Scrapped Debut Album

Scrapped Debut Album, often referred to as Verbal Issues, is the unreleased debut album by Verbalicious that was slated for release in the fall of 2004.
==Background==
Teddy Sinclair's early career was spent as a child actress. After focusing on acting for a few years, Sinclair realized that her passions laid elsewhere; she wanted more freedom to express her own thoughts and opinions rather than playing a character. This prompted her to shift her focus to writing music.A Big City Died Interview Retrieved June 28, 2023. 
Already living on her own in London at 15 and sitting on lots of written material in the form of poems, Sinclair began to sneak into clubs to make connections with DJs and managers to get time in the studio. She got her first lyric books in December of 2002 and began performing in February of 2003. She had recorded a series of demos by the time she was 16.Paper Mag Interview Retrieved June 29, 2023 via Paper Mag. 
Sinclair also developed a strong interest in MC battling. In June of 2003, Sinclair entered a Radio 1 MC Battle in Leeds under the alias Candy Rapper and won the competition. She was signed to Adventures in Music in August of 2003, crediting the exposure and experience from the MC battle for helping her land a record deal."she was signed soon after she won a Radio 1 MC competition when she was just 16." February 24, 2005. Retrieved February 25, 2022 via BBC."In June last year, OneMusic and Radio 1 presenters Bobby Friction and Nihal... and just after she signed her deal a couple of months later." June 4, 2004. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
==Writing and Development==
After getting signed to Adventures in Music, preparations for her debut album were underway. 
Many sources, some of them credible, refer to this album as Verbal Issues." Despite a pretty good chart placing with this and recording an album called Verbal Issues she found herself on one of the worst record labels ever... AATW..." October 28, 2006. Retrieved January 22, 2024. However, due to the lack of sources where Sinclair calls this album by this name, this album will be referred to as an untitled scrapped debut album.
==Announcement and Release==
The album's apparent lead single, Don't Play Nice, was released digitally on June 10, 2004 on Adventures in Music's website. The following month, on July 9, 2004, the song Next Big Me was released on the soundtrack of Sleepover (2004).
In August of 2004, it was reported that her album was slated for a release in the fall."With a track already recorded for the forthcoming Disney film Sleepover and her debut album due for release in the autumn, Verbalicious is taking steps into the mainstream." August 4, 2004. Retrieved January 22, 2024. However, this would later be pushed back, with a new expected release date being Easter of 2005.Telegraph & Argus Interview Retrieved June 26, 2023.
After receiving considerable airplay, Don't Play Nice was then given full-single treatment. The song was released officially on February 21, 2005, alongside the music video. 
==Scrapped Release==
Don't Play Nice received minor success on the charts, reaching a peak of 9 on the UK Hip Hop/R&B charts. However, not long after the release, problems began to arise between Sinclair and her label.
According to Sinclair, her management team was taking advantage of her naivete. In an interview with Paper Magazine, Sinclair describes this conflict in an interview with Paper Magazine:
:"And anything I got paid for — sales of my single, doing tours and shows — he would be paid and he'd pay me out... Then suddenly, he'd be like, 'Well, my commission is this, but I had expenses of this to travel to the place and to make the phone calls, for my offices and my overhead,' which, it'd be like having an office on Crosby Street or Wall Street or something... I was 18 and about to release an album to realizing my manager's stealing all my money"
The strained relationship eventually resulted in a severed contract, thus causing the debut album to be shelved. Though the exact date is unknown, it seems that all advancements towards a release were severed by 2006. Sinclair then began a stint of homelessness and eventually rebranded herself to Verbz, a name under which she released a few songs on MySpace.
==Promotional Performances==
Although there is limited information available online, it seems that Sinclair embarked on a summer tour to support her single Don't Play Nice as well as her upcoming album. During the summer of 2004, it seems Sinclair opened for Kelis, Jamelia, the Jungle Brothers, and Blue.Don't Play Nice UK Promo CD promotional sticker"Shortly before her summer tour (supporting acts such as Kelis, Jamelia and Blue)..." February 28, 2005. Retrieved January 22, 2024. Based on this timeframe, she likely opened on Kelis' Tasty Down Under Tour and Jamelia's Thank You Tour.
Additionally, Verbalicious had some one-off performances as well, including one at the Blue Orchid nightclub.
==Possible Intended Tracks==
==Leaked Album Tracklist==
On June 24, 2023, many of the tracks above leaked as part of a 16 track album."The unreleased debut album from Natalia Kills, Verbal Issues, has been leaked online!" June 24, 2013. Retrieved February 25, 2022 via Leaving on Pop Hates Flops. However, there is little to no evidence that this tracklist is credible in any way. Especially considering some songs that were allegedly on this album, such as Ain't My Fault, were created after the project was scrapped, the validity of it comes into question. Also, it is unlikely that Love Game and Hey Boy, which are essentially the same song, would be on the same album. For this reason, it is better to assume that the songs were intended for the project, not that they were finalized and ordered for an official release.
*1. New Kid
*2. Sweet as Pie
*3. Wait For Me
*4. Don't Play Nice
*5. Strangers
*6. Butterflies
*7. Life
*8. Born Wrong
*9. Hush
*10. Take It All
*11. Never Going Down
*12. Hey Boy
*13. If I Saw You Now
*14. Ain't My Fault
*15. Love Game
*16. Queen of the Jungle
==References==
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Category:Verbalicious
Category:Studio Albums
Category:Albums
Category:Unreleased Albums
Category:2003
Category:2004
Category:2005
Category:Projects