In case you weren’t already convinced, the lineup for this month’s inaugural Soulfest proves that the mid-to-late-’90s was primetime for neo-soul and conscious hip hop. At the top of the bill are ’90s game-changers Maxwell, D’Angelo and Common, but perhaps the most experienced artist on the lineup is Angie Stone.
The South Carolina-born, Atlanta-based singer kicked off her career way back in 1979 as part of proto-hip-hop trio The Sequence. Stone subsequently transitioned into R&B and in recent years she’s achieved consistent success as a solo artist, as well as dipping into film and television.
“For me it’s 35 years,” she says. “I’m still doing my thing and I’m just grateful to God, I’m grateful to my fans.”
Staying afloat in the music world for 35 years is an astonishing feat by anyone’s standards. And it far surpasses the modest aims that Stone had at her career’s outset.
“There was no long-term plan. I don’t think there was a short-term plan either,” she says. “Things evolved and as they went up and down I found myself on a boat sailing. I’ve got to watch the waves and that’s what I’ve been doing. I look back sometimes, but in order for me to stay relevant, I have to keep looking forward. I never really dwell on yesteryear, because quite a few artists have been known to be stuck in time.”
It’s precisely this attitude that’s led Stone through a non-stop succession of interesting projects for over three decades. Following the dissolution of The Sequence in the mid-’80s, she released two records with R&B trio Vertical Hold and teamed up with famed pop songwriter Gerry DeVeaux for a record under the name Devox. Then in 1999 – 20 years after The Sequence’s first single ‘Funk You Up’ – came Stone’s debut solo LP, Black Diamond.
“I think every fresh opportunity should bring fresh ideas,” she says. “When I look back on my career I have to look at, ‘OK what have you not done?’”
The singer has now released six solo albums, sold upwards of five million records worldwide and received numerous Grammy nominations. Yet despite this prosperous 15-year stretch, Stone’s Soulfest appearance is her first visit to Australia.
“You guys never invited me,” she says. “I love the fact that this is finally happening – it’s overdue. And I’m excited with the lineup of artists that they have.”
Indeed, when she arrives down here, Stone will be surrounded by plenty of familiar faces. First there’s D’Angelo, an ex-lover and the father of her second child. Stone actually has co-writing credits on both of D’Angelo’s classic LPs, Brown Sugar and Voodoo, as well. Additionally, there’s fellow Atlanta resident Musiq Soulchild, who features prominently on ‘The Ingredients Of Love’ from Stone’s second LP, Mahogany Soul.
“I don’t think any of us has ever been this excited,” she says. “It’s definitely one of the most amazing things I’ve ever been a part of. So, with that being said, I really truly am looking forward to this. I had no idea that I was so well received in Australia.”
Seemingly there’s been a communication breakdown, because Stone’s slinky R&B made a rumble Down Under right away. In fact, after grabbing attention with Black Diamond’s leadsingle, ‘No More Rain (In This Cloud)’, her 2002 single ‘Wish I Didn’t Miss You’ cruised into the ARIA Top Ten. It’s been a desperate wait, but Australian fans can take comfort in the news that Stone’s tour setlists will be something of a career retrospective.
“We go all the way back to Black Diamond and we work our way up,” she says. “When I do ‘Green Grass Vapors’, or I do ‘Bone 2 Pic’, or I do ‘20 Dollars’, it evokes a memory of a great time in my career. So when I do it I immediately adapt to that space and that time. That’s the only way it could be an exact duplicate of what you guys are waiting to hear.
“You don’t want to hear ‘20 Dollars’ sung at a hundred miles an hour,” she explains. “You really want what you heard and you loved so much. I’m a person that sticks to what you’re expecting. If you want to hear ‘No More Rain (In This Cloud)’ you’re going to get ‘No More Rain (In This Cloud)’ that you heard on the radio.”
Even though Stone has managed to keep nostalgic inertia at bay for 35 years, she’s clearly still enthusiastic about the earlier stages of her career. It seems apt to find out if there are any periods that she feels particular affection towards.
“I look at Mahogany Soul and the state of mind that I was in. I’d just had my son and when I think about the headspace I was in – I was in a space and I allowed that space to dictate every song. As a result we created one of the best albums I’ve ever done.”
Like so many artists who spend a lengthy amount of time hawking their wares in the music industry, Stone’s career hasn’t been an entirely unfettered flow of positive inspiration. Over the years, she’s dealt with handful of record labels, including Arista and Stax. She admits that her five-year stint with the now-defunct J Records left a rather nasty taste in her mouth.
“I’m very candid about when they did The Very Best Of Angie Stone [in 2005]. I was in the middle of creating probably one of the best albums that I would ever make in my life and time and I was put to a dead halt – the humiliation I felt with that [best of] album coming out. They were so eager to get to whatever they were trying to get to that they forgot to put ‘No More Rain’ on the album. That was the stupidest thing.
“But when I look back in hindsight,” she adds, “I realise that God was like, ‘They’ll make the mistake and we’ll rectify it.’ As a result – how can you have a ‘best of’ album with Angie Stone and ‘No More Rain’ is not on it? That song changed the game for me on several levels, so when they forgot the song it was just God saying, ‘Angie, I got your back,’ because he knew I still had work to do.”
Despite any frustration this might’ve caused, Stone refused to let the label’s mishap encumber her otherwise unflagging productivity. She’s since released three further records, and with 2009’s Unexpected and 2012’s Rich Girl in particular, her on-record temperament has never possessed such a carefree lilt. And in case you’re worried, Stone confirms that the journey is far from over.
“I’m actually getting ready to go back into the studio. We got together [three weeks ago] and decided, ‘OK, we need to lockdown before we go to Australia and bang out this album.’ We’re maybe going to do one or two [new songs] live. Let’s wait and see.”
Angie Stone is headliningSoulfestalongsideMaxwell, D’Angelo, Common, Aloe Blacc, Mos Def and more at Victoria Park, BroadwayonSaturday October 18.
