Putting out hits after hits and scoring the ears of R&B lovers globally with deep album cut favorites like “Can’t Go for That”, “Mr. Cool” and “Put a Move on My Heart”, Tamia is no newbie to anything regarding powerhouse vocals.
But a lot of fans may not know is despite her extensive catalog, she’s had treasures lined up in the secret R&B vault that so many of us crave to hear one day in full.
During her 2003 period Tamia would record a plethora of tunes that would not make the cut of her third album post-“A Nu Day”. The album was tentatively titled “Still” named after the same Jermaine Dupri-produced number that would be lifted from her “More” album as the third single.
Tamia longed for consistency during those days, according to Billboard, and had set her hopes on the album being released by August 2003.
Unfortunately, when her lead single “Officially Missing You” did not pull in the numbers her record label were prospecting for, the “Still” album was immediately ceased and shelved, and was then reconsidered for Japan release only, leaving Tamia to retool her entire album and re-release it in 2004 as “More”, yielding the shared breakout smash “Into You” with Fabolous (a remake of her familiar 1998 hit).
So what became of the tracks that did not make it to “More”? They were indefinitely postponed, but bloggers over the years have dug and dug and were able to confiscate some of them. One of them caught our ears and brought us back to memory lane.
Back in 2003, Indian flutes and instrumental samples were nothing but the norm for R&B/pop records. If you heard a hit produced by Timbaland and/or Scott Storch during those years, you know that formula was used on an array of occasions, so it’s no surprise Lil’ Kim collaborator Mario Winans worked his take on the magic with Tamia on the unreleased “Don’t Think” which was scheduled to be released on the “Still” album.
Though it never made the cut a similar song the two recorded (“Mr. Cool”) saw a release instead. Hear the two after the jump:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWiR8AGB8YU