Bossip caught up with Donell Jones to find out What’s up, what’s up, what’s up, with him missing in action from R&B:
BOSSIP: Why the hiatus?
DONELL: I was in a horrible situation with Jive. They have too many R Kellys, Justin Timberlakes, Ushers, Anthony Hamiltons… I couldn’t get the push i needed. When LaFace shut down all the artist went haywire.
BOSSIP: What was the approach you took on this latest song, “Free”?
DONELL: I wrote it around the time of 9/11. So, when this happened to Haiti I felt the song was really needed. To many of the R&B artist right NOW are concentrating on bling and how many girls they ran through. Not enough substance.
BOSSIP: What about the new generation of R&B?
DONELL: To be honest with you is; they are talented, but they want to be rappers. They don’t sing to the women with sensitivity. They are young and just like hip-hop, they have changed and sort of lost the essence of it all… making a woman cry and making her feel good is what R&B is all about.
BOSSIP: What do you think is fueling that lack of compassion and caring in todays music?
DONELL: I think, there is not a lot of guidance and lack of respect enough to study what made R&B special. I came up when there was a lot of great R&B artist. Teddy Pendergrass, El DeBarge, Tina Mari, Rick James and so on. See, the internet has made almost everyone a star. So the music game gets over-saturated and washed up. The radio is at fault as well. They are playing music for the teenie boppers. They don’t play the real music, and don’t even realize that our following is waiting. Like Maxwell who took his time on his album.
BOSSIP: Is that sort of what happened in your case?
DONELL: Well, it was about my label. I just wanted to get off that label. I could have put out an album, but didn’t want to do it with Jive.
BOSSIP: So you got some fire now that you have just been waiting to drop?
DONELL: Yeah man. I got all new stuff that has been waiting. Its all new flavor…but its still Donell.BOSSIP: You released in November an album called The Lost Files. What was the focus behind that one and the future one?
DONELL: The focus behind Lost Files was me being gone for a minute and wanting to give my fans a brief history of where I have been. Some of the songs people have heard and others are never heard. But the new project is all about love, life, and real everyday things. It’s untitled as of now.
BOSSIP: How many kids do you have Donell?
DONELL: I got 5 kids.
BOSSIP: All with the same Wiz?
Donell: I was with my previous old lady for over a decade. I have been out of that relationship for a while. I am now in a relationship with a beautiful woman named Jasmine and we have a daughter that is 2.
The female staff at Bossip seem to think that R&B has changed. The new generation has the “whole package,” but isn’t singing the definitive factor in being a R&B singer? We are rooting for you Donell…
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