14 tracks · 54 min
The music industry isn't exactly known for its patience. A flop single, an underperforming album, or a lackluster comeback is sometimes all it takes for an artist to be dropped and never heard from again. Birmingham-born Jamelia has had all three during her short four-year career (three of her seven singles have failed to reach the U.K. Top 30 and debut album Drama sank without a trace), and yet somehow she's still here. The faith invested in her by her record company is admirable in this fickle day and age, but with her second album, Thank You, it's been totally justified. Taking two years off to raise her daughter, the MOBO Award winner has obviously used the time well, raising her game to produce a record bursting with potential singles. While partly influenced by the U.S. production sound of the moment, Thank You, unlike countless other U.K. R&B albums, never forgets its roots, either. So the Neptunes-alike production of the title track, a female empowerment anthem about domestic violence, sits comfortably alongside "Off da Endz," a frenetic grime duet with So Solid Crew's Asher D, as does "Cutie," featuring a Kanye West-style helium-voiced chorus, next to the grinding dirty ba…
