Singer/songwriter Angie Stone has been negotiating her way around the rough terrain of R&B music for quite a while now. From her early days in the hip-hop group The Sequence to lead singer for neo-soul trio Vertical Hold, to the tracks she has penned for artists such as Mary J. Blige & Malik Pendleton as well as her contributions on D'Angelo (who she shares a son with)'s classic debut album Brown Sugar, Stone's gifts to R&B music have been bountiful. Now in '99 Stone is about to present her first solo venture, Black Diamond, an emotional brand of contemporary soul highlighted by Angie's powerful vocals and introspective lyrics. Songs like the silky "Everyday," the regretful dalliances of "Coulda Been You" and the sultry "Trouble Man" are examples of the type of deep and personal rembrandts of life that Stone brings to the plate, giving Black Diamond a universal appeal and making it a must-have for all who've experienced the trials and tribulations of love.
The Shield: How long have you been working on your album?
Angie Stone: 2 years.
What took so long for it to come out?
Well, I think because I was the underdog at Arista. It was Whitney, then it was Faith, then it was all these people that had established audiences and mine kept getting pushed back. And as a result, we kept getting more songs and better songs and you know, how it went on, it just started to kind of' flow. Like, I didn't mind being last.
What happened with you and Vertical Hold?
Nothing happened. I just think that we went the distance and I think with anything, once you put as much time as I put into the group and everybody kinda' just wanted to go their own way. After A&M [Records] lost their Black division, you know, one of the group members wanted to get married, settle down and have kids. And you know, I think all of us was kinda' just like ready to do our own thing and it was a very, very mutual parting.
I've heard the word 'diva' used a lot with you, what are your feelings about that?
I'm not a diva. I don't want to be a diva [laughs]. I just don't like the idea of, you know, a diva being bigger than, bigger than others. You know, I think [long pause] I just had this conversation with Marlynn [Snyder, A&R at Arista] today. I was like, 'I don't wanna' dress like a diva. Don't put me in any maxi-coats, none of that stuff.' Even though it's quintessential to soul, to say that you're a diva is to say that you're above it. My whole album, my whole vibe is being very much the same as what everybody else is. I think the same. I talk the same. I go through the same things that they go through, so it doesn't make me any better then them, it just gives me a voice or a position to be able to express myself and express it to everybody else.
The album seems to be very personal. Was that done on purpose?
All of my music is personal. Every song I've ever done in my career, from Vertical Hold on down, "Seems You're Much Too Busy", "Love Today", all those songs were personal. So if my album is personal it's because as a writer I can only write about personal things, things that have substance. I could write garbage, but that's what it ends up. I got about 200 trashcans full of stuff that nobody picked, that nobody used because it's going nowhere. It's just talking about the balloons. But when you start talking about something that somebody can get with, 9 times out of 10, it's personal. Everybody that got a hit song right now, trust me, it's personal.
What exactly do you want people to get from this album and do you feel the sexes will relate to it equally?
I'm a sista' so I can only think from a sista's perspective, but I think my subject matters are very universal. I think "Bone 2 Pic (Wit U)" could be perceived as a man saying that to a woman. I think that "Everyday" can surely be felt by my artist counterparts, you know, how you gonna' get something when all you getting is nothing. Because a lot of these guys, they blow up, be it basketball, be it whatever, you know, you got a whole slew of chicken heads coming after you and you're like, 'wait a minute, now when I was checking for you, you wasn't trying to get with me.' So I think that everybody, to some degree, can relate. It could've been you—they can relate. I can write a universal song, but that's not expected of me. I would just hope that everybody can get with the subject matter and then just flip it.
Who are your inspirations?
Musical inspirations have basically been Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack, Gladys Knight, obviously, and my major, major inspiration for this album has been my two children—my daughter Diamond and my son Michael D'Angelo.
Lastly, is D'Angelo ever going to bless us with another album?
Ooooh, that's sad to say! How would I know [laughs]? Of course he's gonna' drop his next album. The real brunt of it is D'Angelo is a perfectionist. I think that D'Angelo is behaving like anybody else [in regards to] their sophomore record. He has really had to keep things under wraps because everybody's been biting the guy and I think, as a result, he just wants to take his time and let everybody go for there's and then drop his record.