
She collaborated closely with Rich Harrison, her “musical soulmate”, a producer and songwriter who’d served on ‘All I Have’ as well as contributing to tracks by Kelly Rowland, Usher and Tha’ Rayne.

Work on Amerie’s second album, to be titled ‘Touch’, began in early 2004 – it came out in the spring of 2005, preceded by ‘1 Thing’.

It was hoped, though, that what came next would elevate her from R&B artist of substantial promise to an outright pop star, someone to compete with the likes of Beyoncé, then hitting all-new highs with her ‘Dangerously In Love’ LP, and Jennifer Lopez, riding the swell of ‘Jenny From The Block’ following so soon after the triumph of ‘J.Lo’, packed as that album was with hit singles. Nevertheless, critics were charmed: the album won a Soul Train award, and reached gold status for stateside sales. ‘All I Have’, Amerie’s debut album, charted at nine in the US in the summer of 2002, but lacked staying power.
#Amerie 1 thing release crack
That was 2002, a time when artists were given more than a single crack at achieving the level of success their labels expected. Indeed, if certain people had gotten their way, it would never have been released at all.Īmerie had tasted chart success prior to ‘1 Thing’, and was a rising star on the Columbia roster after her debut single, ‘Why Don’t We Fall In Love’, broke the Billboard top 30 and peaked at 40 in the UK. ‘1 Thing’ might sound, today just as it did nine years ago, like solid-gold pop class, but its release wasn’t an entirely smooth experience.
#Amerie 1 thing release full
singer her full name, Amerie Mi Marie Rogers. The correct answer is, of course, Amerie – or, to give the Washington, D.C. It’s not just these commentators who were getting it wrong – when I asked my wife who the song was by, she replied: “I dunno… Rihanna?” And yet, while watching a handful of Let’s Play-style videos in anticipation of receiving my own (delayed) copy of the game, I noticed how the track was repeatedly credited to Beyoncé. It quickly became a song you hoped for during any session – much like Robyn and Kleerup’s ‘With Every Heartbeat’ and the Pet Shop Boys’ ‘West End Girls’, which soundtracked one of my own memorable drives from Blaine County in the north to the city hub of Los Santos, into the setting sun. Between cuts from Stardust (the sublime ‘Music Sounds Better With You’) and Rihanna, on the Non Stop Pop network, came ‘1 Thing’. Being part of the always sonically satisfying GTA series, V featured no fewer than 17 in-game radio stations. I first noted this disconnect between my appreciation of the 2005 hit – number four in the UK, eight stateside, top 10 in multiple territories across Europe – and its public profile in 2013, around the release of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V. ‘1 Thing’… tends to get the job done, whatever the venue or vibe.Īsk someone who the track’s by, though, and answers don’t always come easy. But I’ve a few bankers, a clutch of proven winners. Bars, clubs, gigs, festivals, weddings – I’ve stood behind several decks and done my best to keep people dancing.

I DJ from time to time, and not always at the same place.
