SINGER Diana King recently released her latest album, AgirLnaMeKING, her first set of original songs in nine years. It was released on her ThinkLikeAgirl label.

King’s previous album, Respect, was released in 2002 by Maverick Records, the label founded and co-owned by pop superstar Madonna.

In an interview with the UrbanIslandz.com website, the 41-year-old King said she got to show her growth as an artiste on AgirlnaMeKING.

“The whole album was written and produced by myself; so I’m very excited about that,” she said.

There were no details about any promotional dates or which songs from the album King and her management will be pushing.

King has recorded sporadically in the last five years, although the Sly and Robbie-produced Spanish Town Blues got considerable airplay in Jamaica. She also appeared on this year’s Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival.

Diana King is originally from Spanish Town, an area that produced numerous performers that made it big in the dancehall in the late 1980s, the best known being Papa San and Lieutenant Stitchie.

King made her name as lead singer of the City Heat Band during the 1980s, and was also a prolific backing vocalist. In the 1990s, she broke through as a pop/reggae artiste working with top hip hop acts like the Notorious BIG.

King’s big break came while she as signed to Sony Music. In 1994 her album, Tougher Than Love sold gold on the strength of the hit song, Shy Guy, which was an international smash.

Both album and song earned King a strong following in Asia. King’s cover of Marley’s Stir It Up, from the Cool Runnings soundtrack, was released in 1994.

Think Like A Girl, the 1997 follow-up to Tougher Than Love, was not as commercially successful, but yielded a hit in King’s cover of the Aretha Franklin classic, I Say A Little Prayer.