April 2008, Jamelia guest presented The National Lottery and in July 2008 she appeared in a documentary about the international Hair Extension trade Jamelia: Whose hair is it anyway for BBC Three & guest presented a week of episodes of Big Brother's Big Mouth for E4. On September the 7th, she guest presented an episode of Something for the Weekend (2000s BBC TV series) with Tim Lovejoy.

Personal life

In March 2005, It was revealed that Jamelia's half brother, Kairo Beckford, of Birmingham's notorious "Burger Bar Boys" street gang, was jailed for life for the murder of a teenager who they had mistaken for a member of a rival West Midlands gang, the Raiders.

Four months after the incarceration of her sibling, the Burger Bar Boys released a video of Jamelia seemingly promoting gun violence via the Internet, an accusation which she denies.

In October 2006, the News of the World published a kiss and tell story alleging that her then boyfriend, Darren Byfield had cheated on her, with a girl named Jaclyn Evans. Jamelia later disputed the allegations.

In August 2007 Jamelia split from Byfield. The couple are parents to daughter Tiani. Jamelia also has another child, Teja, from a previous relationship. A spokesman confirmed, “Jamelia and Darren have sadly parted but it is an amicable split.”

The couple were reconciled a couple of months later and in October 2007 they announced their engagement. On 15 June 2008 it was reported the couple wed on the previous day in West Sussex.

Jamelia was ranked No. 48 in COED Magazine Online's list of "The 50 Sexiest WAGs of World Football."

Discography

Album	Release Date	UK Chart Peak	UK Certification
Drama	26 June, 2000	#39	Gold
Thank You	29 September, 2003	#4	2x platinum
Walk With Me	25 September, 2006	#20	Gold
Superstar - The Hits	24 September, 2007	#55
TBA	2009	TBA	TBA

Awards and nominations

Year	Institution	Award
Won
2000	MOBO Awards	Best Video - "Money"
2004	MOBO Awards	Best British Female
2004	MOBO Awards	Best Single - "Thank You"
2004	MOBO Awards	Best Video - "See It In a Boy's Eyes"
2004	Q Awards	Best Single - "See It In a Boy's Eyes"
2005	Urban Music Awards	Best R&B Act
2007	Eska Awards	Best Foreign Singer
2007	Urban Music Awards	Best R&B Act
Nominated
2004	Brit Awards	Best British Female
2004	Brit Awards	Best British Single - "Superstar"
2004	Mercury Music Prize	Thank You
2005	Brit Awards	Best British Female
2005	Brit Awards	Best British Urban Act
2005	Brit Awards	Best British Single - "Thank You"
2007	Brit Awards	Best British Female
2007	Popjustice £20 Music Prize	"Beware of the Dog"
2007	MOBO Awards	Best British Female

Tour history

• 2004 Thank You Tour

References

External links

• Official website
• Jamelia's Personal website
• Official MySpace