Devil Called Love first met R&B songstress Chante Moore back in 2000 when she was in the midst of break-up with her first husband, Kadeem Hardison, best known for his role as Dwayne–Wayne on the popular television series A Different World.
Moore was still signed to Geffen Records at the time and promoting a new album entitled Exposed, which featured tracks with titles like “Straight Up” and “Bitter” that seemed tellingly autobiographical.
Nearly a decade later, Moore is back with her first solo record since that time. The album is entitled Love The Woman and like the woman behind it, the collection reflects the kind of musical and personal maturity that could only come with time and wisdom.
Moore’s latest plays like a very personal roadmap to relationships, each song exploring some different facet of love. Meanwhile, Moore’s vocals are more seasoned than ever and her take on classics like Nancy Wilson’s “Look Who I Saw Today” and Minnie Riperton’s “Give Me Time” is nothing short of superlative.
In a recent phone conversation, Chante talked to Devil Called Love about her new album, surviving in the music biz, love and relationships and using her self-described baby-making album to set the mood, no matter who your partner might be.
Devil Called Love: So Chante, your new album Love The Woman seems to have a very different, shall we say, take on relationships than your last solo project, Exposed…
Chante Moore: You think? [Laughs]
DCL: Yeah, I’d say Exposed had a kind of ‘end of a love affair’ thing going on.
Chante Moore: [That album] was fueled with a lot of different energy. I was newly single and getting over some issues, but feeling very emancipated at the time. I was having a good time but it wasn’t the normal me. It was me after all the things that had happened. I was kinda like, okay... go a little crazy and then come back to center. I wasn’t quite back to center at that time though. [Laughs]
DCL: In contrast, Love The Woman, seems to express a much more mature take on relationships. Would you agree with that assessment?
CM:I would say so. I’m learning more and more about how I view love and what I thought it meant to be in love and what I thought it meant to stay in love. It’s more than I thought.
DCL: How was it being back in the studio on your own after recording two collections of duets with your husband, Kenny Lattimore?
CM:It was really exciting. The way I approach music isn’t really thought about so much as it is felt and it’s very authentic for me, so it was very exciting to hear what was going to come out.
DCL:There is a new depth to this recording and to your vocals on your latest. It almost feels like you’re defining Chante for the very first time, even though you’ve been in the biz for 15 years.
CM: I hope so. I really hope that’s what it feels like because I do know who I am. I think that’s a good thing. I think identifying with yourself wherever you are is a good thing. Being young and excited about music… excited about love and life and learning and all that… that’s also a beautiful place. At each stage in our lives we have to be able to embrace whatever it is that’s going on. I’m very self-reflective. That’s always been a part of who I am.
DCL: What has been the most important thing the last 15 years have taught you?
CM: There’s so much. I’d say the most important thing is to understand who you are and why you’re here. I’m an extremely spiritual person and I believe the lord has placed me here for a purpose and to fulfill that purpose is my greatest desire.
I’ve also learned that my focus on men has been too intense. [Laughs] Has been TOO intense! [Laughs]. Really, there should have been more of the ‘to thine own self be true’ behavior and not just talk about it.
It’s easy to say you’re going to put yourself first when things aren’t exactly where they should be or you’re not treated the way you should be. It’s really a fine line where you say ‘I’m not going to sacrifice myself for you’ but then again isn’t that part of what love is? Sacrificing part of yourself for that person? So the balance and the understanding of when you’re supposed to do that and when you’re not… I’m still learning [how to do that].
DCL: Oooh, tell it all! Well you just said a mouthful there! So since you mentioned men, let’s talk about one of your most popular songs, “Chante’s Got A Man.” You do realize that’s something of a gay anthem right?
CM: I would imagine so. [Laughs] I didn’t think about it like that but yeah I guess gay men would like that. They could say, ‘I got a man at home too!’ [Laughs]
DCL: Is that the song most people identify you with?
CM: Yeah. It’s a good song. I think it sometimes gets misunderstood to be [about] bragging. What the song is really about is if I can find a good man, so can you. There’s good men out there. Don’t just settle for a guy because he’s got pants on. You can get a good man. I want people to date and marry with integrity and not to belittle themselves just to have somebody. [That message] gets a little diluted… people get that a little confused. But the message is really hang on because there’s somebody good coming.
