"You Can Make the Story Right" Released: June 18, 1992
"Give Me All"/"The Woman I Am" Released: 1992 (UK)
"I Want" Released: October 15, 1992
"Don't Look at Me That Way" Released: March 18, 1993
The Woman I Am is the eighth studio album by American singer Chaka Khan. It was released by Warner Bros. Records on April 14, 1992, in the United states. Dedicated to her friend Miles Davis, who had died the previous year, the album was Khan's first full-length project since 1988's CK. Khan worked with a variety of producers on the album, including multi-instrumentalist Marcus Miller, Scritti Politti's David Gamson as well as frequent collaborator Arif Mardin and his son Joe Mardin.
The album received largely mixed reviews from music critics but became Khan's highest-charting album on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart since 1984's I Feel for You. In 1993, it earned her a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female. Due to increasing artistic differences between Khan and Warner Bros, with her planned 1995 follow-up Dare You to Love Me eventually being shelved, The Woman I Am would mark Khan's final full-length release for a major label.
Overview
The album mainly focuses on material from the contemporary R&B, soul and funk genres and was Khan's debut as executive producer in charge of production.[1] The main producer on the album was the Grammy Award winning jazz multi-instrumentalist Marcus Miller but it also includes Khan's first collaborations with Arif Mardin since 1986's Destiny; "This Time" and the closing track "Don't Look at Me That Way", both co-produced by Mardin's son Joe Mardin.[2] "Love You All My Lifetime" saw Khan teaming up with Scritti Politti's David Gamson – who incidentally had also produced the opening track on Destiny with its confusingly similar title; "Love of a Lifetime".[2] The single track "I Want" features a guest appearance by William Galison on harmonica and the suggestive ballad "You Can Make the Story Right" was recorded with bassist and producer Wayne Braithwaite, best known for his work with Will Downing and Kenny G.[2]
Singles
The Woman I Am produced seven singles. Lead single "Love You All My Lifetime," written by German composer duo Klarmann/Weber, became a number one hit on Billboard's US Dance Club Songs and peaked at number 2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[3] Follow-up "You Can Make the Story Right," penned by Gabrielle Goodman and Wayne Bathwaite, reached number eight on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Further singles include "I Want", "Give Me All", "Facts of Love" and the Diane Warren-penned ballad "Don't Look at Me That Way." "The Woman I Am," written by Dyan Cannon, Chaka Khan, and Brenda Russell, failed to chart. Both lead single "Love You All My Lifetime" and "Give Me All" were issued in a wide variety of dance remixes by among others Frankie Knuckles.
In his review of The Woman I Am, AllMusic's Alex Henderson describes the album as "high-tech, yet warm instead of mechanical. And on songs ranging from the melancholy "Telephone" to the introspective title song and the appealing single "Love You All My Lifetime," it's clear that Khan was given strong material to work with."[4] Connie Johnson from Los Angeles Times rated the album three out of four stars and wrote: "Nobody has influenced more post-’70s female R&B; singers than Khan and Aretha Franklin. On an off day they’re still more intriguing than many of their contemporaries working in peak form. Some of the tracks here are vintage Khan: sly, sexy and assertive. "Give Me All" has a dark, incendiary groove to it, while "I Want" is a teasing little invitation with an urgent undercurrent. There’s nothing trend-setting here, but even when Khan just coasts she still manages to stay in the race."[5]Entertainment Weekly's David Browne noted: "Khan has been the great untapped voice of modern R&B — a singer with a lusty, brassy delivery that’s usually placed in the most inappropriate and generic surroundings. Sadly, that’s the case once again with The Woman I Am, on which 10 producers strive hard to make Khan appeal to the young, black new-jack audience that favors singers like Lisa Fischer and Keith Washington [...] But it’s all for naught. Songs like "Everything Changes" are more formula than baby food, and the synthesizer-heavy arrangements are leaden and lumpy."[1]
Commercial success
The Woman I Am became Khan's highest-charting album on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart since 1984's I Feel for You, peaking at number nine. By 2005, the album had sold 197,000 copies in United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[6]
