Avant
In the world of R&B, romance is dead. Listening to the radio and watching videos will convince even the most rose-colored dreamers that true love has been replaced by the lustful pursuit of interchangeable sex partners who are wooed by fancy clothes, liquor and glittering jewelry, then tossed aside like old garbage. Luckily, there are still singers like Avant who are brave enough to defy conventional thought and resurrect the spirit of romance. For his fourth
album, Director, the velvet voiced singer and songwriter returns with a disc full of moving melodies and a mission to rep for the real men who aren’t afraid to embrace their emotions and love a woman fully and freely. "I think we’ve lost the chivalry in relationships," says Avant. "Our lifestyles and music have changed and that makes it hard for some men to understand what a woman really needs."
Avant, a Cleveland Ohio native who still lives in his hometown, learned how to
appreciate and admire the strength and resilience of women who are mothers,
sisters and lovers from the most important woman in his life, his mother. "One
of the most valuable things my mother taught me is that you can love someone and
not expect anything back." As the youngest son in a family of six, he watched
his mom sacrifice mightily to provide the best for her children. Money might
have been tight, but her affection never faltered. She encouraged Avant to
develop his musical gifts and played classic R&B artists like Smokey Robinson,
The Supremes and Marvin Gaye who later influenced his creative direction.
Avant loved the great ones, but to him, his uncle, the late Andrew Pittman was
the ultimate performer. "My uncle was the inspiration for me to be in the music
game doing what I do," he says simply. "I would watch him perform with his group
when I was 5 years old and I wanted to be like him." Avant’s uncle never made it
in the record business, but Pittman experience played a huge part in teaching
Avant valuable lessons about discipline and hard work.
At 14, an age when most teen boys are preoccupied with sports, video games and
girls, Avant began penning his own songs. "I started writing songs when I
realized the different ways a person can approach love. I had just begun to
understand what love is, and I wanted people to hear my voice and see my vision
as an artist." Avant honed both his vision and his voice at the Cleveland School
of the Arts, where he learned to integrate his smooth tenor, songwriting ability
and dramatic flair into a sultry stage persona. Avant entered and won
innumerable talent shows, but unfortunately, Cleveland just couldn’t provide any
professional outlets for his budding talent.
After graduation, Avant worked a few factory jobs holding fast to his dreams of
music industry success. "I would sometimes get discouraged," he admits. "But, I
recognized that this was a stepping stone to the next phase in my life." Avant
continued to make music, using downtime at work to write material and a
friend&..39;s studio to record after hours. "I had a bunch of sleepless nights,"
laughs Avant, who would often bring a change of clothes and head directly back
to work.
His big break came in 1998 when Avant made his professional debut with the
independent release of his first single "Separated"Radio embraced the song and
the resulting buzz helped the singer land a deal at the now defunct label, Magic
Johnson Music. His debut album, My Thoughts, sold over a million copies and
garnered the singer legions of devoted fans. His subsequent releases Ecstasy and
Private Room were also well received, earning gold plaques, but his career has
not been without its share of controversy.
The singer had to contend with critical backlash that much of his style was
borrowed from other crooners. And though his music was unquestionably well
received, even the singer acknowledges that his distinctive musical gifts
weren’t always showcased in his earlier material. This time around, Avant
assumed more control over his sound and the key people supporting him. He signed
with new management and collaborated with a bunch of A-list producers like
Jermaine Dupri and Rodney Jerkins to take his sound to the next level.
The result is a fourth album that is his best to date, a replete with dreamy
ballads detailing the different stages of love. Instead of adhering to a cookie
cutter soul formula, Avant pours his heart into Director, an album titled to
celebrate his creative control. His lead single "You Know What" is a saucy mid
tempo cut featuring Lil’ Wayne that skillfully captures the heat-filled first
words of a man approaching a sexy female spotted from across the room. Avant’s
lyrics create rich visual images that place the listener in the middle of an
emotional whirling vortex.
In "4 minutes", an emotionally powerful slow jam describing a man’s attempt to
mend a broken relationship, the singer’s desperation and grim realization that
the best thing that ever happened to him is about to walk out of his life
forever are tantalizingly present in the lyrics and underscored by a haunting
echo and the soft clock ticking. Avant isn’t afraid to get real and describe
scenarios without happy endings. In "Right Place, Wrong Time," when he sings
"Someone else is filling my shoes/but I’m not mad at you ’cause I wasn’t
there/now he’s taking my place," he assumes responsibility for the break-up and
acknowledges his ex-lover’s right to move on. The sinuous bassline of "Mr.
Dream" charms listeners and compliment Avant’s lyrics, which seductively
chastise a woman for chasing an elusive Casanova and ignoring his very real
affections, while the lush melodies of "Imagination" reinforce his promise to
fulfill all fantasies.
Avant’s Director proclaims a grown and sexy love between consenting adults that
is both uplifting and mutually satisfying. It’s obvious that Avant knows how to
treat a woman and now he wants to share his knowledge with the fellas. "I try to
talk about things that guys need when smoothing over the situations that arise
in relationships," Avant reveals. "Sometimes, guys do crazy things, but deep
down they know that if they have the right woman, they should try to please
her." With his latest release, Avant has the experience and accolades for the
job as Director and most importantly the power of his magical soothing vocal and
lyrical abilities to put the love back into lovemaking. - Geffen
