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     *With more than a decade on the grind, one would think Jon B could easily rest on his multi-platinum hits, chillin' somewhere back in a mid-1990s rhythm and blues time warp.

      But this is Jon B.

      He's still a youngster at the age of 32 but the singer, musician, songwriter and producer not only belongs to that tight group of crooners of the ivory persuasion who purposely chose the R&B and soul path, he has worked with a litany of artists up and down the register since his early 20s from Toni Braxton and Tupac Shakur to Faith Evans and Michael Jackson, bringing those extra somethins' to a track.

      This time, Jon B is set to usher in spring with the release of "Back to Love," a collection of songs inspired by new love and upcoming additions. His second work under his new label home, Arsenal Records, an independent label distributed through Universal Records, Jon says the CD is his attempt to guide the world back to a time long neglected.

      "These are trying times in relationships, be it marriage or monogamy. The levels are real low now," Jon said during a recent interview in his hotel room hours before he was to perform at a Washington D.C club. "Right now, people know love should be the message but they're kind of playing with it, beating around the bush with it. The main inspiration behind the album is I want to bring love back to the table. We have to get back to that."

Jon B

      With the CD nearly done, Jon feels no pressure to turn in nothing less than perfection but he's eager to get his music out there to fill what he considers a void in R&B music.

      "It's a hard thing for me because I'm not satisfied yet," he said at the time of the interview on completing the CD. "I love it but I'm very much my worst critic, more than everyone. We have about three or four songs to record before I can really say I want to turn it in."

      Much of the inspiration for Back to Love, he gushed, is coming from his daughter, due in July. Yes, ladies, Jon is off the market. He's engaged to a young lady he describes as a "great, great woman" from Victorville, Calif.
 
      "She's not in the music industry. She's just a regular girl. It's cool because she's old-fashioned. I love her," he beamed. Jon said he had proposed to her several times in private but shook off the nerves during a Valentine's Day concert in Las Vegas and made it publicly known to fans, probably for the first time, that she was the love of his life. The couple is currently planning an intimate wedding.
 
      "Right now, I'm going through the most critical time in my life because I'm about to have a little girl," Jon laughs, giddy over the thought of her arrival. "Her name is Azzure. My first child."
 
      Two Back to Love tracks easily sum up Jon's state of mind.
 
      "I have a song called 'Trying to Be Your Man,' which is really like a 'They Don't Know' [sound], a wholesome sound with guitars," he explained. "And then there's another song on there called 'Helpless Romantic.' It's comparing a man falling in love with a woman to the Titanic sinking. For a man to go down, in terms of love, and like when a boat sinks, you get so deep, you can't pull yourself out of it."
 
      Whoa! Hear that? That's the sound of Jon's cell phone ringing from women everywhere asking if he has a brother [he does, by the way, though not sure of his marital status].

       Meanwhile, Jon was also inspired by southern fried crunk creator Lil Jon and his signature snaps and claps. One of the Back to Love tracks features "a clap song" seasoned, of course, with Jon's unique flavor and already a favorite among his previewers, he said.
 
      One thing Jon hopes bringing Back to Love to the world won't do is wrap its lyrics in dated sounds and predictable beats. Some multi-talented musicians and artists fall into that trap and find it hard to break free from what may have been relevant when they first came out. To keep his finger on the pulse of "the streets," Jon keeps young blood around him including a 22-year old Los Angeles producer, Jay Bynum.
 
      "As I get older, I realize how important it is to collaborate and to involve the streets in what I do because what I do is R&B music. That's the genre of music I try to cater to so it's really important that I stay in the pocket with what's happening."
 
      Jon said while getting feedback from that lucky core of people who get to preview his tracks is always appreciated ["I'm like 'can you come over every day because I don't know if it's being received or if I'm the only one feeling it,'"], he said it never stops "me from doing me."
 
      "Too many people in this game have blessed me and made me feel like a professional to have me feeling iffy about the records I do," Jon said. "Whether it's a ballad, up-tempo, or mid-tempo, it's not going to be a filler record."

      Heavily influenced by everyone from soul legends Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, Freddie Jackson and Donny Hathaway to Guy, the Isley Brothers and a number of hip-hop artists, Jon's newest studio album will feature a collaboration with Gap Band front man Charlie Wilson, one of his musical heroes. Jon also worked with grilled-out Houston rapper Paul Wall on one track, a favor returned on the MC's new "Get Money, Stay True" CD.

