From the woman who told Nelly
"I'm gettin' so hot, I wanna take my clothes off!" That's right, this
is the woman who sings the hook on "Hot In Herre!" No need to look any
further!
If you saw her story portrayed in a made-for-TV movie, you'd never believe it:
"That girl's rise to fame was too fast," you'd say. "Too
drama-free. No one gets discovered like that." But here she is, in an
ascent that can only be viewed as a testament to her great talent. Dani
Stevenson has arrived.
On her Universal Records debut IS THERE ANOTHER?! Dani proves beyond a shadow of
a doubt that her place in the spotlight is well earned. And listeners will agree
once they get a dose of her funkdafied, jazzed-up R&B style. Her voice and
music pay homage to her eclectic cast of influences and the styles they
purveyed. Clearly, the fingerprints of Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, Donnie
Hathaway, Whitney Houston, and Roberta Flack are all over this prodigious debut.
But, this is not a record simply for old-schoolers. Dani definitely gives it up
for her peers as she boldly goes where few artists have dared to go: sprinkling
bits of jazz-inspired vocals over modern-day hip hop beats.
"Yo Yo Yo" is the listener's first clue that IS THERE ANOTHER?! is not
just another album and Dani Stevenson is not just another singer. "Yo Yo Yo,"
which was also featured on the Universal soundtrack Music From and Inspired by
XXX, brims with originality from Dani's ear-catching vocals to its down home
jazz clarinet chiming in throughout the track. The slow-paced "Indecent
Proposal (What Would You Do?)" finds Dani crooning sweetly and sexily about
a discreet romantic tryst while the mid-tempo "Fed Up" kicks a
trifling lover to the curb. "Still In Love" is one of those
smoke-filled-room-my-lover-done-me-wrong torch songs that few young singers can
convey as convincingly as Dani does on this track. And as a real testament to
her musical depth, the 22-year-old singer dares to include a cover of the
classic "Fever" performed by Peggy Lee.
Long before she sang the hook on Nelly's "Hot In Herre" (I am gettin'
so hot, I wanna take my clothes off), Dani Stevenson was a star in waiting and
her style was well defined.
A native of Atlanta who moved to Harlem, New York at the age of 12, Dani's
childhood showed hints of the single mindedness that would one day bring her
success. "I always knew I wanted to sing," she says. "When I was
a kid I would sing whatever my mother was listening to, like Whitney Houston or
Anita Baker." Dani would stage one-woman shows - hairbrush in hand - live
from her kitchen or lend accompaniment to her favorite singers from the backseat
of her mother�s car. "I know my family was about to be sick of me,"
she laughs.
But it wasn't long before Dani moved her show to a larger arena, performing her
own rendition of the national anthem at her junior high graduation. "That's
when I knew for sure: Yes, I am a singer."
Dani wasn't the only one who had an epiphany. Shortly after that performance,
her mother began signing her up for talent shows and even though she didn't
always win ("I had the wrong dress!" she insists) Dani never doubted
that music was her calling. "I never even thought about doing anything
else," she says. "My ultimate goal back then was to get signed."
In August of 2001, Dani met her producer, Rhemario Webber, through a mutual
friend. Between them was an instant chemistry that would result in an album that
perfectly showcases Dani's blend of sassy southern charm and east coast vigor;
an album that is one of the most daring and innovative by any female vocalist of
her era.
Dani and Rhemario recorded a 10-song demo, which quickly resulted in her being
signed to Universal Records. More remarkable than the speed with which she was
signed, however, is the fact that out of the ten songs on her demo, eight of
them made it onto the album. "We just added more music and some background
to fill out the sound," she says with a modest shrug. "And that was
it."
IS THERE ANOTHER?! is a "soulful mix of R&B," says Dani, who wrote
11 of the album's 13 tracks. She did yield, however, to super producer/artist
Missy Elliot, who penned the first single, "Honk Your Horn." In true
Missy fashion, the song is sassy and edgy. Enhanced by Dani's seductive vocals,
it's a bonafide hit waiting to happen.
Dani says she was inspired to write other tracks, like "Bogus" and
"Yo Yo Yo" after listening to some of her girlfriends talk about the
men in their lives. The songs, she says, are meant to be empowering. "It's
a new day for women. We are saying we're fed up and we are not taking the B.S.
anymore."
But IS THERE ANOTHER?! is not without its tender moments. On "Still In
Love," Dani displays the vulnerability of a woman who can't let go and
"Is There Another" explores the insecurity of a lover who questions
her mate's fidelity.
"Hot Like Fire" features label mate Mr. Cheeks while "Jungle Up
In Here" is a sweat-dripping party anthem that rides comfortably on African
beats.
On IS THERE ANOTHER?! Dani explores and displays her many musical sides and
seamlessly ties them together into an enjoyable, inspired and utterly creative
masterpiece.
"All I want is that when people listen to my album, they get a sense of me
as a person. There are a lot of different sides to me and that's why there is
something on my album that everyone can relate to. Whether it's my lyrics or my
sound, everyone can relate to it." And everyone will know that, in today's
R&B circles, there's not another album like IS THERE ANOTHER?! and not
another singer like Dani Stevenson.