What happened to Adina Howard? She was supposed to be the next big thing in the ’90s, but then she just disappeared! Long before Nicki Minaj, Lil Kim, Trina, Foxy Brown, and Megan Thee Stallion, Adina Howard was the original bold and unapologetic artist.
How many of y’all remember the artwork for her debut album? Even though she was photographed bent over the hood of a car, wearing vinyl over-the-knee boots, black fishnet stockings, and black micro shorts, the album cover had nothing on her liberating lyrics. I remember being in elementary school and singing this song like I felt it in my soul. I had no idea what she was really talking about (oh to be young and naive!). But the beat was (and still is) a bop!
She rose to fame during the New Jack Swing era of music and was one of the first female R&B performers to express exactly what she wanted from a man. Music lovers were captivated by every racy lyric. Sadly, success didn’t last long.
Here’s what really happened to Adina Howard’s career.
From Michigan to Arizona
She was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and was the eldest of four girls. Her dad had substance abuse issues, and after he went on a getaway to California with another woman, Adina’s mom decided to leave him.
Her mom moved Adina and younger siblings to Arizona. Everything was going fine until one day in gym class. She glanced over at one of her classmates and thought he resembled a character from the movie Top Gun. Though Adina never said anything to the boy, she told Madame Noire that he turned around, spat on her, and called her a racial slur. Dang, and she didn’t beat the brakes off of him?!
When her mom went to the school’s administrators to complain, they told her there was nothing they could do. Her mother allowed her to leave the school and eventually, their family decided to pack up and leave Arizona entirely.
Years later, they moved back to Arizona, but Adina would never forget what that little boy did to her. She said it taught her that “your bark has to be loud.” That same message later carried over into her music and how she would navigate through her career.
Catching her big break
She had been singing for most of her life. And as a teenager, she teamed up with producer Livio Harris. She recorded her very first demo, which made its way into the hands of Mecca Don Records co-owner Max Gousse. She was signed to the label and released her first album, Do You Wanna Ride? in 1995.
Her hit song, “Freak Like Me,” peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. She became the hottest R&B singer, but she wasn’t ready to live her life in the public eye.
The cost of fame
She told the Electronic Urban Report that she hated being famous because she valued her privacy. She also wasn’t ready for all the backlash she would receive. In 1995, the late civil rights activist C. DeLores Tucker told the Washington Post Adina’s album cover was “reprehensible.” But no one was going to stand in the way of her dreams and her desire to show off her hourglass figure.
A love triangle ruined everything
She headed back to the studio and teamed up with various artists, including Jamie Foxx for the song “T-Shirt & Panties.” During that same time, she began dating Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men, who was also dating Brandy at the time. As you can imagine, this caused a messy love triangle.
Atlantic Records executive Sylvia Rhone told Adina to focus on her career and to leave Wanya alone. But Adina wasn’t going to let someone else dictate her life.
According to her Unsung episode, Wendy Williams found out about the love triangle, so she gave Adina a call. The singer reportedly bashed Sylvia and Brandy. When Sylvia found out Adina was badmouthing her, she canceled the release date of Adina’s second album. So Adina basically fumbled the bag over some community paynus.
Label changes & more albums
Adina continued performing and teamed up with Warren G for his song “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” She also ventured off into the film industry and landed a role in the movie High Freakquency. I wish y’all could see me right now because I’m spazzing out over that movie title. You know that film had to be cheesy as hell!
Despite the tension at her label, her second album, Welcome to Fantasy Land, was eventually released in 1997. The album experienced moderate success, but it was shelved by Elektra Records that same year.
Adina and Sylvia Rhone had a sit-down meeting to discuss her longevity in the industry. But Adina wasn’t trying to hear anything she had to say. Since Sylvia held all the power, Adina was dropped from the label.
She signed with RuffTown Records and released her third album The Second Coming. Due to a lack of promotion, the album only peaked at number 61 on Billboard. And then, after issues with her label, she was dropped from RuffTown.
Next, she signed with Arsenal Records. After numerous delays, her fourth album, Private Show, was released in 2007. Adina’s album went up against Beyoncé, Robin Thicke, and Keyshia Cole. She managed to reach #17 on the iTunes R&B music chart, but the album wouldn’t even crack the Billboard chart.
Plan B & rekindled love
According to Billboard, a year after Private Show was released, it had only sold 4,000 copies. It was time for Adina to think of a backup plan. She enrolled in culinary school in 2010, and she also reconnected with a man named Sherman Jordan, whom she met at LAX airport back in 1996.
Adina and Sherman — the former assistant to basketball player Cedric Ceballos — would continuously bump into each other at the airport. One day, he gave her his number and told her to call him if she ever felt like talking.
Within that first year, they began dating. Sherman was begging her to settle down, get married and have children. Adina, on the other hand, never wanted to get married nor have kids. So she and Sherman were off and on for over a decade, but they always remained best friends.
Here comes the bride
In 2011, she agreed to be his wife, and they got married in a beautiful ceremony. She gained an instant family and became a stepmom to his daughter from a previous relationship. And I just noticed The Freak didn’t get her nails done for her big day. Da hayle?
Adina Howard is a culinary queen
Although she vowed to never live in Arizona again, that’s exactly where she and Sherman settled into their new life as husband and wife. In 2012, she graduated from culinary school and worked her way from a being a line cook at a resort to becoming a chef.
Her big return
But still, the stage was calling her name. After a 2013 performance, she told Vibe magazine her husband encouraged her to pursue music again. She signed with Monarchy Records, and with Sherman as her project coordinator, she released the song “Switch,” in 2013. It was supposed to be the lead single off her fifth studio album, The Switch Up, but even Adina’s official website bio doesn’t confirm the album’s release date.
Perhaps there was a delay in its release because Adina had other things on her agenda. She once made it clear that she never wanted to have kids. But she told Urban Bridgez in 2014 that she and Sherman were working on having a baby.
She still found time to record more music, and in 2017, she released the album Resurrection. The socially conscience lead single “Blasphemy” was described as an “urban battle cry.”
Trouble at home
Everything was starting to fall into place. She was able to approach music differently because it was her hobby instead of being her main source of income. And she even released a documentary to let her fans know more about her career, but things at home weren’t going as planned.
Before she could have a baby of her own, she and Sherman got divorced in 2017. They remained on good terms, and Sherman even appeared in Adina’s Unsung episode as her “friend.” Hey, whatever works.
They also continue to live under the same roof and Sherman described Adina as his “wingman.” Chile. Ok then.
The pitfalls of fame
Despite her success, Adina told the TT Torrez radio show (via iPower Richmond) that she wasn’t making any money off of any of her old music. On top of that, she still hadn’t received a royalty check for her past albums because of the shady record contracts she had signed.
Looking back on her career, she told Ebony she wished she would’ve remained more humble. But she also encountered a lot of people who didn’t have her best interests at heart. She said the industry is full of “wolves and snakes.”
This is a cautionary tale to young artists. Start your own labels, go independent, don’t let a company take advantage of you like this! They will leave you penniless with nothing but a wet a**!
Anywaydoe, keep an eye out for Adina, because she performs a handful of gigs every year. And one thing remains the same: she’s still playing by her own rules.
Let us know your thoughts on the history of Adina’s career. Or, if you have some free time, head over to YouTube and chat it up with some of our subscribers. They’re over there wildin’!