When I first had the chance to hear Amerie, it was on her 2002 debut album “All I Have,” and I was quickly blown away. The album infused sounds from r&b, soul, and neo-soul, and had an overall polish to it. Her powerful voice over a series of mid tempo jams and ballads convinced me we had a new unique talent unlike anyone currently out. Not only did she co-write all of the songs on the album, but it featured no guest appearances which allowed her to take hold of the spotlight and use that to her advantage.

Amerie was able to further define her unique style on her follow up album “Touch” in 2005. This time, she added elements of hip hop, funk and jazz to the mix, along with some up-tempo songs, moving her still farther away from away from what anyone in the mainstream had even experimented with. This is perhaps even more evident on her international only release “Because I Love It” in 2007, where she managed to push the limits even further by applying her new sound to mostly up-tempo songs. Through it all, there was no questioning her voice, which is powerful and beautiful, yet strong at times.

By her third album, though, her style had moved away from a more subtle and soulful groove, to a more loud, in your face, abrasive brand of music. While it worked on some tracks, I’ve felt that despite her unique sound, she really moved away from what worked so well on “All I Have.” In fact, “Because I Love It” seemed to be in a totally different direction than her debut.
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This post was submitted by Thomas Leo.

Check out the return of Amerie with an addictive new single just in time for the summer. New album producers include The Buchanans (“Why R U”), Teddy Riley, Sean Garrett & Eric Hudson, Jim Johnson & Rico Love, Brian Cox and others.

Multiple award winning, RIAA platinum singer and songwriter Amerie has completed her premiere album for Def Jam Recordings (her fourth career album), entitled IN LOVE & WAR, scheduled to arrive in the physical and digital marketplace in August.

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Updated 6/9 with video

Born to Korean and African-American parents, Amerie grew up in U.S. military sites around the world before finding her roots in Washington, DC, where she earned a degree in English and Fine Arts from Georgetown. Early demos led the way to Columbia Records debut album All I Have. The album hit RIAA gold on the strength of the R&B/pop crossover hit “Why Don’t We Fall in Love,” which won Amerie the Soul Train Music Awards’ Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist award.

Amerie continued her string on the RIAA gold Touch (2005). The album contained one of the top songs of the year, the #1 R&B smash “1 Thing,” which won the VIBE Award for Club Banger Of the Year. The song’s rise to the top was helped along by its inclusion in the soundtrack of the Will Smith-Eva Mendes film, Hitch. “1 Thing” became a platinum-selling digital download and mastertone, and was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Grammy; Touch was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album.

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