After teasing more music for the past year and building anticipation among fans worldwide, GRAMMY® Award-winning, multiplatinum singer, songwriter, producer, and actor, Anthony Hamilton returns with his anxiously awaited tenth full-length and first album in five years, Love Is The New Black on September, 24th 2021. Billboard made the exclusive announcement. It notably will be the flagship release under his own label My Music Box in partnership with BMG.
The 14-track R&B opus boasts a bevy of A-list friends and collaborators such as Academy® Award winner Jennifer Hudson on the powerhouse duet “Superstar,” rap powerhouse Rick Ross on “Real Love,” and crunk king himself Lil’ Jon on “I’m Ready.” Other standouts include the smooth “White Hennessy” where his vocals simply intoxicate, the confessional “Mercy,” and one of the most emotionally charged tunes in his storied catalog the George Floyd-inspired finale “Mama Don’t Cry.”
Hamilton literally poured blood, sweat, and tears into Love Is the New Black. After initially pursuing a more political-leaning direction, he shifted focus to speak to this hefty emotional need, while also covering the full spectrum of human emotions.
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“Going through the pandemic, we were faced with challenges, in general,” he states. “Then, we were attacked, slaughtered, and slain. In the beginning, the music was really for people who wanted to stand up in honor of Black Lives Matter. It was initially geared towards those souls, hearts, and the people we had lost. There were some really heavy and strong songs on there. As the world started to open, I wanted to lessen the heavy load and allow everyone to celebrate again. We still got a little bit of that, because it’s not going away, and we’ve gone through a lot. That side will be heard, but we’re taking from a bunch of experiences now, getting through it, and taking a turn. I feel like that’s what people need right now.”
He elaborates, “When creating this album, I wanted people to feel. I’m going into a new era and mindset expecting greatness, love, and peace. I wanted this album to feel like what was missing throughout the pandemic. This is the restoration. We’re making this thing called life, sexy, beautiful, and powerful again.”
His most recent single “You Made A Fool Of Me” has amassed more than one million streams to date. Rolling Stone called it a “pour-salt-in-the-wound ballad.” Soul Bounce called Hamilton “the modern king of churchy, soulful crooners,” and The House That Soul Built hailed the single as “crisp contemporary soul.” The Musical Hype wrote that Hamilton “can do no wrong,” adding that the track “is lushly produced, sounding idiomatic of both the neo-soul and adult contemporary vein of R&B.”
The accompanying video, directed by Terrence Crowley, premiered exclusively on BET Soul and brings back a familiar character with Charlene reprising her role as the love interest.
It arrives on the heels of last year’s powerful and poignant “Mercy” [feat. Tamika D. Mallory], which Rated R&B praised as an “urgent soul track” and his electrifying performance at the 2021 NBA All- Star Game.
TRACKLISTING:
1. Love is the New Black
2. Threw It All Away
3. Real Love feat. Rick Ross 4. I’m Ready feat. Lil Jon
5. White Hennessy
6. Coming Home
7. You Made a Fool of Me
8. I Thought We Were in Love
9. Superstar duet w/ Jennifer Hudson 10. Pillows
11. I’m Sorry
12. Mercy
13. Safe
14. Mama Don’t Cry
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