The Woman I Am


The Woman I Am is the eighth studio album by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, released on Warner Bros. Records in 1992. It was Khan's first studio album since 1988's CK and due to artistic differences between Khan and Warner Bros. Records it was also to be her final full-length release for the label. The entire album is dedicated to her friend Miles Davis, who died the previous year.

Composition

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. 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. "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". 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.

Singles

The Woman I Am includes six single releases; "Love You All My Lifetime" written by German composer duo Klarmann/Weber which became a number one on Billboard's Dance Singles chart as well as #2 on R&B, "You Can Make the Story Right", "I Want", "Give Me All", "Facts of Love" and the Diane Warren-penned ballad "Don't Look at Me That Way". 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.

Commercial success

The Woman I Am became Khan's highest-charting album on the US R&B Albums chart since 1984's I Feel for You, peaking at #9. The album won Khan a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female in 1993.
Since Khan's 1995 album Dare You to Love Me was shelved by the Warner Bros. Records label and instead only partly made available on greatest hits compilations and movie soundtracks, it was to be six years before she released another full-length album, the Prince co-produced Come 2 My House on his label NPG Records.
As of 2005, The Woman I Am has sold 197,000 copies in United States according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Critical reception

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."

Track listing

  1. "Everything Changes" – 4:38
  2. "Give Me All" – 4:24
  3. "Telephone" – 4:21
  4. "Keep Givin' Me Lovin'" – 4:32
  5. "Facts of Love" – 4:35
  6. "Love You All My Lifetime" – 4:43
  7. "I Want" – 5:50
  8. "You Can Make the Story Right" – 6:32
  9. "Be My Eyes" – 4:24
  10. "This Time" – 5:16
  11. "The Woman I Am" – 5:09
  12. "Love With No Strings" – 5:00
  13. "Don't Look at Me That Way" – 4:50

    Personnel

Production