Shanice Wilson - I Like (Masters At Work 54 Dub) Motown Records 1994

"I Like" is a song by American singer-songwriter, actress, and dancer Shanice, released in August 1994 as the third single from her third album, 21... Ways to Grow (1994). The song samples "I'll Take You There" by the Staple Singers. A music video was produced to promote the single. The DUB was produced by Masters at Work which is the American garage house production and remix team of "Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. The duo has produced music together under the names MAW, KenLou, Sole Fusion, Hardrive, and Nuyorican Soul. They have been referred to as one of the most influential artists in the history of house music.
Shanice Lorraine Wilson-Knox (born May 14, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and dancer. Shanice had the Billboard hit singles "I Love Your Smile" and "Silent Prayer" in 1991 and "Saving Forever for You" in 1993. In 1999, Shanice scored another hit song with "When I Close My Eyes", which peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She is recognized for her coloratura soprano voice and her ability to sing in the whistle register.
Shanice Lorraine Wilson was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and she moved to Los Angeles with her mother Crystal and her aunt Penni. Her mother and aunt went to Los Angeles in pursuit of careers in the music industry. They shifted their focus to Shanice and formed the management company Crystal Penni to cultivate and promote her talents. Shanice was age nine when she appeared in a Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial with jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald. In 1984, she was part of the regular cast in the first thirteen episodes of the children's program Kids Incorporated. Shanice competed on Star Search at age eleven, and later signed with A&M Records.
In 1994, Shanice released the album 21... Ways to Grow, with producer Rhett Lawrence, a session musician and Earth Wind & Fire guitarist Dick Smith. This effort was followed by a move to LaFace Records in 1997, which later released the 1999 album Shanice. Additionally, she has contributed to various film soundtracks, such as Boomerang ("Don't Wanna Love You") and The Meteor Man ("It's for You"). Achieving success with her top-ten hit "Saving Forever for You", from the Beverly Hills 90210 Soundtrack, Shanice later recorded "If I Never Knew You", a duet with Jon Secada, for the original soundtrack of Disney's 1995 film Pocahontas. While still with Motown, she also recorded a cover version of "If I Were Your Woman" by Gladys Knight & the Pips. Tami Roman and the fellow members of her R&B group quartet Female provided the backing vocals in the song, released via the Panther soundtrack on May 2, 1995, weeks before the Pocahontas soundtrack was released on May 30.
Shanice occasionally does background vocals for other artists; she can be heard on Toni Braxton's "Come on Over Here" and "Un-Break My Heart", as well as Usher's "Bedtime". In 2010, she performed vocals on the track "Behind the Mask" from Michael Jackson's posthumous album Michael. She recorded the song "A Midnight Rendezvous" for the 2012 Kinect game Rhythm Party. She also performed "Love Is the Gift", the English theme song for the video game The Bouncer. Shanice returned to recording after a five-year hiatus and released her album Every Woman Dreams on her own label Imajah (named for her two children). The album peaked at No. 30 on the R&B Albums Chart.
In 2019, Shanice returned with the single "He Won't". In 2022, she was selected to sing the theme song of the Sesame Street spinoff series Mecha Builders alongside Eric Bellinger.
In addition to singing, Shanice is also an actress, first appearing in "Rock Enroll", a season five episode of Family Matters. In 2001, she made an appearance as a singer on her husband Flex's TV show One on One. That same year, she starred in the TV movie One Special Moment, an adaptation of Brenda Jackson's 1998 novel of the same name.
In 1997, Shanice became the first Black performer to star in the role of Eponine in the musical Les Misérables on Broadway. In 2011, she joined Niecy Nash and Frenchie Davis for the 21st Annual "Divas Simply Singing" HIV/AIDS charity event. Shanice and her husband, Flex, also starred in the reality show Flex & Shanice, which premiered on the Oprah Winfrey Network on November 1, 2014.
In 2021, Shanice appeared as herself, performing on the Ladies First tour with Kelly Price and Chanté Moore during season 2 episode 10 of the TV series First Wives Club.
On February 19, 2000, Shanice married actor and comedian Flex Alexander. They have two children, daughter Imani Shekinah Knox (born August 23, 2001) and son Elijah Alexander Knox (born March 5, 2004).