R&B veteran Deborah Cox will be taking her fans on an amazing ride in 2016. Although it’s been seven years since Cox’s last studio album, she’s back with an anticipated album titled Work Of Art. Shedding light on the album, Deborah also speaks with us about her upcoming role as Josephine Baker in the Broadway musical Josephine, as well as the current state of R&B.
We know you’ve ventured into different avenues in your career during your seven-year hiatus. What made you decide to go ahead and come out with an album?
“Since The Promise, like you said, there have been so many different avenues: musical theater, Broadway, traveling and doing shows. It’s kind of like this was on deck next, you know? Music is always in my spirit, I’m always performing and it was time. In that length of time I think the fans were fulfilled with the Broadway experiences and those shows, but they were ready for another album. Life happens and you don’t realize how much times passes in between projects, but that was really it.”
What do you want your fans to expect from Work Of Art?
“I wanted to find a way to still do what I do, which is sing. Sing memorable melodies and lyrics and be able to still be a storyteller in this climate of the way music is now. I think the moment I lose that, I think the fans will let me know it’s time to pack it up. I took the time to really just get back to what the core is of what I do, which is soulful music, telling the story and being able to be a vessel great songs.
“Work Of Art is just going to revisit that, it’s like a culmination of what I’ve been doing in the recording industry. I’ve pushed the album back to 2016 to do just that. You know, all of the songs really reflect that soul and that essence of Deborah Cox. You put ‘More Than I Knew‘ on, and ‘Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here,’ and ‘We Can’t Be Friends’; it’s sentimental and it’s cohesive and it fits. It all works together and still tells a story.”
People are requesting and demanding that older R&B sound nowadays, too.
“You’re right, it’s a generation that isn’t served. There are a lot of people, grown folk, now. With ‘grown’ I mean late 20s, people that are working now, have kids, and are in serious relationships now. Those people have been under-served. I understand that now with just being out there and spending the time with the audiences. People will also let you know on social media. They want, I keep hearing, ‘classic Deborah,’ and I think it was just time to give the people what they want.”
How do you see social media’s impact now compared to when you first started your career?
“It’s really impacted in a great way. I take my cues from social media, but I know a lot of my fan base isn’t on social media as well. They’re still the ones that go into a Target or Best Buy, that want to go and touch and feel the CD. Between Facebook and Twitter I get the comments from people saying they want classic Deborah and they’re ready for the new album. I’m very thankful social media has allowed me to really stay in direct contact with my supporters and fans; it’s been great to get the word out instantaneously in the way you want it out. It’s really changed the perception of the artist, because I think we have the opportunity to speak to our base directly and let them know what’s going on. I think it’s a very useful tool and I’ve been using it to my advantage for a very long time. I remember when it was just a chat on DeborahCox.com and it was only monthly. [Laughs] Now everything is instantaneous.”
How do you feel about the current state of R&B? Tyrese has been fighting for R&B and he’s really passionate about the topic.
“He’s on a mission. His passion is infectious, it’s igniting! It sparked something that has been a topic for a long time. Saying ‘old school’ and grown folk, we use all these terms to kind of skirt around the issue that we’re all getting older daily, every one of us. It’s across the board and it’s nothing to be ashamed of, you get older and wiser. I think we’ve just come to realize we really haven’t been getting that mainstream support. It’s time to say something and be counted and really support each other in a meaningful way, which isn’t just listening to it, but really going to iTunes and buying the songs. Every single download counts and it will help the situation if the corporations see the numbers R&B music is doing.”
Tell us more about your upcoming role as Josephine Baker in the Broadway play, Josephine.
“The Josephine Baker story centers on five years of her life. Rather than getting to know her as the woman who danced around in the banana skirt, we really get a chance to see what her struggle was like. Her struggle for survival, being a survivor, this role is really one that’s just so complex. I’ve been preparing for the role doing Pilates, ballet, African dance, all these different types of movements to get really in tune with my body. I want to understand how she was as a performer, not just as a singer, but truly as a dancer. There’s just so much richness in her story; I’ve had to delve into her struggle as this activist who was always fighting for equality. I think there are so many parallels between me and Josephine in a sense that she had such a fight in her for the people, for Black people, for the LGBTQ, just for people in general. She wanted to prove and show through her actions that people of all different nations could live and get along together. That’s why she adopted 12 different children from all over the world and raised them at her chateau in France to prove that. I think she was an eccentric woman, she was a passionate woman, she was a fighter, she was all these things. As I prepare for the role I see so many similarities of myself with her. It’s exciting. It will play at the Asolo Repertory Theater in Sarasota in April and May of next year and then go to Broadway.”
