Like the perfect play list, Sing, Pray, Love: Vol 1 SING features songs that are authentic, optimistic and resolved. This forthcoming seventh album by Kelly Price is filled with refreshing R&B songs sprinkled with gospel undertones of hope, faith and determination. “I want people to believe that they are on the brink of something great,”Kelly says. “This album is about a journey, from start to finish.”
Though the album is slated for a June release, its journey to success has already begun. The first single is an inspirational up-tempo track titled “It’s My Time,”which is currently at #8 on Billboard’s Adult R&B chart and still rapidly climbing with no signs of slowing down. With lyrics like, my moment has arrived and I won’t let it pass me by, Kelly is sharing her story and encouraging fans to make a commitment to themselves. “If you’ve ever had something and lost it that means you can regain it again. Through my music, I have an opportunity to remind people that as long as they are alive, they have the power to be better.”
The details are so imperative to Sing, Pray, Love that even the songs are in a particular order. Fittingly, the last song is “Metamorphosis,”a riveting ballad that draws a parallel between the lifecycle of a butterfly and how she has evolved. Opening up with the vibrating sounds of only a double-bass, Kelly poetically delivers an intense message: “Every melody starts with one note and grows into a symphony / Though where you started is not your best, and the process of change is uncomfortable and ugly, you can’t run from it / Who you are and what you were born to do is waiting on the other side of this metamorphosis.”Like the changes echoed in the song, Kelly’s voice now delivers a grown up sound that remembers pain, but conveys persistence and victory. “I talk about love going wrong a lot,”she says. Fortunately for her, she has granted herself—and others—forgiveness. For Kelly, “Metamorphosis”is the best song she’s ever written.
In any journey, there are surprises, and Sing, Pray, Love comes with a few. Kelly effortlessly covers Chaka Khan’s “Through The Fire,”and pairs up with Algebra Blessett and Ruben Studdard, respectively, for feel-good, dance-with-your-mate kind of love songs.
Though it seems like yesterday, Kelly started her professional career twenty two years ago and has collaborated with everyone from Mariah Carey, Elton John, and Sean “Diddy”Combs to Faith Evans, Whitney Houston and Donnie McClurkin. In 1998 her double-platinum debut, Soul of a Woman, which featured the record-breaking single, “Friend of Mine”made history as the first to garner the #1 spot on the singles chart without an accompanying video clip, a rare feat during a time when music videos dominated pop culture. She returned to center stage three years later with the platinum-plus seller, Mirror, Mirror, led by her remake of the R&B classic, “As We Lay.”
Over the years, besides writing songs and singing, Kelly has ventured out and added self-published author to her resume with the release of an inspirational book called Inscriptions of My Heart. Most recently, she was a cast member of the TV One’s hit reality show, R&B Divas L.A., which she says reminded her that people pay close attention to what she does and look to her to be the moral compass no matter where she is or what the situation. For her fans, her supporters and herself she always wants to do the right thing.
While the finishing touches are being made to Sing, Pray, Love, Kelly is hitting the stage in several of the cities with the upcoming Soul Food Tour in the U.S. and performances in England and other countries abroad. She’s also developing and nurturing her newest passion a TV project called Too Fat For Fame. “I was denied opportunities because I didn’t look like the American standard of beauty. This platform I’m providing gives plus-sized people the opportunity showcase their talent without worrying about being overlooked because of their weight.”
These days, Kelly doesn’t worry about being denied anything by anyone. “I’m blessed to still be here doing what I love. I tell the story of real people’s lives, oftentimes starting with my own. The decision to stick to music that resonates with everyday experiences is what I believe has kept me relevant to music lovers everywhere.”
In three words, Kelly Price has managed to describe her life and music. Sing, Pray, Love is the completion of Kelly as a woman, mother, writer, friend and singer. Of course, there will be more singing, more praying and more loving since this album is part of a three-volume series but for now, enjoy the ride of Sing Pray Love Vol 1: SING.