      Jon said it may seem like he's been off the radar for a minute but true fans know that he's been putting out projects for a number of years. Most recently, a 2006 Christmas album titled "Holiday Wishes From Me, To You" that featured seven original songs and three remakes including the time-tested "This Christmas" by Donny Hathaway. He's currently working with Wilson and Angie Stone on their next CDs and a rising sister from California, Denaine Jones. [Jon likens her to Aaliyah's smoothness who can switch it up to Whitney Houston's pipes].

       Jon is also one of three founding members of Jack Herrera, a "vibey" jazz-soul-hip-hop group formed some years back while the R&B artist was on tour. The other two singers were actually Jon's background singers, he said. In addition to having his own label, VibeZelect, and in between working on his CD and producing others, Jon's been performing across the country.

       And then there's 2004's "Stronger Everyday." It was probably one of a handful of CDs slept on that year. Released under Matthew Knowles' label Sanctuary Records Group, Inc., the 16-track diary never truly got the promotion it deserved, Jon said. Many of his fans consider it Jon's best album to date, inspired by a series of misfortunes in the singer's life including a tumultuous divorce, a fire that burned a prized studio to the ground and the strain of record label switching.

      If there is a bright side to the album's lack of air and radio play here, fans in Europe couldn't get enough. Featuring collaborations with the late Dirt McGirt from Wu-Tang Clan, Tupac, Babyface, Scarface and Beenie Man, the infectious dancehall remix "Everytime" recorded with the latter and Farena, was a top ten hit across the Atlantic, Jon said. Forget about finding a ticket to a concert then because his dates sold out quick. Still, the singer is perplexed as to why America radio didn't "get it." He has theories: from just outright lack of promotion to label politics that put him unfairly in the middle.
 
      "I felt like there was no way that the album was going to fall in between the cracks," Jon said. "We did two videos ["Everytime" and "Lately"] and [they] took off in Europe. So, what I did was instead of trying to force feed America, I just went to where the love was."
 
      But don't think for a second the musical Renaissance man has given up on the States and the love his loyal following of fans here have. He's super amped about 2007 and the release of his next record. This time around, Jon made doubly sure that there was more than enough in the budget to promote his album and a second budget for videos and a national tour.
 
      Since his 1995 debut album "Bonafide," with a vibe that many agreed mirrored his mentor and long-time friend, Babyface, Jon said he was determined to get a record deal shortly after graduating from high school in Southern California. Producers Teddy Riley, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis as well as Babyface and L.A. Reid were at the top of his wish list. As the story goes, he hooked up with Tracey Edmonds, Babyface's wife at the time, and the rest is multi-platinum history.

      Jon's first single, a duet with Babyface, "Someone to Love," intrigued many, so much so that Bonafide soared past double platinum. His follow-up, "Cool Relax," with perennial favorites "They Don't Know" and "Are U Still Down" laced with hip hop icon Tupac Shakur, sold more than two million copies and dare the tired cliché apply-earned Jon a "ghetto pass" in hoods across the country. His third studio album, "Pleasures U Like," sold more than 97,000 copies during its first week and subsequently went gold with the relatable suave man-meets-fly girl-at-the-club anthem "Don't Talk." Jon has also released two greatest hits CDs over his 11-year career.
 
      He looks back on those early years with humility, gratefulness and some trepidation. Humbled at how the public received him, forever grateful to fans for hanging in there with him but a little uneasy about his image.
 
       "At the time, I was being groomed. 'This is what you need to look like,'" recalled Jon, who was known for the hooked-up, low-cut fade, edged sideburns and swagger that couldn't be faked even if he tried. "There had never [at the time] been a successful, young white cat in R&B other than, maybe George Michael, and I wouldn't call him R&B, he was more pop. They just didn't know how to rock it. I had to show them how to rock it with 'Cool Relax.'"
 
      Return to EURweb later this week when Jon B let's us know what he thinks about white chocolate crooners Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake.

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   Check out Pt.2 of this interview here.

Michelle A. Samaad is a freelance writer based in Atlanta. She can be reached at y_samaad@bellsouth.net.
  
Copyright © 2007 Michelle A. Samaad. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.