Amerie
Amerie (born Amerie Mi Merie Rogers) is an American R&B music artist as well as model and occasional actress. She debuted in 2002 with her sleeper hit single "Why Don't We Fall in Love" and the subsequent album All I Have. In 2004, she acted alongside Katie Holmes in the film "First Daughter" and released her follow up album Touch in 2005, which included the single "1 Thing", her biggest hit to date. 2007 saw her experimenting with 80s-inspired new wave and pop with her album Because I Love It, which included the international singles "Take Control" and "Gotta Work". In 2009, she released her fourth album In Love and War, in which she incorporated 90s-inspired R&B and hip-hop, and elements of soft rock. She plans to release her fifth album, Cymatika Vol. 1 in 2011 which has her exploring acid house, trance, new wave and electronica. This album will include the yet-to-be-released single "Outside Your Body".
Her music is known for including go-go beats, percussion, gorgeous harmonies and aggressive vocals. Her albums have generally been well-received by critics.
She has collaborated or have had her songs remixed by several rappers, including but not limited to: Nas, Ludacris, Royce da 5'9", Fabulous and Jay-Z. She also collaborated with Asian pop artists such as Se7en and 4 Minutes, and has expressed interest in working with K-pop artists again in the future.
- All I Have (2002)
- Touch (2005)
- Because I Love It (2007)
- In Love and War (2009)
- Cymatika Vol. 1 (2011)
- Aerith and Bob: Her last name (Rogers) is relevantly common in comparison to her exotic first name. Also applies to her parents (Mi Suk and Joe).
- Album Title Drop: From Gotta Work: "I do it because I love it!"
- Bawdy Song: "Touch".
- Break Up Song: A lot of In Love and War is this. "Streets Alone" from Because I Love It is a particularly dark version of this trope.
- Broken Base: Some fans prefer the straight-forward R&B style of her debut, while others prefer the experimentation of her later works.
- But Not Too Black: She was born to an African American father and a Korean mother.
- Cloudcuckoolander: She is interested in the occult and has said that if she wasn't singing, she would be exploring ancient ruins and hunting ghosts. Also talks about how human beings are just "spirits with bodies" and that we are all essentially the same.
- Concept Album: Cymatika.
- Crowning Music of Awesome: "1 Thing" and her third album, Because I Love It, her most critically acclaimed album to date.
- Not to mention this gem.
- Dream Team: Her work with producer Rich Harrison.
- Ear Worm: It's this one thing that's got me trippin'...
- Fan Disservice: Her decision to dye her hair blonde. She has since returned to having dark hair.
- Funk: "Take Control".
- "God Is Love" Songs: "All Roads".
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Her fiancee practically towers over her.
- Intercourse with You: "That's What U R", "Touch", "Need You Tonight" and a few others. "1 Thing" could be about this as well, depending on your interpretation.
- It Will Never Catch On: Her record company held this attitude concerning 1 Thing. It wasn't until Amerie leaked the track to radio stations herself and it started to receive airplay that her label finally started to back the project (if mildly). Doubles as a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
- Les Yay: Her song "Crush" contains some rather...interesting lyrics.
- I wish I could save your kiss for some other girl to taste, to see the expressions on her face
- Let's Duet: With Trey Songz in "Pretty Brown" and Carl Thomas in "Can We Go".
- Morality Ballad: "All Roads" is about how God remains with you through all of your troubles.
- New Sound Album: Because I Love It. And Cymatika is shaping up to be yet another big change.
- No Export for You: Because I Love It was released everywhere except America.
- Sampling: "1 Thing" is based on a sample from New Orleanian funk band The Meters' cover of "Oh! Calcutta".
- Self-Backing Vocalist: 95% of her music is this. Usually to fantastic results.
- She's Got Legs: Ooooooooooooooooooooh yes! [dead link]
- Signature Song: 1 Thing
- Silly Love Songs: The gist of her first album.
- Smarter Than You Look: People are surprised to learn that she writes all of her own music and has co-produced several of her albums.
- Three Minutes of Writhing: She loves to dance around in really (really) tiny shorts, namely in 1 Thing and Gotta Work.
- Title-Only Chorus: Why Don't We Fall in Love, Tell Me You Love Me, Love's Off the Chain, among others
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: How some fans view her engagement to Len Nicholson (who also happens her manager).
- Xtreme Kool Letterz: Many of her song titles are spelled this way ("Why R U", "That's What U R", "Losing U", "Hate 2 Love U", etc).
- Zettai Ryouiki: Watch any given video, but namely 1 Thing and Why Don't We Fall in Love. Also applies to her attire during live performances.