Phajja

Last updated
Phajja
OriginU.S.A
Genres Contemporary R&B
Years active1987–2000
Labels Warner Bros. Records
MembersKena Epps
Karen Johnson
Nakia Epps

Phajja were an all-female contemporary R&B trio that released two albums on Warner Bros. Records and several moderately successful singles. Its members are Kena and Nakia Epps, sisters from Chicago, and Karen Johnson, of Boston. The ladies began singing together in 1987. The group originally consisted of five members and the original name was "Not Your Average Girls". The five ladies traveled and performed original music for several years before landing their first record deal with Capitol Records in 1991, however never released an album. In 1993 the five ladies disbanded and Kena, Karen, & Nakia continued on, changed their name to "Phajja" and shortly after left Capitol Records and signed with Arista Records. In 1995 Phajja signed with Warner Brothers Records. Although having been signed to three major labels it was with Warner Brothers Records when they would release their first album "Seize The Moment".

Phajja released two singles from its debut album "Seize the Moment" (1997), "What Are You Waiting For" and "So Long (Well, Well, Well)". Smooth Jazz radio stations also played their cover of Sailing originally recorded by American artist Christopher Cross. Phajja also appeared on Soul Train on May 17, 1997. Following a brief break, the group released the 1999 single "Checkin' for Me" produced by Mario Winans and written by themselves and Shari "Truth Hurts" Watson, from their second album, Meeting in the Ladies' Room (1999).

Discography

Albums
Singles

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barenaked Ladies</span> Canadian rock band

Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reached mainstream success in Canada when their debut with Reprise Records, Gordon, featuring the singles "If I Had $1000000" and "Brian Wilson", was released in 1992. The band's popularity subsequently spread into the US, beginning with versions of "Brian Wilson" and "The Old Apartment" off their 1996 live album Rock Spectacle, followed by their fourth studio album Stunt, their breakout success in 1998. The album featured their highest-charting hit, "One Week", as well as "It's All Been Done" and "Call and Answer". Their fifth album, Maroon, featuring the lead single "Pinch Me", also charted highly. In the 2010s the band became well-known for creating the theme song for the sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonnie Raitt</span> American musician (born 1949)

Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk, and country. She was also a frequent session player and collaborator with other artists, including Warren Zevon, Little Feat, Jackson Browne, the Pointer Sisters, John Prine, and Leon Russell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Funk Railroad</span> American band

Grand Funk Railroad is an American rock band formed in Flint, Michigan, in 1969 by Mark Farner, Don Brewer, and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved peak popularity and success during the 1970s with hit songs such as "We're an American Band", "I'm Your Captain ", "Some Kind of Wonderful", "Walk Like a Man", "The Loco-Motion", "Bad Time" and "Inside Looking Out". Grand Funk released six platinum and seven gold-certified albums between their recording debut in 1969 and their first disbandment in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reprise Records</span> American record label

Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhino Entertainment</span> American record label

Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skydiggers</span> Canadian rock band

Skydiggers are a Canadian roots rock band from Toronto formed by Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson. Since 1990, they have released 19 albums/EPs and have had a number of singles that have appeared on the Canadian charts. Their most successful album is Restless, released in 1992. With a presence spanning decades, the band has appeared under a variety of different record labels and with many changes in members that form the group. The current group of six members released their most recent recording in 2017.

Uptown Records is an American record label, based in New York City, founded in 1986 by onetime rapper Andre Harrell. From the late 1980s into the early 1990s, it was a leader in R&B and hip hop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juice Newton</span> American pop and country singer (born 1952)

Judith Kay "Juice" Newton is an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Newton has received five Grammy Award nominations in the Pop and Country Best Female Vocalist categories – winning once in 1983 – as well as an ACM Award for Top New Female Artist and two consecutive Billboard Female Album Artist of the Year awards. Newton's other awards include a People's Choice Award for "Best Female Vocalist" and the Australian Music Media's "Number One International Country Artist".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Seals</span> American singer-songwriter (1948-2009)

Danny Wayland Seals was an American musician. The younger brother of Seals and Crofts member Jim Seals, he first gained fame as one half of the soft rock duo England Dan & John Ford Coley, who charted nine singles between 1976 and 1980, including the No. 2 Billboard Hot 100 hit "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neal McCoy</span> American country music singer

