Fantasia:
To Fantasia, life and music can never be separated. So when the 26-year-old, eight-time
Grammy nominee titled her third album Back to Me, she was making her current goals,
both creative and personal, crystal clear.
“When I was on American Idol,” she says, “people fell in love with the young lady
who took her shoes off to come onstage, who spoke her mind and didn't hold anything
back. They could relate because whatever I was feeling at the time, I put that in
my music.
“But after doing two albums and having the chance to do some acting,” she continues,
“I think I allowed people to influence me and change me. As an artist, you’re always
asking, ‘What’s the new sound? What’s gonna bump in the clubs? What’s hot?,’ when
really, all it takes is you being yourself. What makes us special as artists is
when we do us. So I wanted to get back to that Fantasia—the young lady who sang
from her soul and didn’t worry about what anyone else has to say. You have to follow
your heart, and most of the time when you do that, you win.”
Fantasia Monique Barrino knows a few things about winning. Following her triumph
in the 2004 edition of American Idol, the song “I Believe” made her the first recording
artist in history to debut at #1 on the Billboard charts with a debut single. Her
album Free Yourself was certified platinum, while the follow-up, 2006’s Fantasia,
featured the #1 R&B hit ”When I See U.”
Back to Me, which includes writing and producing contributions from such hitmakers
as Ne-Yo, Claude Kelly, and Rico Love, may be Fantasia’s first new music in over
three years, but that time has hardly been quiet. For a full year, she took on the
role of Celie in the Broadway musical The Color Purple (she is also cast in the
forthcoming film adaptation). She published her controversial memoir, Life is Not
a Fairy Tale and starred as herself in the Lifetime Network adaptation of the New
York Times bestseller. Most recently, following a series of personal and professional
challenges, she returned to the spotlight with the VH1 reality series Fantasia for
Real. So when it came time to focus on her music again, she was itching to go.
“When we started recording,” says Fantasia, “it had been so long for me, and I must
have had about 50 or 60 songs. I had kind of taken a break—not by choice, but because
so many things were going on with my life, with management, with accountants, everything
was in an uproar. So I just started to go in the booth with anybody that would let
me in. We went for months, in Atlanta, New York, LA, working with a lot of people.
“After going through so many songs, though, I realized that what we were missing
was everybody coming into one room, sitting down, and talking about real things,
real-life situations. And, of course, I’m always the one to start it off, always
the one to put my business on Front Street! But I do that because I feel like your
life is your testimony, that’s what you’re supposed to speak about to help your
next-door neighbor or whoever maybe listening. You help them by speaking the truth.”
The gritty soul of "Move on Me" provided the spark that Fantasia sought. “It gave
me that sound that I had been looking for—that Tina Turner feel,” she says. “I remember
being in the booth and getting that same feeling that I get on stage. That song
gave me a push, like OK, here we go, we finally got it.”
“Move on Me” is one of three soul-drenched songs on Back to Me produced by the team
of KP and Malay (along with “Teach Me” and the blistering “The Thrill is Gone,”
which features Cee-Lo Green). This raw and unexpected side of Fantasia, though,
is balanced by cuts like the smoldering “Bittersweet,” the album’s first official
single, and the inspiring, melodic “Even Angels.”
“When I was on Idol,” she says, “we did all types of music, and the whole family
would be in the living room watching together. ‘Even Angels’ is the song that pulls
all of those people back in. It’s very beautiful, laid-back, something totally different
for me.”
Themes of empowerment and independence run throughout Back to Me, most notably on
“I’m Doin’ Me” and “Man of the House.” The singer says that her experience with
the Fantasia For Real series was crucial for her to reach this position of strength.
“The show was a great thing for me, because I had somewhat disappeared,” she says.
“I was on the move, touring with Kanye, with Keyshia Cole, and then everything kind
of slowed down. There were a lot of business things that were all wrong. I had people
asking me, ‘Are you singing anymore?’ When you’ve been singing all your life, from
age 5, to hear somebody say that was an eye-opener. So with the show, I wanted to
let people know what was going on in my world, and see how I was fighting to get
it all back.”
It’s more than fitting, then, that after the full journey of Back to Me, following
the range and variety of twelve distinctive songs, the final track is the show-stopping
anthem “I’m Here,” the signature anthem from The Color Purple. “I wanted to give
something to everybody on this album,” says Fantasia. “I didn’t want anyone to say,
‘I saw her on Broadway, but I don’t listen to her music.’ And I do love that song.
I did the play for a year, I had a great time, and I’m very honored that I did it.
But it was very hard, and knowing I had that song to sing really helped!”
With Back to Me, Fantasia is asserting her power, as a singer and as a woman. After
a time of struggle and uncertainty, she’s writing a new chapter by taking on the
greatest challenge of them all: regaining confidence in herself. “There have been
a lot of questions, a lot of press — ‘Who is she dating? Who is she with? Where
is she at?,’” she says. “But I think this album will tell you everything you really
need to know. We put our heart into every song.
“This is my therapy,” Fantasia concludes. “Some people do yoga; some people go sit
out by the water. My thing is putting my feelings into my music and sharing that
with people who are going through some of the same things. Every song on this album
is the truth, and that’s the best thing for me.”
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