Mr. Powell

Interview with MCA Records R&B artist Jesse Powell: Together, eight different magazines, and television shows became a crowd in the Oak Room of the Dave and Busters down town Chicago. It was beginning to look more like a press conference than an interview set. We are waiting for Jesse Powell to arrive and several people have begun to make acquaintances around the room. A light muffle of conversation begins to float around.

This time last year, Jesse was enjoying the release of his hit "You" - A song that was remixed two different ways and blasted over every radio station, and every other wedding ceremony nation wide throughout the summer.

This year, Jesse is still well known for his moving ballads and his ability to touch the softer sides of just anyone, no matter the grain of their exterior. He walks into the room, everything less of a grand entrance, in a baggy blue sweats set and a matching visor hat. The only one seeming to make a big deal of him is his assistant. She ushers him dramatically, but his visage is cool and nonchalant. He’s not as small as he seems on the flyers and videos. And his tone of voice and attitude are a breath of fresh air amongst the idealistic fog now thickening in the room since his arrival. As we sit to talk, he is well together and gives a sweet smile. I shake his hand and introduce myself.

The name of his new slow groove for this year is "If I." Already the video is in rotation on Midnight love and other night soul video shows. I ask Jesse how he’s feeling about the success of it and the reaction he’s been getting back so far.

"It’s great." He tells me, shifts in his seat and sits up a bit. "I go into the studio and I sing from the heart. The music I do is really an art-form, and hopefully people can join me on some plane and appreciate what I’ve done, but it’s really something I feel in here." He says touching his heart. "And if anybody outside of me appreciates it, I’m lovin’ it."

Many people are taken aback by Jesse’s size and his song content. It would be easy to peg someone who pours their emotions out in this type of art form as "soft." Or even something less appealing. But, allow me to set the record straight when I testify that Mr. Powell is far from any of these labels. The only thing that may set him up for such misunderstanding would be that… he’s famous, and all other affectionate men aren’t. Plus, what other ways is there to battle jealousy and take away from someone else’s success than to create viscous rumors about their manhood.

Nonetheless, this what we’ve been asking for ladies -a bit of sensitivity. So it’s okay for your man to put on this song when he’s romancing you, but he can’t be the one singing? Come on fellas, it’s a bit ridiculous when I think of it, and becomes even more of a fallacy while I interview him. Not everyone’s dreamboat is a DMX, or a Treacherous Naughty by Nature. But back to the album, Jesse is unsure of his next single. As a matter of fact, he can’t even give me a direct answer for a favorite song. "At this point, now that I get to sit back and enjoy it and listen to it. It’s going to take me a minute to develop a favorite."

One thing Jesse is sure of is that he doesn’t have to worry about topping his other hits like "Gloria" or "You."

"You know what? Everytime I do it, I do the best that I can. And you can’t do better than your best, so I always do my best and hopefully people will think that I’ve elevated myself.

I asked Jesse what would be different this time around?

"I really have put more ballads on this album." He touches the rim of his hat. Um… I try to reach deeper in lyric content and uh... emotional content. I try to just really dig a little deeper, but… if you like "You," it’s definitely an album you’ll like.

Every song is personal to Jesse. "If anything, I want to put out there that I’m just a regular guy who happens to be a singer with a record deal who does videos, or whatever, but the stuff I sing about is everyday stuff that everybody has to deal with and go through."

"How do you feel about you, yourself as an artists, your style having to compete with the record industry – the speed that it’s coming out with new artists and letting artists go, changing and switching around. Do you feel threatened?"

Jesse gives a confident smile. "I think as far as charts go, there is competition, but, I think, between real artists, we appreciate each other, and I think, the more the merrier. The more people that do good music, the more people there is in the record stores and hey, they might happen to pick up my CD while they’re in there too."

Jesse’s been also looking at some scripts for a possible acting project or two. I asked him if he was a good actor and again he smiled and laughed. "I don’t know, I sure hope I am."

And as much as he’s interested in working with other avenues of the entertainment industry, Jesse is sure about his interest in a particular female. (Name never given, of course, but she’s out there.) As a matter of fact, Jesse contests that, "You here about all of my girlfriends on every album."

We laugh hard at the statement although a little sad and true. Not all of Jesse ballads are happy, yet some shine with sheer endearment. Jesse’s personality is down to earth. The fact that he’s a Virgo explains this quiet, sensual attitude. And much like Ludacris, another Virgo, Jesse also likes to eat, but his favorite food is chicken. His favorite city…Chicago… or well, at least that’s what we told him to say. Other than that, he can’t choose a favorite. His favorite color, however, is burgundy and he tends to get bored in his room a lot.

"I’m a solo artist. I travel by myself a lot, so…"

I make a pout face for him. So, despite the busy world of music entertainment it is possible to get lonely and a little bored. Judging Jesse’s personality, I wouldn’t mind kicking with him anytime, but he makes note of plenty of groupies who don’t care about who he is, just that he’s "a somebody." I ask Jesse, later after the "formal interview session," what he does about all of the phony people he meets in the industry and does that affect his ability to meet new real people.

He tells me, "I don’t really worry about it, cause I have a beautiful family. I’m blessed... Some still live in my hometown, Gary Indiana. But most of my immediate family is in LA with me. So…you know."

One of the interviewers asks him to pose for a picture next to the poster for his new CD and he smirks and looks at them, disapproving of his own photograph in a shy boyish way.

"Do I really have to stand next to this?"

I later asked Jesse, while he signed autographs for posters if he ever got sick and tired of doing this – answering questions, interviews, signing autographs and smiling for cameras.

"As long as the people are real, I’m cool. But when I get the fake ones, trying to do interviews, I can’t even get into it."

"And how can you tell when they’re phony." I say smiling and noting that I could very well be one of those "phonies."

Jesse answers by doing a pretty funny imitation of an interviewer talking to him while looking all around the room for other people. Those around him all laugh genuinely.

Jesse hopes to be touring soon. During his stay in Chicago he did a lot of radio appearances and then it’s off to Detroit. After, the interview set, we stuck around and talked for a while. He meshed in with the crowd and conversed about various (off the record) topics until we had to go.

As a true vocalist and a true talent to the music industry, it would be a grave mistake not to acknowledge Mr. Powell and check out his new CD with single " If I."

And it’s "Mr." not as a formality, but Because of his chivalry, his gentle character and his ability to be absolutely cool.

- Ibi Aboyade-Cole

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