b. Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. With her 1995 debut, Do You Wanna Ride?, assertive soul singer Adina Howard managed to achieve commercial success as well as raising eyebrows with her volatile cocktail of sexually potent imagery and effusive R&B. The mainstream success of the attendant single, "Freak Like Me', helped pave the way for other upfront female R&B singers, including Foxy Brown and Lil' Kim. Peaking at number 7 in the Billboard R&B charts, the debut album's sales profile of over half a million copies was encouraging. The follow-up, 1997"s Welcome To Fantasy Island, opted for sensuality over sexuality: "(the lyrics) are not vulgar. I may say some things straight out, but for the most part, it's a pretty mature album." Howard was also more closely involved in the creative process, writing four of the songs and co-producing two others. However, the promotional single, "(Freak) And U Know It", at least maintained some of the titular traditions of the previous album.