Hubert Neal McGaughey Jr., known professionally as Neal McCoy and previously as Neal McGoy, is an American country music singer. He has released 10 studio albums on various labels, and has released 34 singles to country radio. Although he first charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1988, he did not reach the top 40 for the first time until 1992's "Where Forever Begins", which peaked at number 40. McCoy broke through two years later with the back-to-back number one singles "No Doubt About It" and "Wink" from his platinum-certified album No Doubt About It. Although he has not topped the country charts since, his commercial success continued into the mid to late 1990s with two more platinum albums and a gold album, as well as six more top 10 hits. A ninth top 10 hit, the number 10 "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On", came in 2005 from his self-released That's Life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Hungate</span> American bassist

David Hungate is an American bass guitarist noted as a member of the Los Angeles pop-rock band Toto from 1976 to 1982 and again from 2014 to 2015, and the son of judge William L. Hungate. Along with most of his Toto bandmates, Hungate did sessions on a number of hit albums of the 1970s, including Boz Scaggs's Silk Degrees and Alice Cooper's From the Inside.

Jude Anthony Cole is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and talent manager from Carbon Cliff, Illinois. After signing with Reprise Records, his recording career began with his eponymous debut studio album in 1987, which was followed by four subsequent releases—A View from 3rd Street (1990), and Start the Car (1992), I Don't Know Why I Act This Way (1995), and Falling Home (2000). Afterward, he outsourced his work onto managing, producing, and co-writing for the alternative rock band Lifehouse. This led to Cole receiving production credits on many of their singles throughout the 2000s, including "You and Me," "First Time," "Whatever It Takes" and "Halfway Gone"; each became hit songs on the Billboard Hot 100, Mainstream Top 40, Adult Top 40, and Adult Contemporary charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kia Shine</span> American rapper

Nakia Shine Coleman, better known by his stage name Kia Shine, is an American rapper, songwriter and record producer from Memphis, Tennessee. He is perhaps best known for his commercial debut single "Krispy", which is also the lead single from his 2007 debut album Due Season. He has worked with several fellow rappers, such as Mike Jones, Yo Gotti, Nelly, Jim Jones, among others. Kia Shine is co-CEO, alongside rapper Jack Frost, of Rap Hustlaz. Kia Shine won the Southern Entertainment Award (S.E.A.) in 2008 for best underground artist having sold over 200,000 albums with his independent label, Rap Hustlaz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Clifford</span> American singer

Linda Clifford is an American R&B, disco and house music singer who scored hits from the 1970s to the 1980s, most notably "If My Friends Could See Me Now", "Bridge over Troubled Water", "Runaway Love" and "Red Light".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Don't Want to Wait</span> 1997 single by Paula Cole

"I Don't Want to Wait" is a song written, recorded, and produced by American singer-songwriter Paula Cole. Cole wrote the song in mid-1996 and released it as second single from her second studio album, This Fire (1996), on October 14, 1997. The single release was successful, reaching No. 11 in the United States and No. 5 in Canada. VH1 ranked "I Don't Want to Wait" as one of the 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s at No. 81. The song later served as the opening theme for the American teen drama television series Dawson's Creek, which ran from 1998 to 2003.

<i>Burnin the Roadhouse Down</i> 1998 studio album by Steve Wariner

Burnin' the Roadhouse Down is the thirteenth studio album by American country music artist Steve Wariner, released on April 21, 1998. It was the first of three albums that he recorded for Capitol Nashville after having been dropped from Arista Records' roster in 1996. It was the second album of Wariner's career to achieve RIAA gold certification for U.S. sales of 500,000 copies, and it produced four Top 40 hit singles for Wariner on the Billboard country charts.

Thomas Picardo Jr., known professionally as Tommy West, was an American record producer and singer-songwriter.

Fletcher Bangs "Biff" Watson is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. His musicianship has been a part of recording sessions for many artists.

Bruce Bouton is an American guitarist, session musician, producer, and songwriter. His pedal steel guitar has been featured on many country music recordings, and he helped reintroduce the pedal steel guitar to the forefront of the Nashville sound. Bouton is also a member of The G-Men, the group of session musicians who has played on the vast majority of Garth Brooks albums.

Larry Franklin is an American Fiddler, mandolin and guitar player, session musician, and composer. His style embraces country, blues, rock and roll, jazz, and Western swing.