DCL: So in real life, Chante does have ‘a man’ these days and he has been your husband for the last six years. You once described one of the album’s you recorded with your hubby as a collection of ‘baby-making music.’ What would you call that collection if a gay couple used it to get in the mood?
CM: Hmmm… let me think about that. My first thought is I’d call it lovemaking music because if you’re in love with somebody that’s what it’s all about. I’m not making babies anymore either. [Laughs] So it’s not baby making music for me either anymore. But you can call it practice! [Laughs] That’s what I call it now. I’m practicing a lot and I’m going to practice for the rest of my life.
DCL: What have you seen change most about the music biz since you got your start a decade and a half ago?
CM: It’s not about music anymore. It’s about sex. It’s about politics. It’s about power. We’ve given power to people who don’t know music and they’ve changed what music is about. It’s all generic. Nothing is coming from the soul. It’s all about somebody deciding that’s what [the public] is going to get.
We’ve taken the power away from the DJs. It’s not about what they like anymore. They have to press a button. The music is already pre-programmed and they can’t even play a song unless it’s on their list. They can’t just go ‘I love that song, I’m gonna’ play it.’ The day for that is out.
That means that the people who are listening can only hear what’s programmed. People are like ‘Oh that’s my jam’ because they don’t know what any other jam is. They’re like ‘That’s my song’ because they haven’t heard any of other songs or they’re like, ‘Oh I love her’ because the other 16 people waiting to be heard, who are also talented, can’t get heard because they don’t have the same money behind them. So they don’t get heard. That changes everything.
DCL: How have those changes affected you and your career?
CM: Not being a person who’s promoted to the extent of other people because I’m not politically the choice, I’ve had a good career. I’ve sustained myself and I thank God for that. I’ve not worked another job since I started this job. So I’m extremely blessed in that way.
But I could have reached another pinnacle in my career that I haven’t reached because of not having that political nod, as they say. So my career hasn’t gone where it could have gone. You know, people haven’t heard of me in the way they’ve heard of other people. But I take it as what’s supposed to happen. And I do like it that I can go somewhere without cameras following me every second and that I can choose when I’m going to be in that kind of environment.
I’m famous enough that I feel like people still want to hear my music, but still not so invaded in every part of my life that I can’t still have one outside of my music. So it’s a catch-22 kind of a thing.
DCL: So what is it that you still want in your career?
CM: I love making music. I want to sing when I want to and make good money. [Laughs]
DCL: That may be the most honest answer anyone has ever given to that question.
CM: [Laughing] It’s true! I love to sing, but I don’t like the politics and the business of it all. If it could just be about… she’s going to go out there and she’s going to sing or I like that song or I don’t… that would be great. But if nobody hears the song, it doesn’t’ get to be that simple.
I wish the simplicity was back. So I could go sing when I wanted to and then get paid and then go home. I just want to go home after that and enjoy my life because this isn’t my life. This is a job and it’s a beautiful job and a wonderful opportunity, but it’s not my life. I sing about my life, but this isn’t my life. I’d be a little sad person if this was my life. [Laughs
DCL: Speaking of your life. You’re a wife, a mother, and a recording artist. How do you balance all of that?
CM: Mothers have a way of embracing each day differently from the way men do. Men are usually thinking about the business part… making money, paying the bills and how to sustain. For men it’s [about] a ‘to-do’ list rather than a ‘to enjoy’list. For me that’s what it’s about. If it’s work or my son’s graduation, I’m going to be at home for my son’s graduation. If my daughter needs me for something I’m going to be there. That’s what’s important.
That’s what I was saying when I said I sing about my life, but music is not my life.
DCL: If you had to sum up Love The Woman in a few sentences, what is that you want people to take away from the album?
CM:That it is about real love. That it is about me learning how to love and how to endure even through the sad times. It’s about my journey. It’s about how the pain is good for you. [Laughs] That the bad part is really a learning experience so that you can have better ups if you learn the lessons.
And that you have to nourish your love. You’ve got nourish everything that is important to you. So I would say appreciate your life and learn from mine.
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