Story/Interview by: Timothy “Cutty” Sanders

Pure love and swagger seeped out of the pores of Jessica Betts as she melodically sang: “You steady texting me; steady calling me, cause you want me to Take You Back! What you crying bout; called my momma’s house, cause you want me to Take You Back! After all the stress; wanna send me gifts, cause you want me to Take You Back! Take You Backkk!”

A couple days after her amazing performance on 106 & Park, I got a chance to chat with Jessica Betts about her future, her past, and what is presently taking place in her life. “Its time! That’s what I feel. I feel like its time!” Jessica said. “Its been a journey, a lot of hard work. A lot of sweat, blood & tears, but through it all I just keep God first and just keep my eye on the prize. And that’s just getting the message out there.”

Although not at all new to the game, Betts is still considered a neophyte in the music industry. However, she is extremely ready for the big time. How do I know? Her passion, realness and love for what she is doing shines through during her performances. Jess has a way of pulling you into her heart when she sings. She has the knack of making you feel like she is singing to you. “You know you got to feel. I think what leaves the heart reaches the heart. I love music and I feel that you gotta feel the music and your heart has to be there. So I just go in on what I’m feeling and what I’m saying and that’s the deliverance.” Now, that’s a skill that you have to be born with.

With a hint of androgyny & muliebrity, Jessica’s entire aura screams ‘Superstar’! A mixture between Grace Jones, Mary J. Blige and Adele, she has a style, a personality and a voice that is much needed in the Industry today; tomorrow & forever. Plain and simple, the girl is bad!!!

We got our first glimpse of the mellifluous singer in 2005 on Missy Elliott’s ‘Road To Stardom’. Of course she won! Now it is her time to shine…

All good things comes to those who wait. And like Langston Hughes said, “Life for her has been no crystal stair.”

A native of the Southside of Chicago, Illinois, Jessica has endured a mountain of obstacles, heartaches & pains. But, she came out like the champ that she is, and now she is ready to live her purpose. “Throughout my journey as a Chicagoan and here in NY, its been a wonderful journey. I’m just here now doing my thing and making things happen.”

Since that fateful 106 & Park performance, Jessica has been flooded with interview requests, performance requests, collaboration requests, and the like. I personally say to Jess B.: “It’s your time to shine babygirl. We see you. And yes; we will – TAKE YOU BACK!!!”

Jessica Betts is currently performing throughout New York and preparing her debut album to drop on the world. It is guaranteed to be a banger. She is working with some of the best in the business. Not to mention, she is quite a prolific songwriter herself. You witnessed that with her single, “Why Me”. Keep your radars up for this young lady. You will definitely be hearing a lot from Jessica Betts!

“I like to think that I’m bringing a lot of genuine music back. You’ll get a lot of soul. We’re coming with some Rock and Pop. We’re fusing up most of the genres and just having fun. There’s some very talented musicians and producers that I’m working with. We’re really creating a masterpiece.”

Jessica Betts just released her first single, “TAKE YOU BACK”on iTunes. Go pick that up. Also check her out on Twitter and Facebook:

Twitter.com/JessicaBetts
Facebook.com/JessicaBetts

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/take-you-back-single/id489916523

Check out the live performance of Take You Back by Jessica Betts (Below):