Mica Paris is a veteran UK vocalist whose name may strike a chord with some, as she was signed to Island Records and slated to make her U.S. debut in the early 1990s before the company restructured.

The original singer to record the Quincy Jones-produced 'You Put a Move on My Heart' (before Tamia made it a hit in 1995), Paris had all the makings of an international superstar, a la American divas like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.

But when things with Island Records fell apart, the South London-bred songstress never got her shot at American success.

Regardless, the statuesque beauty released four studio albums – 1988's 'So Good,' 1990's 'Contribution,' 1993's 'Whisper a Prayer' and 1998's 'Black Angel' – before taking a decade-long hiatus from recording music and transitioning into a successful career in television and radio.

With a new CD out, called 'Born Again,' the mother of two sat down with me for a candid chat when I traveled to London as a part of VisitBritain.com's Transatlanticism Campaign (www.transatlanticism.org).

During our interview, Paris – who fellow singers Angie Stone and Rahsaan Patterson call one of their favorite vocalists – talked about her long career in music and why she believes hip-hop killed soul music.

Mica ParisYou and Angie Stone are good friends?

Angie and I met when I turned 18 and was just blowing up here at that time. I flew to New York and worked with Kurtis Mantronik, and she was working with him at the time. She did backup vocals on my record with Kurtis. She was in the group called Vertical Hold when we met, and we've been friends ever since. She is a sweetheart. Angie struggled for a long time, and when she made it, everyone was so happy because girlfriend had been trying for so long. When I met Angie, she had already been in the business for a long time, and I was 18 then, and she was already seasoned. She waited a long time to get her break, and I was so happy when she did because she deserved it.

Let's talk about another American diva, Whitney Houston. She's preparing for her comeback and kicked it off here in London.

It is gonna have a happy ending for sure. I love Whitney, and I have met her a few times. She loves 'Should Have Known Better.' That's her favorite tune that I have ever done. I never doubt with Whitney, because I think she has never been replaced. They've tried, but she stands on her own. She is the original crooner. When she takes a song and sings it, you just know that she's got it. She's absolutely beautiful. If you see that woman in real life, Jesus Christ. That's why it hurt everyone when she fell off, because she was the only one. Even in the 10 years that she hasn't been here, she has not been replaced. She is just stepping back into where she belongs and carrying on with what she does best. I embrace it, and I am loving that girl like I always have. We used to do a lot of shows together when I started off in the industry in Europe, because Arista used to distribute Island Records, and that's how we used to meet each other a lot. She was always so sweet to me, and Dionne [Warrick] is another fan of mine, too, so it was always a love fest. I never wanted to be Whitney, and that is probably how we got along. I just wanted to be Mica Paris. She sings songs that are pure and beautiful. I am really a hard-core gospel singer. It doesn't matter what you put me on, I'm still gonna scream my head off because that's where I come from. She's got a beautiful smoothness, and I was more compared to Dionne than Whitney. You have to see me live, because that's the only time you see it. It's so hard to explain to you what my stuff is like until you've seen me on stage. The album is only like a part of who I am. You might get a little touch of it on 'Summertime,' but that's only a little bit.

You mentioned your gospel roots. Let's talk about the beginning. How did this music thing start for you?

My grandfather was a minister, and we were the first family of the church. When I was a little girl, I used to study all of my auntie's albums. All of her albums were the Hawkins Family and Andre Crouch, so when I was 7, I used to listen to the albums and then turn them over and read every single instrument that was being played. I could tell you who was playing what. The person that I used to emulate more than anyone was the sister of Walter, Lynette Hawkins. Lynette was my hero, and she was the one I would be singing with in the house. I was just obsessed with the Hawkinses. I knew every song that they did. By the time I was 10, everyone in the family was going on and on about me having this voice. My grandmother told me that they had some visitors coming down to church, and she would really like for me to sing. I sang a song called 'God Will Open Doors.' It was my first time ever singing in front of people. I went up on the stage and sang, and I remember being so frightened walking up there. I remember thinking, "How can I get my knees to stop shaking? This is really not good!" The minute I started to sing the words, which started out: 'When you can't see your way, and you feel that you are lost astray, God will open doors for you.' I did that, and the whole place just went nuts. At that point, I said, "Well, I'm gonna hold that note longer." I did that note that just goes on and on where people don't think you're ever gonna stop. The whole place went crazy, and I was like, "I like this singing thing. It's kinda cool." At that point, I didn't really know that I was a great singer at 10. I just knew that it was my first ever appearance.

So you kept singing from that point on?

My grandmother then became my agent, and she was dragging me from church to church all around the UK. I was singing at all of the different Pentecostal denominations. Between the age of 10 and 16, the whole Pentecostal denomination started talking about this little girl, and that's how it all started. Then I joined a group called the Spirit of Watts, and I was the lead singer. They were all older than me, about 10 or 15 years older than me, and we started to get this name for ourselves. A guy came to see us perform, and his name was Viv Broughton. He used to be the editor of the only black newspaper at that time called 'The Voice,' which is still out now. He was a white guy, but he was a serious gospel lover. He came backstage afterward and told me that he really wanted to manage me. I told him that he had to manage the group. He started to manage us, and we began to do all of these gospel concerts and get on TV. People started hearing about this gospel thing with this little girl in it who really had an amazing voice. I had gotten a little bit tired of the gospel thing at that point, because I was getting a lot of drama in the church. I had to hear people saying, "We don't think she is being true to the gospel message because her music is sounding a bit soulful." I told Viv that I really, really love gospel, but I really want to do other music now.

That's when your love for soul music began.

