http://s2smagazine.com/stories/2012/01/anthony-hamilton-im-able-do-it-all
R&B was once king when it came to Black music. Groups like the Four Tops and Earth, Wind and Fire set the standard with their harmonies, style and talent.
However, with the growing crossover appeal of rap music, R&B has seemingly taken a back seat, leaving some of the genre’s most talented artists nervous; but not Anthony Hamilton.
With his fourth Sony album on the way, the versatile singer recently told S2S Publisher Jamie Foster Brown that he’s not at all worried about rising to the top in a world of hip-hop.
Get an excerpt of the interview below and read it all in the February 2012 issue of Sister 2 Sister. **
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Jamie: How have you been able to make it—to live—during this time when hip-hop is the end-all, be-all? Has it been frustrating?
Anthony: For me, it hasn’t been frustrating because I do do hip-hop. I’m able to do it all. I’m able to do country. I have two country records, a rock record with Santana, about 15 hip-hop records, if not more—probably about 20-something—and R&B. So I keep myself relevant in each lane.
Jamie: When you say you did hip-hop records, you’re not rapping, are you?
Anthony: No, but “Coming From Where I’m From,” it was such a gangster record.
Jamie: It really is. You’re a gangsta. I like it. So is there anything that frustrates you about the music today? Or are you exhilarated about it?
Anthony: Just some of the awards shows. They don’t have enough R&B on the Grammys. I’m not talking about that pop stuff. I’m talking about real R&B. They always throw us some kind of, “We’re gonna honor somebody,” and then they’ll wait for them to be gone.
Jamie: Well, they do have some Black people over at the Grammys that could, perhaps, say some things. Sometimes people just don’t think about it.
Anthony: How you gonna be Black and don’t think about R&B music?
