Stephanie Mills had a breakthrough in her recording career with her third album What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin’. She had started at age 9 working on Broadway in the play Maggie Flynn. The stage realm gave her an initial experience with success thanks to The Wiz where she sang her future signature song “Home.” But it wasn’t until James Mtume and Reggie Lucas wrote “What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin'” that Mills began to make an impact in the music world. The single would be Mills’ first hit with a presence on the Top 100 and R&B charts. It was also the first achievement for Mtume and Lucas as songwriters. Mills was immediately recognized as a new soul star because of “What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin'” but the song allowed her to become a dance music icon too. Her introduction to that audience had the benefit of another serious club song, “Put Your Body In It” on the b-side. The work gave
Mills her premier Gold album and from there she ascended to one of the biggest voices of the ’80s. Mills has 15 studio albums, still tours and can be found frequently on Instagram leaving her opinions on cultural appropriation and other current affairs.
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