I would visit my dad on the weekends, and he would be playing Miles Davis, Gil Scot Heron and Marvin Gaye. I was doing gospel during the week but feeling like I really wanted to do that soul stuff. I started to pressure Viv, and he told me, "I think you're too young to get a deal." I was like, "No I know I could do it. I'm ready now." At that time, there was that there was nothing out but Sade. She was the only person at the time that was famous. To me, her music was her style with the jazzy thing. There was not a real singer with a big voice in this country. I was just so tired of all the Americans coming over and kicking our butts all the time. I wanted to show them that we have one of our own, too – me! That's what my whole drive was. Eventually, did I these demos with a bass player who is a really good friend of mine. He is still my bass player now in my band 25 years later. We sent these tapes off to all of these record companies. I was just turning 17 at that point, and I went to see all of the record companies. The only record company that I liked was Island. When I was waiting in the lobby at Island Records, I saw Grace Jones walking past, and I saw Steve Winwood smoking a joint in the back of the garden, and I knew this is where I needed to be. You could smell the Jamaican food being cooked in the back in the kitchen. It felt like I was in Jamaica. Island Records was probably the most incredible place to have been at that time as a musician. It was like a house just sitting in that lobby.

This may be jumping around some, but I have to know the story behind 'You Put a Move On My Heart.' It was your song first, right?

'Whisper a Prayer' was the album where they flew me out to L.A., and I ended up working with Narada Michael Walden and Rod Temperton. I leave San Francisco because I had finished with Narada and I arrive in L.A. and the riots begin. Typical Mica that I arrive when all of the craziness is going on. Rod called me up to see if I was okay and if I had arrived. I told him, "I'm okay, but the building next to me is on fire. There's a guy getting beat up in the street and I don't know what to do." He sends me the driver, picks me up and takes me to Mulholland Drive because that's where he lives. I ended up at his house and I stayed there with him and his wife Cathy. Rod sits down and wants me to tell him what kind of song I want him to do. 'Always and Forever' was my tune growing up. I said, "I want you to write me a song just like 'Always and Forever.'" I think he was completely shocked by that because I think he was always used to people talking to him about Michael Jackson, but I was all about Heatwave. He went off and took about a week and came back singing 'You Put a Move on my Heart.' I said, "That's perfect. It's exactly what I want!" I went into the studio and recorded the song, and it went on the album. Island went through this crappy merger, and my album got lost in the shuffle. Quincy Jones heard it, called up Rod and said, "I want to give the song to Tamia." I was with Rod not too long ago and he said, "I am really angry that the Americans didn't get to hear your version." He's still angry about it now. I don't really put the song into my live show, not in a bad way, but I've had five or six albums now, and it's just so much material that I can't put them all in there. I basically just do all of the singles that were hits, and I'll stick some of the other cool s-t in there, too.

Are you interested in getting your shot at U.S. success still?

I have lived in America four times, and I love it. I've always had so many people from the states write me and say,
"Mica, we really want you to come back." I want to come back, but I just really don't have the support of a label there to take my album. Maybe they will take this album, because I think the Americans love talent and really appreciate good music. When I've been out there and done my shows, the love there is ridiculous. You just need the support as an artist. It's tough, but right now, I am promoting everything in Europe. After that, I plan to come to the states.

After 10 years of not recording, you released 'Born Again' this summer. Why now?

This is the best record that I have made. I sat down with Paul Berry, who is a Grammy Award-winning writer who wrote 'Hero' for Enrique Iglesias. He and I sat down and he wrote this song called 'Born Again.' When I heard this song it reminded me of my 22 years in this bloody business, because when I went back into the studio, it felt like I was doing it for the first time. He came to me and said there is a song called 'I Remember' that was done in the U.S. by this girl named Keyshia Cole. When he put that on, I wanted it. I went in the studio and did that, and that's when the album started to come. All of a sudden, the songs started to flow. 'Summertime' is a song that I've done on this huge show here, and it has had 100,000 hits on YouTube. People just keep going to it to hear me sing it. I was about four-months pregnant when I was singing that. We just took that and put it on the album.

What would you like to see happen in music next? Where would you like to see it go?

Personally, I'm still with the old school. I miss D'Angelo. I love D. He is amazing. He needs to come out and make a record for us. I know that he is making one at the moment that's why I'm saying that. I'm working with this collective called Ragtop, and I've done a few tracks with them as well. They're really fresh. I like Adele, and I love Amy Winehouse. I got Amy to do the Jazz Café for me before she blew up and I had everyone roasting me asking me why I was letting this scrawny white girl be on the stage with Carleen Anderson and Omar. I was like, 'Because she's good. She's the s-t.' After that, she blew up. She is the best thing that Britain has had for a very long time. I don't care about the drug thing; I'm just talking about the talent. I'm not really excited about the music in England right now. I think the most exciting music right now is indie. The Script are these Irish guys who I think are going to take over from U2. Soul music died because I think hip-hop became too hard, and soul music suffered. Soul music in America became too manufactured. I think we're gonna go back to real soul again. I think people miss the romance that soul was about originally. It's too perfect and too slick now and commercial. You lost that feeling, like when Luther Vandross would put out a tune, and then every now and then you'll get someone like Eric Benet to put out something to make you feel that it's the way soul music should be. There's just not enough of it, and I think in England the only music that is really progressive right now is indie. Daniel Merriweather is sick, too.

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To learn more about Mica Paris and her CD, 'Born Again,' visit her online at www.micaparis.com.

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VIDEO: Watch Mica Paris perform 'Summertime' from the musical 'Porgy and Bess' live.

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To read other UK music features in BV Buzz's 'Conversations Abroad' series, check out:

'Conversations Abroad: Introducing UK Music Sensation Jamelia'

& 'Conversations Abroad: Meet UK Soul Siren Beverley Knight.'