Wild Seed -- Wild Flower (CD) by Dionne Farris

"I Know" was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Who donated the powerful vocals for Arrested Development's initial hit single "Tennessee"? While some did not know her name, all became familiar with her voice, and many tried to imitate the chorus that she breathed so much life into. Dionne Farris was the woman responsible, and (a vaguely symbolic) three years after-the-fact, she comes forth with her own project, WILD SEED - WILD FLOWER.

Farris' debut seizes the feel of more than one genre, resulting in a broad-canvased amalgam of today's popular music. "I Know" and "Find Your Way" clearly reflect this cross-genre fixation. Farris talks through some of the songs, adding even more complexity to her vocal delivery--the creative "11th Hour" being the best example. She provides "Passion" with a distinct rock 'n' roll feel, adds an R&B swing to "Don't Ever Touch Me (Again)" and gives props to the hip-hop nation by incorporating scratching effects on "Stop To Think."

Farris is a true artist, contributing production to each of the album's fifteen tracks. And rather than painting herself into a cultural corner--which, as a female, African-American artist, would have been all too easy to do--she declares herself a member of the most diverse group on the planet: the human race. It doesn't take being black or female to relate to WILD SEED - WILD FLOWER; the music possesses a hold on "Reality" that all can identify with.