During an episode of Unsung, influential 90s singer Adina Howard revealed that her uncontrollable temper and mouth were the causes of her career tanking when it came to dropping her sophomore album. The album was shelved indefinitely.
The episode, which had a clip shared on Instagram, showed how the singer, who was known for embracing her sexuality with songs like “Freak Like Me,” found herself in trouble.
Howard reportedly got into a verbal altercation with Sylvia Rhone, an executive at the Atlantic Records label., that she was signed to at the time.
The “T-Shirt” singer said that the drama began when she entered into a relationship with Boyz II Men’s lead singer, Wanya Morris. However, it turned out that Morris was also dating Howard’s fellow singer, Brandy, at the same time.
Adina Howard said, “Two young ladies, a lot of their egos got in the way and were kind of going through it about a guy.”
The relationship drama reached Rhone, and she sat down with the singer. She advised Howard to focus on her career and end her relationship with Wanya. Things were further blown up when television star Wendy Williams heard about the incident between Howard, Brandy, and Wanya. Williams called Howard, and producer Billy Moss said, “Adina opened up like she normally would.”
“Except, she had some choice words in there for Sylvia and for Brandy. That pissed Sylvia off, she was on fire,” Moss recalled.
Sylvia’s anger would prove detrimental to Howard and her fledgling career, as the owner of Mecca Don records put it: “You have two queens in one castle, and the one that writes the checks is going to win.”
Howard explained that her second album’s release date was delayed indefinitely at the peak of her popularity. She admitted, “I said something very inappropriate about the head of the label, and she pulled up the emergency brake and shut everything down. And rightfully so because when you have the power to do that, and you don’t like what people are saying about you, yeah.”
See the video where Howard described what happened here.
