Showbiz Today Star of Tomorrow

Syleena Johnson: Writing a musical autobiography

By Lori Blackman
Showbiz Today Reports

Syleena Johnson has been performing since she was a child

NEW YORK (CNN) -- At age 24, singer Syleena Johnson is already making her mark on the music world. Her album debuted last week at No. 1 on Billboard magazine's Heatseekers chart, which monitors new artists -- a first for a female R&B singer.

But, then again, Johnson's an old hand at the record business. Her father is R&B and blues musician Syl Johnson, who worked with Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed, and legendary Memphis label owner and producer Willie Mitchell -- and whose brothers are also in the business.

Recently, CNN sat down with Johnson to talk to her about her autobiographical debut album.

CNN: Why do you think your album performed so well right out of the gate?

Johnson's new album is about her own personal growth

Syleena Johnson: Well, I've been performing for a really long time, and my father is a blues singer and he taught me how to do stage stuff. I used to do shows with him when I was younger. So I've been performing since I was at least 10 or 11 years old.

CNN: Were you a little shocked when you heard that your album debuted at No. 1 on the Heatseekers chart?

Johnson: Because I don't really understand the charts that much, I was like, "Is that good? Wow." ... And then I saw it on the Internet and I was like, "Wow. This is the greatest." And they've got (a link) where you can click on No. 1 on the Billboards and I clicked on it, and ... then there was my name and I (thought), "Wow, it's really official."

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CNN: The new album is entitled "Chapter 1: Love, Pain and Forgiveness," and it is an autobiographical album. What exactly does the title signify here?

Johnson: Well, (it's about) a young woman, myself, who went through a relationship and the relationship caused a growth process. She experienced love, experienced pain and then found forgiveness. She forgave herself, she forgave the person in the relationship that she went through these things with and she asks God for forgiveness.

It's a triumphant story. It's not like, "Oh, I was beat up and a bad girl" and stuff like that. It's just ... I went though a relationship that just didn't work out, but I learned so much from it and that's what I am giving in this album, things I learned from the relationship.

On a lot of occasions, I'd be in a situation with this man and I'd be upset about it and -- because I had no one to talk to about it because no one wants to hear about it -- I would go and write a song. ... I had a book of the songs before I started recording, so when I went into the recording studio I had all of these songs and turned them into Chapter 1.

CNN: You have quite an impressive lineage. Your father is Syl Johnson, the 70's R&B/blues musician, and your mother is the first-ever, female black police commissioner.

Johnson: That is correct. My mother has been a positive influence -- she is a very positive woman. I think she gives me that hint of hope which is in my album. And my father did not want me to be in the music industry initially because he felt he did not want his little girl to be in the snake business. He thought it was snakes all around.

CNN: R. Kelly wrote the single for this album, "I am Your Woman." I read that he was brought in to write a radio-friendly song, (but) he listened to your album and wrote a song that he felt would fit in with the entire album.

Johnson: Yes, we were discovered by the same man. He had him listen to the album and R. Kelly fell in love with the album and me as an artist. ... We got to the studio and we were recording and he told me, "I listened to your album and I looked at your picture, (and) I got into you as an artist and I wrote this song for you." ... I mean you can't get any better than that.

CNN: You were married just a year ago. Is Chapter 2 going to be a little happier and a little more upbeat?

Johnson: Well, it is going to be a little more romantic. (Still), there are different things in a marriage that are very interesting and hard to deal with that both my husband and I are learning. So Chapter 2 is going to be very interesting, I can assure you. It won't have a sad undertone at all, though. It will have a happier undertone.

CNN: Since you started your first album with a Chapter 1, is your career going to be like a musical novel?

Johnson: Yes, actually that is what I am trying to do. God willing, I am still in this business 10 or 15 years from now and you'll (be able to) go into a store and get like volumes one through five: the Syleena Johnson book. That is what I am hoping for. ...

I think this is the best way I can express myself and I feel like as a writer, if I am going to tell a story, who better to tell my story than me? ... And then I have such a story to tell all of the time, you know what I mean? I'm a drama queen. I will have books and books and books all of the time.

Syleena Johnson - official Web site

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