Older, wiser and in control

All Eyez on Me. Last year, Monica had little reason to think any different. As a teenager, the Atlanta native had scored back-to-back No. 1 R&B hits — “Don’t Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)” and “Before You Walk Out of My Life,” both from her 1995 debut, Miss Thang. Now in her early 20s, the singer was signed with mentor Clive Davis’ J Records, who had just worked his magic once again — this time with Alicia Keys. Monica was teamed with Rodney Jerkins, one of the industry’s hottest young producers.

But “All Eyez on Me,” the upcoming album’s title track and first single, didn’t catch on. And just like that, Monica’s belated follow-up to 1998’s The Boy Is Mine was scrapped — though if you’re ever in Japan, you might be able to find a bootleg copy. Not exactly the best way to atone for a four-year break.

But Monica has finally made up for lost time now that her single, “So Gone,” has topped Billboard’s R&B chart. The track is from After the Storm, her first official release for J, which made it into stores last month.

Sassier than Brandy and distinguished by her soulful, mature voice, Monica is a music-industry veteran at 23, with an impressive number of awards and Top 10 hits to her credit. And veterans don’t whine about the past — even if it involves an album that, in all likelihood, will never be heard.

“The music didn’t really reflect what my life has been,” Monica says now.

And that life has been quite traumatic, especially for someone so young. There were reports that she witnessed the suicide of boyfriend Jarvis Darnell Weems, an alleged drug dealer. There was the murder trial of a former boyfriend, No Limit rapper C-Murder, which is still in limbo. “I was conscious about how I spoke on [the incidents].” But, she adds, “I’ve never hid from my audience.”

And on After the Storm, Monica is candid via her music. “I share so much about myself on this record with the hopes that people can get something good out of it because of all the stuff that I been through,” she says. “The reason I call this album After the Storm is because the storm was then and this is now. You never really get a chance to hear artists talk about how they made it through, because negativity gets so much light and so much media [attention]. They never talk about the positive side of it, or seeing me come full circle as a woman and adjust to all the changes in my life and accept them — and love myself and love God and love my family. People don’t really focus on that. They focus on what happened.”

So far, incorporating those heartfelt experiences into her music has re-energized Monica’s career. “So Gone,” which has friend and executive producer Missy Elliott’s stamp on it, has lit up urban radio formats all over the country. In Atlanta, the single is easily among the most requested songs in any countdown, and she’s performed the song on TV’s “Live With Regis & Kelly” and “The View.”

Monica doesn’t shy away from the song’s personal implications.

“‘So Gone,’ for me, [is] about relationships — being in one where you can’t see the forest for the trees,” she says. “And I know that I’m a real emotional person. When I’m in a relationship, I’m quite like ‘So Gone’ because I put in 100 percent of myself. And I thought that would be a real distinct type of record for women.”

And by adding hip-hop elements, Monica also makes “So Gone” gritty enough for the guys. She handles the rhymes herself and even swaps verses with Busta Rhymes on the remix. But don’t expect a rap album from Monica. She is still very much a singer.

“It wasn’t, by any means, meant to be like, ‘Oh, I’m a rapper now and I’ve always had this dream to rap.’ It was more to add character to the record,” she says. “I really enjoyed doing it — that’s why I did it a couple more times on the CD.”

Rhyming with labelmate Busta was a little more daunting. “It was kind of a scary thought to rhyme sort of speak with Busta Rhymes,” she admits. “But it came off. I think he had mercy on me.”

Unlike Brandy and other budding ’90s R&B divas, Monica didn’t fit the pop-star mold. And while the music of Mary J. Blige, whose hip-hop-tinged R&B sparked a new trend, was more understandable coming from New York, Monica was from the South. Though her voice was mature for a teenager, her sound wasn’t street — but it wasn’t soft either.

“I was real fortunate to sell a couple-million records during that time,” says Monica. “But I really wasn’t able to make a mark because the type of music that was popular then wasn’t the type of music that I sang. I’m a gospel singer originally, so my full sound has a whole different edge. The way that I sing things, or the way that I make riffs or stylize things, brings a whole different soulfulness. The people are way more diverse now than what they used to be — and you hear so many more different things.”

Fellow Atlantan Jermaine Dupri acknowledges the difference in Monica’s sound. Dupri produced After the Storm’s edgy-smooth ballad, “U Should Have Known Better,” a song Monica co-wrote about a girl who stands by her man during his jail term. Not only does her new direction reflect the many changes in the industry, but it also reflects Monica’s own shift in perspective.

“I’ve just seen her become a lot more comfortable than she ever was,” says Dupri, who’s known Monica from the beginning. “She’s really into what she’s doing now. It is not like she wasn’t into it before. But she was just singing. She’s just more comfortable with herself. She’s laughing now. I remember when Monica didn’t want to be in the studio; she’d want to go eat at Houston’s or something. Now she wants to write. She is just a more well-rounded artist now.”

That new sense of empowerment is reflected in an After the Storm co-production credit alongside label head Clive Davis, which marks a turning point in their 10-year association.

“Our relationship started when Dallas [Austin] first brought me to his office to sing to him, and our relationship continued from there on out,” Monica says. “I think the reason he is still a part of the music business is because he is a visionary — but he’s not afraid. Sometimes I have to kind of shake him up a little bit more and hip him to things we might hear in the streets that you might not necessarily hear in an office. But he is so ready to receive that stuff. And that’s why I love our relationship so much: He doesn’t try to control my artistry.”

Which is a sure sign that Monica has finally taken control.

music@creativeloafing.com