After three successful albums on his former Sony label, Lyfe Jennings is preparing himself for his fourth studio album on his own label: Jesus Swings/Warner Bros. Records. “When I finished my contract with Sony, I started getting a lot of offers. Warner Bros. came along and offered me my own label. Now, that was a no-brainer. Lyfe said. “I knew a lot about the business and I had great people working with me, so I figured I was ready to step out on my own.” The album ‘I Still Believe’ is set to hit stores on July 27, 2010.
The first single, ‘Statistics’ is a banger! It’s basically an anthem for women to decipher between the men that are all about games, and/or the men who are real and are ready to take care of business. It’s already getting heavy rotation on radio stations nationally. Lyfe is a natural writer & producer. He always has a message in all of his songs. “I usually write all of my songs. My last album, Wyclef wrote a song. I produced like, 50 percent of this album. I usually produce about 90 -95 percent of my albums.” Lyfe shared.
Originally from Toledo, Ohio, Lyfe Jennings’ life has not been without its share of troubles. He even spent 10 years of his young life incarcerated. He mentioned that the experience actually shaped him as a real musician. “It gave me experience. Not only experience in my own life, but experience from dealing with so many different people and situations. You find a commonality in that. Whether it’s a love situation or a money situation, we all have that in common in that way.” I guess the time he spent playing his guitar instead of basketball in the yard paid off in a big way. He wrote a multitude of songs and shared them with other inmates. And upon being released, Lyfe dropped his multi-platinum debut, ‘Lyfe 268-192′ (his old prison number) with lead single, ‘Must Be Nice’. “It definitely made me feel good. I truly believe it was meant to happen. It was good for my confidence. Lyfe explained. “It was also good coming out of prison from being there 10 years; you don’t actually know what you’re gonna be doing as far as the workforce goes. So, it was a great opportunity. It feels good to know that the direction you chose for your life was the correct one.”
“I think my greatest work to date thus far has been 268-192, but this album; musically is a lot better. I worked with different producers. Usually, I do the majority of the album myself”
Staying grounded has not been a problem at all for Lyfe Jennings. He comes from a place of truth, and vows to use his story to help others. “I always wanted to connect something positive with everything I put out. So when you see different people going through different things and how they handle it, you start thinking that you don’t wanna be a part of this industry. It’s a lot of nonsense going on. And, I’ve never been the type of celebrity-celebrity; you know kicking it with a lot of other celebrities. I know what I’m good at: writing these songs, and getting my message across to the people. I don’t necessarily need to be doing all that other stuff all the time.”
Lyfe is also using his celebrity to give back. He has a national campaign – ‘Stay Busy, Stay Out of Trouble’, which encourages young people to focus on positive activities to help them stay out of trouble. “I got into trouble in the summer from having a lot of idle time as a youngster. So we go into all the boys club, and all the high schools to talk to the kids about what they will be doing for the summer. And a lot of kids have a idea of what they want to do, but I try to get them to identify exactly what they will be doing. It they want to go to basketball camp, I try to help them get signed up. We bring in counselors that have all the information in order to sign up and we get it done.”
“I also want to let people know that they can catch me on tour with: Anthony Hamilton, Kem, Raheem Devaughn and Jaheim. We are starting out in August; 20 cities and we will probably add more. So check us out!”
For more info on Lyfe Jennings, go to www.Lyfeonline.com or follow him on twitter: @Lyfeonline419
I Still Believe in stores July 27, 2010
photo credit: George Butler
