Shola Ama

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Shola Ama is a astonishing singer with a beautiful voice and exceptional music. She spent seven weeks in the U.K charts and out of the seven, six were in the top ten. With her wonderful single, "YOU MIGHT NEED SOMEBODY" which sold almost 350,000 copies!

The single which is a version of Randy Crawford's classic, reached number 4 and advanced Shola to an unbelievable three appearances in a row on Top Of The Pops. Her second single, "YOU'RE THE ONE I LOVE" which was a new entry in the charts, reached the number three position and her album "MUCH LOVE" which was also a new entry in the charts, reached the number six position. Her certain musical talent seems even more astounding when you learn that she was only an eighteen year old! The story behind her discovery is equally astounding...

She was first noticed by Kwame (of the UK jazz-funk group D-Influence) when she was only 15 years old. Kwame overheard her humming out a tune on the westbound Piccadilly line platform at Hammersmith, and invited her to audition for him right there. She sang two songs, one by Mariah Carey and one by Mary J. Blige, which convinced Kwame of her ability.

"I was waiting at Hammersmith tube station with my mother for the train to Heathrow Airport, and I was humming to myself," tells Shola. "The next thing I knew this guy approached me and told me he worked for a record label and could I sing for him. So I sang about four songs there on the platform and he invited me down to his studio".

Although there were encouraging reviews, particularly for her mature and angelic voice, the single toppled through loss of distribution. Kwame delivered this dilemma by assuring an agreement with WEA Records that would arrange more widespread distribution. Kwame signed her to his London independent label FreakStreet, which released Ama's debut single, "Celebrate" in 1995.

Shola co-wrote alot of songs on her album, in collaboration with members of D-Influence, songwriter Paul Waller, and some of America's top producers and also with Craig Armstrong on the song "SOMEBODY I'LL FIND YOU"', which was her contribution to No ë l Coward Tribute Album, Twentieth Century Blues.

In early 1998, Shola Ama was voted "Best Female Artist" at the BRIT Awards.