Juanita Stokes
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Juanita Stokes (aka Smooth and "The Female Mack") is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of actress Irene Stokes and younger sister of music executive Chris Stokes. Christened 'Smooth' because of her skillful raps and jazz-tinged, mezzo soprano, she is best known for her hits: "You Been Played," "Mind Blowin'" and "Strawberries." She has one child, and currently performs under the name Needa S.
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[edit] Early life
Born in 1979, Juanita grew up with huge aspirations toward the entertainment business. As a child, she sang in the church choir and was influenced by Nancy Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald, as well as pioneering female rap artists such as Salt-N-Pepa, Queen Latifah and MC Lyte. These varied influences subsequently resulted in Juanita's later being a two-way artist, a slang for an artist who could rap equally as well as she could sing.
[edit] Music Career
[edit] You Been Played
After having established the then pre-teen R&B trio Immature in the early 1990s — Chris, now a fledgling music executive, focused his attention producing Juanita's debut album. Using the moniker, Smooth, her first single 1993s "You Been Played" was featured on the soundtrack to Menace II Society. Her debut album, of the same title, was released the same year on TNT/Jive Records. Although Juanita trailed in the wake of Queen Latifah and TLC in combining rapping and singing abilities, she and fellow R&B teen sensation Aaliyah were pioneers in the use of jailbait gimmicking, that is, performing grown-up explicit material while underage. In spite of receiving minor attention and airplay, You Been Played, failed to reach a wide commercial audience.
[edit] Smooth
Smooth's eponymous sophomore album was released in 1995. A sleeker produced, raunchier-themed set — the album features a cameo appearance by her then TNT-labelmate, 2Pac. It's lead-off single, the sexually-charged "Mind Blowin'," was well received by radio — while the video garnered spins on MTV and BET. The song ultimately peaked at #7 on Billboard's Rap Singles Chart. Though the album fared slightly better than its predecessor, thanks to "Mind Blowin' (which includes references to fellatio)," its sales were also underwhelming. The same year, however, she performed a rap cameo in Immature's top 10 pop single, "We Got It." Shortly thereafter she left TNT and Jive Records, signing a new deal with Perspective/A&M Records.
[edit] Reality
Smooth's junior album, Reality, was released in March 1998. Working with a wide array of producers including: Chris Stokes, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, and Brion James — unlike her first two albums, Reality tempers Smooth's hip-hop influences with urban soul, and the result is a seductive collection of songs that's equally funky and stylish. While the songwriting isn't always compelling, a rich instrumental backdrop was given that allowed her to emphasize her charisma, and the result is arguably her best release to date.
Although critics were kind, and many noted that she had grown as an artist, Smooth's unlucky sales streak continued with this album. Although the first single, "Strawberries" (which featured a sample loop of "Where There Is Love," a song by Patrice Rushen), charted in the upper half of the Hot 100 Singles Chart, album sales were not as high as with her previous album. The second single "He Thinks She Don't Know" went virtually unnoticed. More trouble lay ahead when Perspective Records was folded into its A&M parent, which did not opt to keep Smooth on the roster.
Smooth's raunchy contemporaries Lil' Kim and especially an underage Foxy Brown, meanwhile, had emerged onto the scene upping the antee on female hip-hop explicitness — resulting in Smooth being lost in the shuffle. Finally, Britney Spears took the jailbait gimmick to a new level in the late '90s, as Smooth aged out the category.
[edit] Controversy
Although her 1995 single "Mind Blowin'" was well received, Smooth faced criticism due to the raunchy nature of the song, and her adjoining image, from critics felt it too sexual and crass for a 16-year-old. Clips of the video appeared on an episode of The Maury Povich Show, where he decried teenagers growing up too fast. Some Christians were harsher, declaring her an example of children growning up without strong parenting, despite an official declaration to this accord.
[edit] Currently
Smooth released a song independently, "Just To Need You," in 2002. The song, the last to be recorded under the moniker Smooth, features Stokes singing with a stronger style. Afterwards, she recorded two singles under the pseudonym Needa S, a play on the last syllable of her given name and the initial of her last name. After they failed to chart as expected, Stokes reverted to singing under her given name and is rumored to be singing gospel music; however to date these rumors have been unconfirmed. Needa S. did much work with the now defunct TG4 on their unreleased debut cd Time For The New
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- You Been Played (1993)
- Smooth (1995)
- Reality (1998)
[edit] Singles
(As Smooth)
- "You Been Played" (1993)
- "Mind Blowin" (1995)
- "We Got It" [Immature feat. Smooth] (1995)
- "Love & Happiness" (1996)
- "Watch Me Do My Thing" [Immature feat. Smooth] (1997)
- "Strawberries" (1998)
- "He Thinks She Don't Know" (1998)
(As Needa S)
- "Sensitive" feat. Da Brat (2002)
- "Baby's Mama" feat. Marques Houston (2003)
- "Silly Of Me Young Rome Ft Needa S (2005)
- "Virginity (Remix)" TG4 Ft Needa S (2002)
- "Zip It Up" TG4 Ft Needa S (2002)
- "Can't Trust A Friend" TG4 Ft Needa S (2002)
(As Juanita Stokes)
- "Hiccup" (2006)
