Amazon.co.uk Review
Britain hasn't been at a loss in producing promising young female R&B stars in the 1990s--Gabrielle, Eternal, N'Dea Davenport, Shola Ama, Carleen Anderson and Neneh Cherry all spring to mind--but none have really managed to capture the lightning that accompanied their debuts. Like the others mentioned, Beverley Knight finds herself a confident veteran at a young age (just 25 at the release of
Prodigal Sista, her second album) but, like maybe only Cherry before her, Knight brings that attitude to her self-assuared dealings with the world at large. Where Cherry uses it to create freedom to devote time to her family, Knight is an outspoken proponent of local talent; her speech at the 1999 awards was, by report, both barbed and impassioned. She's less prickley on
Sista, leaving that to guest rapper Redman (on "Made it Back"), preferring to sing about love and heartbreak, fate and inner strength and focusing on the positive. It doesn't always work--the occasional growl would be welcome, in both voice and instrumentation--but Knight's sweet, caressing voice and top-notch (if largely unsurprising) production makes for a handful of must-listens: "Sista, Sista", "Made it Back" (original and remix versions), the funky "Greatest Day" and "That's Alright" amongst them.
--Randy Silver