| Chaka | |
| Type: | studio album |
| Artist: | Chaka Khan |
| Cover: | Chaka Khan - Chaka (1978 album).jpg |
| Released: | October 12, 1978 |
| Studio: | Atlantic Recording Studios (New York City) |
| Length: | 43:11 |
| Label: | Warner Bros. |
| Producer: | Arif Mardin |
| Prev Title: | Street Player |
| Prev Year: | 1978 |
| Next Title: | Masterjam |
| Next Year: | 1979 |
Chaka is the debut solo album by American singer Chaka Khan. It was released on October 12, 1978, through Warner Bros. Records. Following the release of the Chaka album, Khan reunited with Rufus for the recording of 1979's Masterjam, produced by Quincy Jones. Her second solo album Naughty followed in 1980.
Two singles were released from Chaka, the first being her anthemic solo debut "I'm Every Woman," which would become one of Khan's signature tunes alongside "Ain't Nobody" (1983) and "I Feel For You" (1984).[1] The song has over the past three decades been re-released, remixed and covered a number of times, most notably by Whitney Houston in 1992 for the soundtrack album The Bodyguard, then featuring guest vocals by Khan herself and topping Billboards Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. A remix of Khan's original recording was also a Top-Ten hit in the U.K. in 1989. The remix was included on the compilation Life is a Dance - The Remix Project, the title track of which was the second single release from the Chaka album in early 1979 (US R&B number 40). The album also features the ballad "Roll Me Through The Rushes", never commercially released as a single but still receiving considerable airplay in 1979, as well as Khan's cover version of Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made To Love Her", re-titled "I Was Made to Love Him".
AllMusic editor Andy Kellman called the album "a near-total break from Rufus." He found that although "I'm Every Woman" "overshadows everything else on Chaka, the album is full of outstanding performances and a broad range of strong material pulled together by Arif Mardin. It's a near-total break from Rufus. The only connections are Tony Maiden's guitar solo on a gender-switched cover of Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made to Love Her" and writing input from a few Rufus collaborators." Robert Christgau wrote that "Mardin and the usual En Why studio funkies lay down a heavier bottom for Ms. Rufus than her El Lay street bottom for Ms. Rufus than her El Lay street players have in years. She's expressing herself by looking for songs, too, but while every one gives her something to say, only Ashford & Simpson's "I'm Every Woman" is up to her human potential."
Chaka debuted at number 111 on the US Billboard 200 in the week of November 4, 1978, and eventually peaked at number 12 on December 16, 1978. It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on November 14, 1978.
Performers and musicians
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