The music of Raheem DeVaughn serves as the perfect antidote to the standard commercial fare on contemporary R&B radio. And by channeling the spirit of Marvin Gaye, the self-proclaimed “R&B hippie neo-soul rock star” has managed to juggle a musical catalog that focuses on the beauty of love as much as the social issues underlying the hardships of daily life.
No stranger to “conscious” music-making, Raheem DeVaughn has never been coy about his intent on educating the masses, so long as a smooth groove stirred enough sugar in his musical medicine. Such precautions seem unnecessary, however, since his breath-taking falsetto effortlessly draws listeners to his poignant messages of community uplift and self-empowerment.
To date, Raheem DeVaughn has garnered two GRAMMY nominations. “Woman” would bring his first for “Best Male R&B Vocal Performance,” while “Customer” would garner a nod in 2009 for “Best R&B Song.” Both tracks are represented on DeVaughn’s sophomore effort, Love Behind the Melody. His third studio album, The Love & War MasterPeace will be released on March 2, 2010, via Jive Records.
Shortly after the digital release of “Bulletproof,” the lead single for the MasterPeace, Raheem DeVaughn managed to squeeze some time out of his busy schedule and settle down for an interview with Clayton Perry—reflecting on “the new cool,” a career-defining conversation with Stevie Wonder, and his advice for independent artists.
A large portion of your catalog revolves around love and its various incarnations. In fact, several of your songs serve as unofficial empowerment anthems for women. What lessons did you learn from your mother, as far as how to treat and relate to women?
My mom and my grandmother, they’re just two of the strongest women I know, so I just try to capture that in the music. I wasn’t raised like some of the images that are depicted, some of what you hear in a lot of the records. I know a lot of those cats weren’t raised by those types of women either. It’s about keeping it real. I want to keep it real one hundred percent with the music, and that’s the picture that I want to paint. And that’s across the board, from my grandmother, my ma, the two mothers of my children. I have two sons. My sons had different mothers and the same situation. I’m blessed. They’re very, very supportive of my career. There isn’t any drama, the stereotypical “baby mama drama.” All that is propaganda that’s just perpetuated. So at the end of the day, I just try to capture the positive in my music.
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Article comments
1 - PRISTINE
"The Love and War MasterPeace" Project is long over due. I can't wait to cop that on March 2nd.