I'm actually surprised that, after over a year of blogging, I haven't yet dedicated a blog to Sevyn Streeter. I was introduced to her music by a production team I once collaborated with. Her debut album was my sample for the vocal melodies they wanted me to write on their tracks. I thought she was insanely good and I really thought they were mad to think a pop girl like me could come up with anything like what Sevyn was doing. Needless to say, I've been keeping my eye on her ever since.
Somehow, I feel like she's still R&B's best kept secret. Maybe I got it all wrong, but I still get the sense that her success is underground. A shimmer of what it should be. Luckily, it doesn't stand in the way of anything, because this woman is as prolific in releasing music as it comes.
In between the releases of her own original tracks, she has a habit of dropping some reworked covers of other R&B stars. And they usually end up giving the original a run for their money.
Anyway, a new album is on its way and she's been dropping tracks off it for months. "Prolly" (Ft Gucci Mane) "My Love For You" and "D4L" (Down 4 Life, ft The Dream) have been official single releases, accompanied by music videos. And last week, she's added an audio for a ballad called "Before I Do", while simultaneously setting the release date on January 27, 2017.
The album is called "Girl Disrupted" and based on the tracks so far, I feel she's chosen a slightly more commercial sound. "Before I Do" even sounds like a regular pop/R&B ballad without the complex vocal melodies that I actually know her for. Nevertheless, I don't get the feeling, that she's compromising too much now that she's signed to a major. I think she's still very authentic in the music to come, just more positive. And that's great considering some negativity she's received, recently.
She was asked to sing the opening anthem for the Philadelphia 76ers, but wanted to wear a "We Matter" jersey (ICYMI: endorsing Black Lives Matter), so they canceled the performance. The 76ers received lots of backlash for this and quickly reversed their decision. Sevyn will still open for them, in the "We matter" jersey.
She'll also be hitting the road in January to promote the album, so with "Before I Do" being a ballad, it looks like Sevyn's only slowing down for the holidays.
