It has been over a decade since Glenn Lewis released his first album, World Outside My Window.
The album included the lead single “Don’t You Forget It,” which became very successful. The Andre Harris-produced track peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard 100 and No. 10 on the Billboard Hip-Hop/R&B Songs Chart. The song also earned the Toronto native his first Juno Award for Best R&B/Soul Recording.
Despite Lewis’ success from his first album, he all of a sudden disappeared from the limelight. Over the years, Lewis released material periodically to let fans know that he was still working on music.
After signing with a new record label, Ruffhouse Records, the 38-year-old singer is back in full swing with a new album on the way titled Moment of Truth. The lead single, “Can’t Say Love,” has been receiving a lot of buzz on urban adult contemporary radio stations.
Glenn Lewis recently sat down with Rated R&B for an exclusive interview. During his interview, the singer dished on his hiatus from the music industry, his Moment of Truth album, his recent article he wrote for Huffington Post that went viral and more.
Check out our interview with Glenn Lewis below.
After you released your debut album in 2002, you went on a hiatus for a few years. During those years, you worked on two albums that never got released. What motivated you to come back and record your upcoming album, Moment of Truth?
I’d always been working on music the entire time. I’ve been in different situations and different deals. As you mentioned before, I had completed a number of projects in that time, but for one reason or another — timing-wise or just different things — had caused those projects to not come out. I guess the timing was right and it’s one of those situations with the stars aligning so to speak with the Ruff House/Capitol situation…I did the deal in 2011. I recorded the album up until the summer of 2012. Here we are in 2013, and the album is getting ready to drop.
Your new single “Can’t Say Love” is a hot song. What made you choose it as the lead single from your album?
Actually, I guess I can’t take credit for it because it really wasn’t my choice. I didn’t hear it as a single. I thought it was a good song in the process of making the album, and I thought it fit the body of work that I was doing for the album, but I didn’t necessarily hear it as a first single from the album, so I can’t take credit for that.
Tell us about your new album, Moment of Truth.
Basically, the mindset going in was that I didn’t have to show growth or evolution as an artist. I believe that, with the time that has passed, I just felt it was something that would come across regardless of the content or the approach on the record. I felt like my first album was more introspective and a collection of experiences that led up to that moment. The album was sort of like 25 years in the making. Here we are ten years later and I really wanted to have fun. I wanted the album to be the type of album that how it would transition live would be a deeper connection to fans. Understanding that my primary demographic is women, I wanted the album to have a personal touch. That was really the focal point going in.
What’s your inspiration behind the album’s title?
It kind of came through as a joke. It was one of those things where it was like, “Welp! This is it. This is the moment of truth. It’s been a minute.” But it came from a conversation that I had with one of the producers, talking about what this album means to me and what it means in general. Knowing that this project was going to see the light of day. It’s very personal in nature. I was leaving everything in the booth. Each song was like a moment of truth — very genuine conversations. In the midst of the conversation, that’s what came out. Every time I was in the booth, I was leaving everything there. A little part of my heart and soul was left in each song, so it’s a “moment of truth,” so to speak. I thought it was perfect for what this project exemplifies.
Which song is the most personal to you?
That’s tough. There are a few moments on there but I’d have to probably have to say the last song on the album is something that I’ve experienced — touch and go — kind of thing in my life. The song is entitled “Better with Time” and it’s something I don’t have presently — I’m single right now and mostly focused on just doing music — but it’s more so of ideally what I imagine what anybody would want in a relationship. It’s that best friend, nothing forced, you don’t have to send a representative in…you just do you from the beginning and so do they. It’s a very genuine situation. You look up as if there’s no time has passed…you just have a really great friendship and connection…It’s sort of a wishful thinking song.
With your album set to drop in October, do you plan on dropping a new single soon?
Funny enough, there’s actually enough great songs on the album…Myself and my team sort of have their own favorites…we’re still trying to figure it out. It’s a cool place to be. We’re really close to picking one. Right now, the focus has been really pushing “Can’t Say Love” as far as it can go. There are a lot of great things that I have lined up that are going to affect the momentum of the record.
You recently published an article on Huffington Post titled “R&B Music: Let’s Fall in Love Again.” One thing that stood out to me was when you wrote, “Oftentimes it takes a near-death experience to reset things, so that we re-learn to appreciate each moment. That’s what relationships need. That’s what R&B needs.” Can you go into detail about that?
I just meant that, well, for me, sometimes I’ve had to really f*ck up, so to speak. I’m like, “Whoa, I need to change course. This is not working out.” The funny thing about it is that the whole piece, in a lot of ways, is all relative. I’m speaking in the moment of things that I observe. Really at the end of the day it’s all relative because everybody has their different path and their own journey and they’re either going to learn or not. They’re either going to get it now or get it later.
What makes you happy?
It really doesn’t take much (laughs). Simplistic things make me happy…spending time with people I love.
What do you like to do for fun?
I love playing basketball or watching basketball. Basketball is everything to me, next to music. I love playing video games — anything with swords, bows and arrows and armor in it. I’m a big movie buff.
Make sure you support Glenn Lewis and buy his new album “Moment of Truth” on October 15.
