Inner Child (album) explained

Inner Child
Type:	Studio
Artist:	Shanice
Cover:	Shaniceinnerchild.jpeg
Released:	November 19, 1991
Recorded:	November 1990–September 1991
Length:	59:36
Label:	Motown
Prev Title:	Discovery
Prev Year:	1987
Next Title:	21... Ways to Grow
Next Year:	1994

Inner Child is the second studio album by American R&B singer Shanice. It was released on November 19, 1991, by Motown Records. The album peaked at number 13 on Billboards Top R&B Albums charta and features a remake of Minnie Riperton's 1974 hit "Lovin' You" which hit number 59 on the R&B Singles chart in the summer of 1992. Shanice would cover the song for a second time on her 2006 album Every Woman Dreams. The UK version of the album features the Driza Bone remix of "I Love Your Smile" as track 14.

The lead single "I Love Your Smile" peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the R&B charts.^[1] The other two singles, "I'm Cryin''" and her duet with Johnny Gill, "Silent Prayer", also proved to be successful on the R&B charts. The album was certified Gold making it Shanice's most successful album.

Critical reception

AllMusic editor Tim Griggs wrote, "Fortunately, even though Shanice was just a teenager when she recorded this album, she doesn't overindulge in the falsetto like Carey did on her early releases. Unfortunately, she does overindulge in rapping, which is not her particular strength."

Track listing

1. "Keep Your Inner Child Alive" (interlude) – 1:24 (Sally Jo Dakota, Narada Michael Walden)
2. "I Love Your Smile" – 4:19 (Walden, Jarvis La Rue Baker, Shanice, Sylvester Jackson)
3. "Forever In Your Love" – 4:46 (Baker, Dakota, Walden)
4. "I'm Cryin'" – 5:07 (Dakota, Walden, Shanice)
5. "I Hate To Be Lonely" – 6:46 (Walden, Wilson, Louis Biancaniello)
6. "Stop Cheatin' On Me" – 4:50 (Baker, Walden, Shanice, Sandy Griffith, Claytoven Richardson)
7. "Silent Prayer" (duet with Johnny Gill) – 5:03 (Walden, Jeffrey Cohen)
8. "Peace in the World" – 4:26 (Baker, Dakota, Walden, Shanice)
9. "Lovin' You" – 3:57 (Minnie Riperton, Richard Rudolph)
10. "You Ain't All That" – 4:36 (Walden, Shanice, Biancaniello, Mike Mani, Hathaway Pogue)
11. "Shanice & Mookie Meet Homie" (interlude) – 0:23 (Walden, Janice Wilson)
12. "You Didn't Think I'd Come Back This Hard" – 3:39 (Baker, Shanice, Mani, Eric Daniels)
13. "You Were The One" – 5:21 (Shanice, Crystal Wilson, Daryl Duncan, Kataya Anderson)
14. "I Love Your Smile" (Hakeem's Mix) – 4:16 (Abdulsamad, Walden, Baker, Shanice, S. Jackson, Chad Elliott, Burton Rashad Smith)
15. "Goodnight" (interlude) – 0:23 (Walden, J. Wilson)

Personnel

• Shanice – vocals, spoken word, synthesizers
• Louis Biancaniello, Eric Daniels, Mike Mani, Claytoven Richardson – keyboards, programming, backing vocals
• Vernon "Ice" Black, Corrado Rustici, Ric Wilson – guitars
• Joel Smith – bass
• Narada Michael Walden – keyboards, synthesizers, programming, drums, percussion
• Branford Marsalis – saxophone
• Johnny Gill – spoken word
• Jarvis La Rue Baker, Kitty Beethoven, Zorana Edun, Nikita Germaine, Sandy Griffith, Chris Hawkins, Skyler Jett, Ellen Keating, Alyssa Lala, Tony Lindsey, Crystal Wilson – backing vocals
• String arrangements – Jerry Hey

Charts

Chart (1992)!align="left"

Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[2]	111

Notes and References

1. Billboard's top singles
2. Web site: Shanice chart history, received from ARIA on October 12, 2021. ARIA. Imgur.com. July 4, 2024. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column indicates the release's peak on the national chart. Only releases credited to 'Shanice' are listed.