Career
As a 15 year old, Zakiya was crowned Hal Jackson's Talented Teens Miss International Queen of 1992. Two years later, she signed with Ric Wake's production company as part of the girl group Faces. After a year with the group, Zakiya pursued a solo career and signed with DV8 Records in 1995.
Her debut single, "Love Like Mine", was released in 1996. A review of the song in Billboard, which compared Zakiya's musical style to that of Brandy, remarked that Zakiya "has the voice to be taken seriously she slinks through a song that has a sing-along refrain that permanently sticks to the brain after the first listen." Andrew Hamilton of Allmusic was critical of the CD single for containing five different versions of the song. The music video for "Love Like Mine" was added to BET's video rotation, and the single peaked at number 60 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Zakiya's second single, "My Love Won't Fade Away", was released in 1997. The song features a guest rap by Charisma and a sample of Barry White's 1977 song "Playing Your Game, Baby". A Billboard review of "My Love Won't Fade Away" compared Zakiya's voice to that of a young Gladys Knight, and that she "exudes mucho star power on this sleek jeep-soul cruiser." The music video for the song was added to BET's video rotation and it reached number one on The Box's weekly video countdown in May 1997. Zakiya's self-titled debut album was also released that month, and "My Love Won't Fade Away" peaked at number 52 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. A 12-inch single for "I Like" was released in 1998, but Zakiya was dropped from DV8 before work on her second album was completed.
Read more about this topic: Zakiya Cox
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“He was at a starting point which makes many a man’s career a fine subject for betting, if there were any gentlemen given to that amusement who could appreciate the complicated probabilities of an arduous purpose, with all the possible thwartings and furtherings of circumstance, all the niceties of inward balance, by which a man swings and makes his point or else is carried headlong.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“The 19-year-old Diana ... decided to make her career that of wife. Today that can be a very, very iffy line of work.... And what sometimes happens to the women who pursue it is the best argument imaginable for teaching girls that they should always be able to take care of themselves.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“I began my editorial career with the presidency of Mr. Adams, and my principal object was to render his administration all the assistance in my power. I flattered myself with the hope of accompanying him through [his] voyage, and of partaking in a trifling degree, of the glory of the enterprise; but he suddenly tacked about, and I could follow him no longer. I therefore waited for the first opportunity to haul down my sails.”
—William Cobbett (1762–1835)