October 28, 2008 @ 12:28 pm

My Album's Out: Jon B

Camilo Smith

Jon B returns to the scene with a new album and a new outlook on life

Out of the spotlight for four years, but busy behind the scenes, Jon B is releasing his fifth studio album to prove he's not done with the R&B game just yet.  After marriage, and a newborn baby, this soul stirrer is back with Helpless Romantic. Here, he talks to VIBE about getting his grown-man sexy on, and the influence his new family has had on his music.

This is your fifth album, but you've been away for about 4 years. What's it like to be back with "Hopeless Romantic"?
It's a cool feeling. I have a 15 month-old child. It's my first child. This album happened during the whole process of me and my wife meeting and conceiving a child.

You said that you took your time to craft this album. Did you really mean for it to take this long to release another album?
How do you put it in words, really? Being gone from the game...first of all, I was on the road the whole time, I was working, producing other artists. It was probably about 150 records that I produced and collaborated on.  In terms of this album, it's nice to return to the game, and submerse myself in my own material. I'm the voice for the male energy right now. I feel like a lot of cats can relate to me, and all these songs are really testimonials of what relationships can be. Like on "Helpless Romantic", I say, "I can't help it, I'm a helpless romantic, you're the ocean and I'm the Titanic."

The ideal image of an R&B singer is a single guy talking to the ladies, how does being a father and a husband change your point of view?
Helpless Romantic is dedicated to my wife and my baby. This feeling came to me one day, I was up on my balcony looking at my pool, it was almost the feeling of sinking and me playing my piano. As I become a more mature person, the more grown-up swagger I develop. Certain [sexual] things I can be pretty blatant with, I mean, I'm a Scorpio. I feel that there's a certain amount of love in my music.  I talk about really down-to-earth situations---being married, just singing about the everyday.

You've had such a successful career, with platinum and gold albums under your belt, what sets you apart from the crop of R&B stars in the game?
Writing and producing my own music is what sets me apart from other artists, or other people's albums, 85 percent to 90 percent is my own writing and my own production. A lot of times, that's what's keeping me alive in the game. My CD is my book. This album is my life. This isn't the thugged out in the club, R&B record. It's more romantic.

You keep the rap element that you were so close to in your previous albums. What led you to Houston to work with Paul Wall on "Oh So Sexy"?
I've always respected Paul as an entrepreneur, and I hooked up with him during the Source awards in Pasadena one year.  For "Oh So Sexy", he came up with that Southern crunk beat, simple little clap, southern kind of theme.  We're both married, and the idea of that song came from seeing these ladies when they're out in the club: they get dressed up, they get their nails done, their toes done. My wife, she's got a subtle way of dancing in the club, and alluring me, since the first day I saw her. I appreciate the way women get ready to go out to the club and I see them vibing to the song.

Your album drops today [October 28]. Will we see you touring soon?
Definitely. I'll travel with a live band, and I'll DJ also. Deejaying came later in life. My studio burned down, so I took up deejaying for a while to get my mind off of it. I just spin some classic R&B, just matching beats. So, yeah, there will be some Jon B deejay sets coming soon.

Article tags: Jon B., Paul Wall 

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