Fresh off scoring a third week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult R&B chart with “It’s You” — not to mention debuting a week before at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums with fourth album Promise to Love — Kem is already looking ahead to next year. That’s when Motown’s love guru and fellow R&B soldier Charlie Wilson will hit the road together in 2015.
Kem’s ‘Promise’ Tops R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart
While details are being ironed out for what promises to be a hot concert match-up, Kem is steadily on the move. Second single “Nobody” went to urban AC radio this week. Also on tap: an appearance on television’s Steve Harvey Show, following the Grammy-nominated artist’s national TV debut on Good Morning America in August. Next up for Kem are a trip to South Africa (9/16-23) and a 10-city tour in November.
Promise to Love is your first album in four years. Why the delay?
These songs on this record have been crafted over the last probably three to four years. That’s probably why it takes so long to make a Kem record: to make sure songs are intact. I try to keep it fresh without compromising my sound or what I know my listeners want to hear. There’s a lot of clamor going on about the state of R&B. I’ve been blessed to do well, to have a career that’s a little bit over a decade now. I always want to make more money, sell more records. But we’ve done a good job. I’m one of those artists along with Ledisi, Jill Scott and Anthony Hamilton keeping the light on for R&B, and I take it seriously.
Snoop Dogg and 2 Chainz co-signed you last year, singing your hit “I Can’t Stop Loving You” on Snoop’s Double G News Network.
Snoop is a fan, and that made me proud. Promise album track “Downtown” was written prior to my seeing that. I was going to do the rap on it. But after I saw that segment, I thought, why not get Snoop? He’s clever and I’m a fan of his “Sensual Seduction.” I felt there was something there that would allow him to help me make “Downtown” special.
L’Renee, who’s signed to your Kemistry Records imprint, has a solo track on your deluxe version. What attracted you to her?
I’m looking further down the line trying to be someone who’s gong to carry the torch for R&B. Look at the charts: Even our R&B is dominated by dudes. [Laughs] You’ve got Tamar Braxton and Ledisi in there, but it’s dominated by dudes. A lot of times you have people who are great singers who don’t have great songs. I’m coming from the mindset of Patti Labelle and Gladys Knight and giving you that aspect of R&B. And I think she’s the perfect artist to lay that out. We definitely want to make an impact.
You have three gold albums. Does it still feel like you’re R&B’s best-kept secret?
Nobody does it because they don’t want to be famous. But I think I am right where I’m supposed to be. And I think that there’s something about knowing that everybody doesn’t know who I am or what goes on in my wheelhouse, because that means I have more people to reach. There’s more room for growth. And I’m encouraged by that. My team and I are definitely making the effort for the Kem brand to be all that it can be.
What’s coming next?
My goal is to do Christmas shows and film them around my original album [2012’s What Christmas Means]. People talk about that record even in June. I’m still waiting for people to keep gravitating to it the way they are.
An edited version of this article appeared in the Sept. 13 issue of Billboard.