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Tevin Campbell's return to music and South Africa: 'Fans can expect to be blown away'

Tevin Campbell. Getty images
Tevin Campbell. Getty images

TMG Entertainment recently had a chat with American R&B superstar Tevin Campbell, who is set to tour South Africa later this month, with his The Return of Tevin Campbell show.

While Tevin will be reliving those magical moments of the 90s with classic hits such as Can We Talk?, I'm Ready and Always in My Heart during his second visit to the country, he revealed that he'll be giving fans a taste of his new music, taken from his upcoming album in over 15 years.

"I think people want to hear all the old stuff. There are a lot of songs that I didn't do the last time I was there, which are part of the old classics," he said, before pointing out that he cannot wait to introduce us to his new material.

"So, although most of my show will be made of the old classics that are highly-requested, I'll also be giving fans a taste of the new material. It will be a bit of a mix and match."

If his latest single, Safer On The Ground, is anything to go by, then Tevin still has it. His vocals are still in fine form. He soars above the simple production sounding just as clear and powerful as he did in his glory days, perhaps even more so since his voice has matured.

Commenting on how his music has changed considerably, Tevin says he wanted his much-anticipated body of work to be more personal.

"Everyone is used to the love songs, and that's kind of going to change. There will be love songs on the album, but it's going to be a bit more personal, and will offer more introspective things that you've never heard from Tevin Campell. It's my life that you've never heard about. And people will be shocked by that," he revealed.

The singer went under the radar when he left his record label Warner Brothers in 2000. He says he didn't know what to do and was in limbo for those years until 2004 when he signed up for a broadway show, Hairspray. However, it was only in 2012 when he revealed that he had started working on new music during an interview with Soul Train.

"I don't think there's ever a right time or a wrong time to release new music," he explained, referring to why it has taken him so long to finally deliver new material - which he promises will officially drop around October this year - adding that he's "too much of a perfectionist to let it go'' without it sounding flawless.

Tevin further revealed that he has since become an independent artist, after going through the frustration of having to explain to producers how he wanted particular songs to sound.

"It's been hard for me to go to other producers and say 'I want it to sound  this way'. I realised that I had to learn to do it myself, because it's not going to sound the way I want it to, unless I do it myself."

 

 

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