Award
winning Caribbean singer Nhojj pushes the envelope with his upcoming February
14 CD release “Made to Love Him - Celebrating Love.” For his 5th
studio album Nhojj, performs same-sex renditions of classic
love songs spanning 10 decades.
3x
OUTMusic Award winner Nhojj releases “Made to Love Him: Celebrating Love” – a compilation
of 12 classic love songs spanning 10 decades.
Set for a Valentines Day release, with pre-orders available now on
iTunes, the album features standards written by such greats as George and Ira
Gershwin, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, Harold Arlen and E.Y
Harburg, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Billy Joel, India.Arie and Nhojj himself.
“I’ve
always loved Stevie Wonder’s classic,” says Nhojj about the inspiration for the
title. “It speaks of childhood
stirrings, recognizing true love, and standing up to family objections. This is my story, and the story of so many
LGBTQ people around the world. I began
to hear the lyrics with male pronouns and I could feel old wounds healing -
what a fresh way to demonstrate the normality of my sexuality.”
Nhojj
has been expressing his sexuality through his music for almost a decade. His
music video “Love” depicts the romance of two black men, and “Amazing Grace”
depicts an interracial male couple exchanging marriage vows. Singles like “Bromance” and the #1 OutVoice
songs “He & Him” and “Adam &
Steve” all honor the love "that dare not speak its name". His work has been featured on LOGO,
Advocate.com and Centric TV’s Soul Sessions. But Nhojj proclaims, “I feel this
is my best album yet, I took chances I haven’t taken before and I’m proud of
the result.” This new album is definitely a bold move from an artist who has
made a musical career of following his internal compass into unchartered
waters.
Preliminary
work for “Made to Love Him” started in the spring of 2012, after Nhojj
performed at the first Out & Proud First Saturday at the Brooklyn
Museum. Nhojj and executive producer Ron
San Marchi compiled a long list of songs and started the almost impossible
process of elimination that would result in the 12 recorded tracks. Recording
took place in New York City and Arlington, Virginia over 3 weeks during the
summer of 2013.
“We’re
bombarded with messages of tell us we are not normal,” the soft spoken singer
explains. “I need ways to combat these sometimes
subtle, but no less damaging attacks on my identity. Music protects my soul. My music is my own personal revolution. Songs have always been a powerful champion
for change: Enslaved Africans had negro
spirituals, the civil rights movement had freedom songs, and the anti-war
movement had protest songs.”
“Made To
Love Him” smoothly blends Jazz, Rhythm, Blues, and Reggae and boasts a diverse
array of talent: Swiss Chris on drums
(John Legend), Lonnie Plaxico on bass (Cassandra Wilson), NAACP award nominated
Onaje Allen Gumbs on piano, Tona Brown (first trans woman to perform for a
sitting President) and Aida String Quartet on strings, out lesbian Yael Acher
on flute, and longtime musician Marcelo Cardozo on guitar. The album is co-produced with John F. Adams,
on keyboards (Amy Winehouse, Keith Sweat), and mastered by Robert Honablue
(Roberta Flack, Miles Davis, Barbara Streisand). Recording and rehearsals were filmed by Emmy
nominated Michael Burlingame for an upcoming documentary.
“I am
very grateful to be living in a time when “Made To Love Him” could be released
and even celebrated” Nhojj explains, “In
addition to expressing my truth, I wanted this album to pay tribute to the
artists who lived in a society that was less accepting - artists like Johnny
Mathis. I sing out for him and all
others who came before me.”
Tracklist:
1. Over
The Rainbow
2.
Nature Boy
3. He
Heals Me
4. He’s
Got a Way
5. How
Sweet It Is
6.
Someone to Watch Over Me
7.
Waiting for You
8. So
Amazing
9.
Twelfth of Never
10. Love
on Top
11. I
Was Made to Love Him
12. Our
Love Is Here to Stay
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