"Stranger in My House" is a song recorded by Canadian singer

Tamia Tamia Marilyn Washington Hill (born May 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and producer. Born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Tamia performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. In 1994, after signing a development dea ...

. It was written by

Shae Jones Shae Jones (born July 27, 1978 in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer. She was discovered in the late 1990s by R&B star Montell Jordan, who liked the fact that her voice did not sound like other voices. After sign ...

and frequent collaborator

Shep Crawford Shep Crawford (December 18, 1970) is a Grammy Award-winning American R&B and gospel musician, songwriter, and record producer best known for Whitney Houston's "Same Script, Different Cast", Deborah Cox's "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here", Tamia ...

and produced by the latter. Initially helmed for fellow R&B singer

Toni Braxton Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1967) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. ...

, it was left unused and later recorded by Tamia for her second studio album, ''

A Nu Day ''A Nu Day'' is the second studio album by Canadian recording artist Tamia. It was released by Elektra Records on October 10, 2000, following her transition from Qwest Records. A less ballad-driven collection of songs and more progressive approach ...

'' (2000). Inspired by the

surprise ending A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as a twist or surprise ending. It may change the audi ...

of the supernatural thriller film ''

The Sixth Sense ''The Sixth Sense'' is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Bruce Willis as a child psychologist whose patient (Haley Joel Osment) claims he can see and talk to the dead. Released by ...

'' (1999), the

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

-led, dramatic

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythm ...

ballad is about a woman who is confused with her partners recent change in behavior and goes into denial about it. The song was released as the album's second single in February 2001. Upon its release, it received a positive reception from music critics who complimented the singer for her vocal performance, and reached number 10 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Tamia's first top ten hit on the chart. "Stranger in My House" also peaked at number three on ''Billboard''s

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

, while reaching the top spot on the

Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart. An accompanying music video, directed by

Paul Hunter Paul Alan Hunter (14 October 1978 – 9 October 2006) was an English professional snooker player. He was a three-time Masters champion, winning the event in 2001, 2002, and 2004, recovering from a deficit in the final to win 10–9 on a ...

, features Tamia performing in an indoor pool.

Background

"Stranger in My House" was written by singer

and producer

. Initially penned with fellow R&B singer

in mind, it was conceived after a writer’s block during which Crawford failed to come up with a song for Braxton. He was eventually inspired to resume work after watching the supernatural psychological thriller film ''

'' (1999) and its

which encouraged him to write a song "that has a twist," leading to the lyrics "could it be that the stranger is me / Have I changed so drastically / And you remained the same." However, when the ballad was offered to Braxton for recording, her record company

LaFace Records LaFace Records was an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, that operated as a unit of Sony Music Entertainment from 2008 to 2011 and was historically a part of Bertelsmann Music Group from 1989 to 2004. It was most active and achie ...

rejected it. Left unused, "Stranger in My House" was one out of several records Crawford played for Tamia when

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

consulted him to work with her on her second album ''

'' (2000). The singer reportedly "loved" the record. However, it was not until after a meeting with Elektra head

Sylvia Rhone Sylvia Rhone (born March 11, 1952) is an American music industry executive. Since 2019, she is the chair and CEO of Epic Records, a label owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Rhone served previously in senior positions at Vested In Culture, Unive ...

that "Stranger in My House" was bought for Tamia to record. Tracking of the song took place at both the

Paramount Studio Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production and distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-oldest ...

s in

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and

The Enterprise Studios Enterprise Productions, Inc., otherwise known as The Enterprise Studios, was an independent production company co-founded by actor John Garfield alongside producers David L. Loew and Charles Einfeld in 1946, right after Garfield's contract with Wa ...

in Burbank, and was overseen by Anne Catalino, and Jamie Seyberth. Jimmy "Professa" Russell played the guitar, while backing vocals were provided by Jones. Mixing was handled by Kevin Davis. In 2017, Tamia cited "Stranger in My House" as one of her favorite songs within her discography, telling: "‘Stranger in My House’ was a long time ago, but I love performing that song ..I can’t wait to get to it in a show. So that’s what I compare ny new materialto."

Release and reception

"Stranger in My House" received favorable reviews from music critics. In his review for parent album ''A Nu Day'', Chuck Taylor from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' called the song "gut-wrenching" and "a surefire crossover hit and should be the album's second (or third) single." The song debuted on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 79 for the chart dated January 13, 2001. Over the course of its first thirteen weeks on the chart, during which it was charting based solely on

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

and sales of its vinyl

12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

, the song had reached an initial peak of number 38. Following its retail release in the more popular

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

format, it jumped from number 53 to its peak of number 10 for the chart dated April 14, 2001, having sold 48,500 copies that week. It also jumped from number 19 to its peak of number 3 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart the same week, having previously reached as high as number 9. "Stranger in My House" was also a success in dance clubs, topping the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Play chart for the issue dated March 3, 2001.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Stranger in My House" was filmed by

. It marked his third collaboration with Tamia following their work on ""Make Tonight Beautiful" and "Imagination."

Track listings

Notes * denotes co-producer * denotes additional producer Sample credits *"Stranger in My House (So So Def Remix)" contains a sample of "The Bridge" performed by

MC Shan Shawn Moltke (born September 6, 1965) better known by his stage name MC Shan, is an American hip hop and R&B recording artist. He is best known for his song "The Bridge" produced by Marley Marl, and for collaborating with Snow on "Informer" ...

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''A Nu Day''. *Backing vocals – Shae V. Jones *Drum programming, keyboards, producer – Anthony "Shep" Crawford *Guitar – Professa * Mixing – Kevin Davis *

Recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

– Anne Catalino *Tracking – Anne Catalino, Jamie Seyberth

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 2000 songs Tamia songs Songs written by Shep Crawford 2001 singles Elektra Records singles Songs written by Shae Jones Contemporary R&B ballads 2000s ballads