La Doña

Performer: Teena Marie
Artist: Rick James; MC Lyte; Gerald Levert; Common; BirdMan
Producer: Teena Marie; Doug Grisby; Mannie Fresh; James Allen; Mooxs
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Teena Marie (vocals); Gerald LeVert, Rick James (vocals); Common, Lady Levi, MC Lyte, Medusa , Birdman (rap vocals). Over the course of more than 20 years, Teena Marie has led a career full of unusual twists and turns. Taken under the wing of Rick James while working for Motown in the late 1970s, this fair-skinned California girl sang soul deeply, vibrantly, and truthfully. After hitting the R&B charts repeatedly, Marie suddenly crossed over to the pop charts with the genre-defying "Lovergirl" in 1984. Two decades later, her comeback record, LA DONA, released on the predominantly hardcore-rap label Cash Money, proved to be both a surprise and a success. LA DONA is mostly vintage Marie--sweet, dark, and sultry. Tracks such as "I'm Still in Love" and "My Body's Hungry" are steeped in the kind of '70s soul perfected by the Delfonics and the Stylistics. Many tracks open with modern hip-hop-flecked beats, as on "Honey Call" or "I Got You" (featuring her mentor James), but a jazzy sort of funk prevails, bringing with it a more timeless quality. Even "Makavelli Never Lied" with its opening calls of "thug life," mixes references to both '90s stars (2Pac and Lauryn Hill) and '70s icons (Marvin Gaye and Chaka Khan). On LA DONA, Teena Marie returns, sounding like she's never been away.

Uncut (p.104) - 3 stars out of 5 - "The main joy of La Do�a lies in hearing that gorgeously epic hug of a voice again, unaltered by the passing years, effortlessly scatting and seducing its way through fantastic songs..."

California-born R&B singer Teena Marie started out on Motown Records in the '70s, where she was matched up with labelmate Rick James on her debut album. Her blend of pop, funk, and R&B caught on quickly, and here move into disco/dance wasn't far off. Her greatest success, though, came in the '80s after a much-publicized legal battle with Motown and a subsequent move to Epic, for whom she recorded her huge R&B/Dance hit "Lovergirl."

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