Yes, it is. Every time I watch the film, your performance always brings tears to my eyes. It's powerful, so powerful.
It really is. It's beautifully written. The message really spoke to what the movie is about and what the movie meant. So I just went and recorded it. That was our second soundtrack. The first one we did was Hotel Rwanda.
"Nobody Cares?"
Right.
So, how has your definition of love been challenged over the years, or has it at all?
I've grown to understand what love is. It's really an action. People often mistake love for being this sort of feeling. It's not just a feeling, it's a verb. When you say that you love somebody or you love something, it's important to express not just your love for them but to actually act on your loving for them. I look for the best in people. I come from a much more positive perspective. I give people the benefit of the doubt until they prove me wrong and do something bad and change my idea of them. Generally, I'm a pretty loving person and I like to show acts of love.
After doing a bit of research, I found out your husband, Lascelles Stephens, has writing credits on a few of your songs. How did the two of you begin your professional partnership?
Lascelles and I met in the last year of high school and the two of us started writing songs together. That sort of propelled everything because I'd been writing songs before but I didn't think those little songs really were resonating for some reason. As soon as the two of us started to write our songs together, it was like everything started to really come together. So we continued writing.
Out of all the songs that you recorded together, which have special significance?
On the first album we did "It Could Have Been You," which we had a vision for. He was like "You know, I think we should get Dallas Austin or somebody else to produce it because I really want the sound to be consistent." At that point, we were so open. We were just very, very eager to get our songs heard and get it on the record. As long as it was on the record, it didn't matter to us who produced it. "I Won't Give Up" was one of those songs that was written at a time when it was difficult creatively for me because I felt like after coming off of the second album, a lot of people were simply being material and I wasn't quite getting the shot to come up with my own songs. I had to compromise a bit which kind of worked in my favor. Songs like "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here," "We Can't Be Friends" – those were songs that I had chosen that were presented to me. I felt like, "Okay, I can compromise. I won't have the opportunity to write as much but at least I know I've got these hits." That was one song that was self-produced on the One Wish album that I think the record company comfortably got the vision for – like a jazzy vibe – and they're like, "Oh, okay. We get this."
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1 - Richard
will you make friends with me?