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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[youtube id=”fL_mb8jtirM”] [youtube id=”s4Ho8BBSkFk”]Queen Latifah hosted BET’s annual Black Girls Rock! awards this year in her hometown of Newark, New Jersey. Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige, Judith Jamison, Lena Waithe, Tarana Burke, M.A.D.Girls and Dr. Mareena Robinson Snowden were all recipients of the night’s honors. The musical highlight of the evening was a tribute to Aretha Franklin with performances from Jasmine Sullivan, Ledisi, Cynthia Ervio, Stephanie Mills, Yolanda Adams and Fantasia. 

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Is Stephanie Mills right about the music industry preferring white singers to sing R&B?

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Why is Jordan Peele’s Get Out being submitted to the Golden Globes as a comedy when it’s a horror movie about racism?

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Do younger rappers need to accept Pete Rock’s challenge to create music with “heart and soul?”

[youtube id=”uN-upOxKRgg”] Stephanie Mills covered Prince’s “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” for her 1983 studio album Merciless. Mills was the first artist to cover “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” and it made the R&B charts. The Prince interpretation helped the album receive a Grammy Nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance Female. Luther Vandross wrote “My Body” for Merciless and the personnel included Jody Watley and Stevie Wonder but Merciless is most remembered for her Prince song. Stephanie Mills returned to The Wiz for its live television adaptation on ABC in 2015.