Whether she's aching or pulling herself together, she now sounds like her own woman. Of ''All Over Me,'' yet she's determined in a self-help march, ''Beautiful U R,'' as she urges, ''Don't never let nobody tear your world apart.'' Deborah Cox was saddled with the title of diva almost as soon as she left the starting gate - a label which, having been tossed around the neck of so many eight-octave-reaching young songstresses as of late, could have. She's utterly yielding in the whispery wind-chimes seduction Rico Love Presents: Emerging Women of R&B. Jackson in some songs, the album reveals much more of Ms. Houston haven't completely disappeared, and there's a hint of Ms. The album's title song is by John Legend, who also plays piano on the track. Lascelles Stephens, and they enfold her in purring keyboards and slinky synthesized bass lines. Janet Jackson's longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis work as songwriters and executive producers along with Ms. She's independent now, which hasn't limited her access to name-brand assistance. Cox then recorded a new song, Absolutely Not, for the soundtrack to Dr. Material, partly because she often fell back on imitating Whitney Houston. The album went platinum, becoming Coxs biggest-selling album to date. To Be Here,'' and of the album that included it, ''One Wish.'' But despite the creaminess and emotional immediacy of her voice, she never reached the next rung, partly because of hit-or-miss Cox, a Canadian singer who helps write her own material, started out singing backup for Celine Dion and went on to a fairly successful career on the major label Arista Records, selling a million copies of a 1998 single, ''Nobody's Supposed Leave the girl that's been down from Day 1?,'' but goes on to conclude, after some sad memories, that it's for the best: ''You say rebound, I say touchdown/ No more games.'' The album marks the former Clive Davis proteges return to the world of R&B, wher her song Nobodys Supposed To Be Here broke the record for the longest-running number one singele on Billboards Hot R&B/Hip Hip Songs chart. The album marks the former Clive Davis protege's return to the world of R&B, wher her song 'Nobody's Supposed To Be Here' broke the record for the longest-running number one singele on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip Hip Songs chart. It, shimmers as she ponders, with painfully cresting uncertainty, ''Did You Ever Love Me.'' She starts ''Saying Goodbye'' by asking, ''Why do most dudes choose to Platinum-selling recording artist Deborah Cox returns with her first new studio album in six years, The Promise. Platinum-selling recording artist Deborah Cox returns with her first new studio album in six years, The Promise. Tears lurk just behind Deborah Cox's tremulous voice, and the closer they get to the surface the better she sounds on her fourth R&B studio album, ''The Promise.'' A slow-motion groove, with harp and flute rippling through