Stephanie Mills

Nearly a decade since her last album -- though she remained active and became the first (and most likely the last) artist to record with house veterans Masters at Work, gospel stalwart BeBe Winans, and gruff rap MC DMX -- Stephanie Mills resurfaces on her own independent label with a solid album of contemporary R&B, most of which differs thematically (i.e., heartbreak, devotion, romance) from 1995's gospel-oriented Personal Inspirations. Surrounded by associates of Whitney Houston, Faith Evans, and Will Downing, Mills has made an album of mostly subdued and lightly upbeat material that will please her grown-up fan base. Mills is in such fine, with-the-times form that you could be fooled into thinking that she never went away. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide