Faces to Watch in ’95 : We’re Counting on Them : POP

Some of them you know. Some you don’t. But the following artists, entertainers and executives have one thing in common: We’re counting on each to mae a significant impact or difference in their respective fields this year. Sure, there will be thers who make a splash, but after we talked with dozens of people who work in entertainment and the arts, these were the names mentioned most often. You might say that Jim Carrey was a face to watch in ‘94, and you would be right. But, based on “Ace Ventura,” “The Mask,” and “Dumb and Dumber,” Carrey’s ’95 should bear watching. Another pair of familiar faces--Jay Leno and David Letterman--appear on our list. Why? Haven’t we looked at these guys enough? Well, truth be told, how do you know what’s going to happen to them this year? Fame can be sooooo fleeting.

Me’Shell NdegeOcello

“Just how do you market somebody like me?” asked singer-songwriter Me’Shell NdegeOcello when her debut album, “Plantation Lullabies,” came out in late 1993.

Marketing new artists is tough to begin with. But it’s even tougher with an avowed lesbian and African American who, instead of traditional R&B;, favors darkly romantic tales and searing social messages--all couched in an unorthodox blend of R&B;, jazz, hip-hop and folk. Her tongue-twister of a name and androgynous shaved-head look didn’t help.

But in ’94 the 25-year-old Washington native established herself as one of the most promising new artists, boosted by the “Wild Nights” duet with John Mellencamp that hit the Top 10 in the summer. With that attention, expectations are high for this distinctive artist’s second album for Madonna’s Maverick Records, which is due in mid-1995.