Gettin’ grown

With his gruff soulful tone, Gerald Levert has sounded like a grown ass man for most of his two-decade-long career, but his latest album, Do I Speak For the World, might be his most mature effort to date. His ability to woo lovers into submission remains unquestioned. Yet there’s something new on this album, more of a concern with what’s going on in Bush’s post-9/11 America: political deception, terrorism, airport security, and modern ghetto life. In advance of his Atlanta concert with his pops, the O’Jays’ lead singer Eddie Levert, Creative Loafing caught up with Gerald by phone to talk about an album that may well land him on the government’s no-fly list.

Creative Loafing: Explain why you decided to go political on the new album?

Mother is very religious and raised me as a Jehovah’s Witness when I was younger. When you look at it, big corporations in love with money, the tsunami and God taking all of these lives — it’s just like what the Bible and Revelations said. I am not trying to be a preacher, but every great artist like Prince, the O’Jays, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder all spoke on issues of the world. This is a coming-of-age album for me. I have to show some growth and leave a body of work for my kids to say that their dad helped changed the minds of people. If I get backlash for speaking from my heart, whatever.

How have you remained a viable artist in a musical landscape where R&B often takes a backseat to hip-hop?

It is funny because I was an advocate for merging hip-hop and R&B when me and [the trio] LeVert did the song “Just Coolin’” [with Heavy D. in 1988]. But I never thought it would turn into hip-hop versus R&B. Still, I have always stayed true to my roots in R&B and maintained a base like Patti LaBelle. [But it’s hard.] Luther Vandross has one of the most flawless voices in the world, but because he is a black man, folks discriminate on where his music can be played. Great as he is, there was not a huge interest in him until after his stroke. Ray Charles has his highest-selling record when he is dead.

Why do you think mediocre artists often outsell artists with substance?

There are times when I see Usher and others selling 8 million albums, and I feel that my music is just as good. [The scene] has become so materialistic and is no longer about the music and who is writing songs of substance. It pisses me off when people call music “beats.”

The song “So What (If You Got a Baby)” is a beautiful love letter to single mothers. What motivated it?

I was done with the album and this brother, Gerald Issac, followed me all around New York and in the studio and encouraged me to do this special song for women. After he played it, I went right in and recorded it. When you enter a relationship with a woman, you should be part of her kids’ lives. If you truly love that woman, you have to love everything that comes with her.

A lot of folks don’t have a father figure at home, but you have your dad on stage with you every night on tour. What is that like?

Sometimes I get emotional and cry. A lot of times I look hard into his eyes and regret a lot of things I’ve said in the past. We often hug and kiss, and it is surprising for everyone to see two black men express love because there are so many people who hate their dads. There are a lot things we’ve both done that we don’t like, but once we respect each other as men, we see our own humanity.

music@creativeloafing.com