They say that that three times is the charm and no one knows that better than Joe. His third CD My Name Is Joe (his second on Jive Records) is modern R&B at its best: sexy, seductive, smart and soulful, delivered by a gifted young singer/songwriter /producer who is one of the prolific and popular artists around.
Featuring the #1 hit ΓÇ£I Wanna Know,ΓÇ¥ the chart topper ΓÇ£Thank God I Found You (Make It Last remix) and ΓÇ£Treat Her Like A Lady,ΓÇ¥ guest appearances from Mariah Carey, Nas and *NSYNC, and production by Teddy Riley, ShekΓÇÖspeare and Joe, My Name is Joe is filled with strong heartfelt songs and the passionate vocals JoeΓÇÖs legions of fans have come to expect.
Perhaps more than anything else My Name Is Joe represents a change in attitude and a creative freedom that Joe was more than eager to express. ΓÇ¥This CD is probably the best expression to date of what I feel IΓÇÖm capable of,ΓÇ¥ offers Joe who co-executive produced the CD with Kedar Massenburg. ΓÇ£I feel much more free to write and sing about what is really in my heart.ΓÇ¥
That artistic license is evident in the CDΓÇÖs sensual vibe. "This album is a lot more sexual than anything I've done in the past,ΓÇ¥ Joe admits. Sexy and musically diverse as Joe wraps his silky voice around songs that run the gamut from flat out romantic to low down and funky. The variety stems from JoeΓÇÖs opting to allow others to add their productions skills to the mix. ΓÇ£One of the first decisions going into this album was that I didnΓÇÖt want to control the whole production, I really wanted some different flavor.ΓÇ¥
Flavor he wanted and flavor Joe got: just check out the bouncing ΓÇ£Get Crunk TonightΓÇ¥ written by SheΓÇÖkspeare and Khandi Burress (ΓÇ£No ScrubsΓÇ¥) or JoeΓÇÖs favorite cut, the edgy ΓÇ£StutterΓÇ¥ produced by Teddy Riley.
ΓÇ£Treat Her Like A Lady was written and produced by Steve Huff. As soon as Joe heard the track he knew he had to put his stamp on it. ΓÇ£ItΓÇÖs a great love song and the song has an incredible vibe to it. It was right on the money. It ended up being the last song I recorded for the album but itΓÇÖs definitely one of the best.ΓÇ¥
Of course even before My Name is Joe had hits stores (it has already shipped gold) Joe was enjoying the #1 hit ΓÇ£I Wanna KnowΓÇ¥. The mid tempo ballad was written by Joe nearly four years ago for his Jive debut All That I Am but ended up being included on My Name Is Joe instead.ΓÇ¥ Who knows? Maybe it would have been a hit then but thankfully it's a hit now. ΓÇ£I just think that a good story and real songwriting will do it for you every time. A real song with real emotions and feelingsΓÇ¥ says Joe.
Versatile enough to throw down with the late Big Pun or duet with *NSYNC, itΓÇÖs no wonder Joe calls himself ΓÇ£universal.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇ£I like singing pop, I like rock and roll, I grew up singing gospel and of course I sing R&B; thereΓÇÖs really no reason for me to limit myself or to call myself one type of singer or another. If I hear a good song, then I go with that because a good song no matter the genre is really the thing that matters.ΓÇ¥
Good songwriting is a subject Joe can speak to with authority since he is one of the best young R&B songwriters in the business, with a keen ear for the art of storytelling as his foundation.ΓÇ¥ I believe in writing songs that people can really relate to,ΓÇ¥ Joe offers. ΓÇ£I love people like Smokey Robinson and Babyface, those are great songwriters and itΓÇÖs intriguing how they can put a story together. ThatΓÇÖs my goal, to be able to hold the listeners attention and to keep them interested in the story that IΓÇÖm telling. IΓÇÖm not really a trendy songwriter, I guess you could say IΓÇÖm sort of old-fashioned in my approach because trends can come and go and my goal is to write songs that can last. Good songs donΓÇÖt age and my objective each time out is to write and sing good songs.ΓÇ¥
One of those good songs is ΓÇ£I Believe in YouΓÇ¥ which teams Joe up with red hot *NSYNC. ΓÇ£Those guys are really hard workers and the session was a lot of fun, especially since I told a lot of my friends that I was recording with *NSYNC and they all brought their kids by the studio. I was worried that the session would get crazy but *NSYNC are total pros and just incredible to work with.ΓÇ¥
Joe began his career at a young age. The son of two preachers, this Alabama native was always doing something musical, whether it was singing, playing the guitar or directing the choir at his familyΓÇÖs Pentecostal church. As a kid Joe was inspired by the greats of contemporary gospel as well as the legends like the late Sam Cooke and R&B singers like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. By high school Joe was a major Bobby Brown fan, influenced by BrownΓÇÖs live shows and soon Joe was playing in a local band, covering his idol and Babyface. ΓÇ£Those club gigs were when I really started honing my sound and writing.ΓÇ¥
After high school Joe worked a variety of odd jobs until one day he cast fate to the wind and bought a one way ticket to New Jersey where he knew people who knew people who were in the music industry. Joe would eventually hook up with a producer and record a demo. The demo led to a publishing deal with Zomba and soon after that Joe contributed the hit ΓÇ£All The Things (Your Man WonΓÇÖt DoΓÇ¥) to the DonΓÇÖt Be A Menace soundtrack.
In 1998 Joe released his Jive Records debut All That I Am which he produced. The CD eventually went platinum and helped establish Joe as a force both in front of and behind the scenes.
Ask Joe is thereΓÇÖs a message contained on My Name is Joe and he declares, ΓÇ£IΓÇÖm just really in love with creating music, from every conceivable angle, writing singing producing. I love it all and if thereΓÇÖs anything I want people to hear when they listen to My Name is Joe itΓÇÖs that love. This is my life. I canΓÇÖt imagine doing anything else and I know that I am blessed. I just want to make music forever.ΓÇ¥
