This Is Me

This Is Me is the second studio album by American singer Kierra "Kiki" Sheard. It was released by EMI Gospel on June 27, 2006 in the United States. Sheard reteamed with her brother J. Drew Sheard, Warryn Campbell and duo PAJAM to work on her sophomore album but also consulted new collaborators to write and produce on This Is Me, including PJ Morton, Antonio Neal, and Tommy Sims as well as Fred Jerkins III and his son Lil Freddie. Upon release, the album earned generally mixed to positive reviews from music critics and became Sheard's second consecutive album to debut at number one on the US Billboard Top Gospel Albums, also reaching number 90 on the Billboard 200. Nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album, This Is Me won a Dove Award for Urban Album of the Year at the 38th GMA Dove Awards in 2007. Background Upon announcing the then future release, Sheard commented that she "called the album This Is Me because its more of the music me and my friends listen to, says Kiki. I grew up in the church, hearing and singing traditional Gospel, which I still love and will always be a big part of who I am. But when the Clark Sisters, then later, artists like Kirk Franklin, and Mary Mary stepped out and put the Gospel message to a contemporary sound, a lot of people, particularly the young, realized this was music they could relate to, and when they were then willing to give it a listen, the message started getting through as well." Critical reception