Shola Ama

Shola Ama (born 8 March 1979) is a British singer from London, who scored her biggest hits with a cover of Turley Richards' "You Might Need Somebody" (1997) and "Still Believe" (1999) which was one of the first productions by the Norwegian producing team Stargate.

Shola Ama
Birth name	Shola Ama Mathurin- Campbell
Born	(1979-03-08) 8 March 1979 London, England
Genres	Soul, R&B
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1995–present
Associated acts	A-List Craig David Devlin Giggs Mz. Bratt Sadie Ama Toddla T Wiley Bugzy Malone

Career

At 15, Ama was singing to herself on a platform at Hammersmith tube station, and was overheard by Kwame Kwaten, a producer at the FreakStreet record label.[1] In 1995, an unknown independent label released a single titled "Celebrate", which was a ballad produced by D'Influence. Although the single was not a commercial success, it did draw attention to Shola Ama as an artist. On her 16th birthday, she signed a recording contract with WEA.

The single "You're the One I Love" was her first single release for WEA in 1996; it barely made an impact on the charts, only managing to reach No. 85. Her second WEA single, "You Might Need Somebody", remains her biggest hit. This Turley Richards cover reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart[2] in April 1997. It remained in the top 40 for almost two months, becoming one of 1997's biggest hits. A re-release of "You're the One I Love" followed in August 1997 and reached #3.[2] Her third single "Who's Loving My Baby" was released in November 1997 and reached #13.[2] At the age of 18, Shola Ama released her debut album Much Love (1997).

In May 1997, Shola performed her single 'You Might Need Somebody' at Wembley Stadium as part of the build-up to the rugby league Challenge Cup Final.

On the success of the album, Shola Ama won a Brit Award for Best British Female and two MOBO Awards for Best Newcomer and Best R&B Act.[3]

In Return

In 1999, Shola Ama released her second album In Return. The project saw her working with the record producers Fred Jerkins III, Stargate, Shaun Labelle, Full Crew, D-Influence Productions and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (formerly of A Tribe Called Quest). Co-writers included Angie Stone and Babyface with David Foster.

Despite having support from her record label, In Return was a commercial flop. Following this, Shola Ama took a break from recording.[4][5]

2000s

In 2002, she went back into the recording studio to record her third album, Supersonic. Unable to obtain a major label deal, she instead formed a distribution deal with Pony Canyon.

In 2004, she featured on the track "You Should Really Know" by The Pirates, a response in song to Mario Winans' "I Don't Wanna Know" which reached #8 on the UK chart.

She also mentored her sister Sadie Ama, who signed her own recording contract and released "So Sure" (2004) and "Fallin" (2007).

Shola Ama featured as vocalist on the Perempay & Dee single "DJ Play". The song was released in October 2009 and received heavy rotation on the radio.[6] She also featured on one of rapper Giggs' songs, "Cut Above the Rest", and later featured on the bonus disc to his album, Let Em Ave It, on a song called "Blow Em Away".

A-List

In February 2010, Shola Ama joined a new collective group formed by Wiley called A-List, alongside her sister Sadie Ama and grime musicians Roll Deep, Mz. Bratt, Wrigley, Margs, Young Kye and Kivanc.[7]

Recent work

In April 2010, Shola Ama was a guest judge for a girl group on the Sky 1 television docusoap Pineapple Dance Studios alongside reality TV star Dean Rowland.

In 2013, during Black History Month in the UK, Shola Ama narrated on the show My Crazy Jamaican Life. The show featured two white girls who are associated with Jamaican men living in England. It received mixed reviews by UK viewers of all ethnicities.

In October 2015, she released a new 8 track EP featuring new reggae influenced tracks titled Surreal on Necessary Mayhem Records, 13 years after her last album Supersonic in 2002.

In April 2016, she featured on album System Killer by Frisco on the song "Rocket".

Discography

Albums

• Much Love (1997) No. 6 UK (Gold),[8][9] No. 21 FRA[10]
• In Return (1999) Silver, No. 92 UK,[8] No. 57 FRA[10]
• Supersonic (2002) Gold (Japan only), No. 126 FRA[10]
• Surreal (2015)

Singles

As main artist

Year	Title	Chart positions						Album
		UK [8]	FRA [10]	GER [11]	IRE [12]	NL [13]	NZ [14]
1995	"Celebrate"	—	—	—	—	—	—	Much Love
1996	"You're the One I Love"	85	—	—	—	—	—
1997	"You Might Need Somebody"	4	10	21	9	8	8
	"You're the One I Love" (re-issue)	3	81	—	—	93	45
	"Who's Loving My Baby"	13	—	—	—	—	—
1998	"Much Love"	17	—	—	—	—	—
	"Someday I'll Find You" (featuring Craig Armstrong)	28	—	—	—	—	—	Twentieth-Century Blues: The Songs of Noel Coward
1999	"Still Believe"	26	9	71	—	—	—	In Return
2000	"Imagine"	24	—	—	—	—	—
2002	"This I Promise You" (with D'Influence and D-Vas)	95	—	—	—	—	—	Supersonic
	"Symphony" (featuring Moïse)	—	53	—	—	—	—

As featured artist

Year	Title	Chart positions					Album
		UK [8]	FRA [10]	IRE [12]	NL [13]	NZ [14]
1999	"Taboo" (Glamma Kid featuring Shola Ama)	10	78	—	26	22	Single only
	"Mai più" (Sottotono featuring Shola Ama)	—	—	—	—	—	Sotto lo stesso effetto
2004	"You Should Really Know" (The Pirates featuring Shola Ama, Naila Boss, Ishani and Enya)	8	49	25	—	—	Single only
2009	"DJ Play" (Perempay & Dee featuring Shola Ama)	—	—	—	—	—	Written in My History
	"Cut Above the Rest" (Giggs featuring Shola Ama)	—	—	—	—	—	Single only
2010	"Blow Em Away" (Giggs featuring Shola Ama)	—	—	—	—	—	Let Em Ave It
2011	"Take It Back" (Toddla T featuring Shola Ama and J2K)	59	—	—	—	—	Watch Me Dance

References

1. Callan, Jessica (12 December 1998). "Dream comes true for Shola". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 4 September 2004. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
2. Brown, Tony; Neil Warwick; Jon Kutner (2004). The Complete Book of the British Charts: Singles and Albums. London: Omnibus Press. p. 63. ISBN 1-84449-058-0.
3. http://www.mobo.com/1997. Retrieved 6 February 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
4. "Ama ruined by cocaine". 21 July 2004. Archived from the original on 1 July 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
5. "R&B singer tells of cocaine fight". BBC News. 20 July 2004. Archived from the original on 1 July 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
6. "Perempay & Dee feat. Shola Ama – DJ Play". Buzzin Electronic Music. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
7. "Westwood – Wiley introducing the A-List (Radio 1)". YouTube. 4 March 2010. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
8. "Shola Ama | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
9. "British album certifications – Shola Ama – Much Love". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 30 June 2020. Select albums in the Format field. Type Much Love in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
10. "Discographie Shola Ama". lescharts.com. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
11. "Offizielle Deutsche Charts". Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
12. "The Irish Charts: Search for "Shola Ama"". irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
13. "Discografie Shola Ama". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
14. "Discography Shola Ama". charts.nz. Retrieved 30 June 2020.