Syleena Johnson

Vocalist, songwriter, arranger, and maker Syleena Johnson may be the child of unsung spirit and blues great Syl Johnson (“Different Strokes,” “COULD IT BE Because I’m Dark”). Given birth to in Harvey, Illinois, she was raised hearing Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Tina Turner, the Dells, and Mavis Staples. She performed in regional rings and sang in her cathedral choir at Greater Christian Unity, and afterwards worked in traditional and gospel choirs in addition to in jazz ensembles at Drake College or university and Illinois Condition College or university, where she majored in music. Johnson’s soulful rasp, similar to old-school R&B performers, set the shade on her behalf confessional tracks. Her initial recordings appeared on the 1995 record of duets with her dad, but she produced her correct debut in 1999 with Appreciate Hangover, which highlighted addresses of Diana Ross’ “Appreciate Hangover” and Womack & Womack’s “Baby I’m Worried of You.” She after that signed using the Jive label for three albums, which reached the very best 20 of Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop albums graph. On Section 1: Love, Discomfort & Forgiveness (2001), Johnson confronted her intimate pitfalls and arriving old with guest performances by Buddy Man and R. Kelly. Between Section 2: The Tone of voice (2002) and Section 3: The Flesh (2005), she made an appearance on fellow Chicago indigenous Kanye West’s Grammy-nominated TOP Hot 100 strike “All Falls Down.” Amazingly, sales from the last mentioned seemingly weren’t elevated with the single’s achievement. In 2008, Johnson’s Jive period was anthologized by I Am YOUR LOVER: THE VERY BEST of Syleena Johnson. Johnson proceeded to go independent for Section 4: Labor Discomfort (2009) and aligned with Lalah Hathaway, Indira Khan, and Simone and toured as Daughters of Spirit. Section 5: Underrated, backed by a cope with the Shanachie label, implemented in 2011. She co-starred in Television One’s R&B Divas: Atlanta and made an appearance with a few of her fellow actuality superstars’ R&B Divas record. In 2013, she collaborated with Musiq Soulchild and manufacturer Kemar McGregor for 9ine, a couple of modern reggae duets. The next year, while agreed upon to the Blakbyrd label, Johnson released Section 6: Lovers Therapy, that she worked thoroughly with Pierre Medor and Kriss Johnson.