Joe talks new album and R&B's evolution

After taking a break from the spotlight, R&B singer Joe, is back with his new album, Bridges...

Jun 25, 2014

After taking a year off from the spotlight, R&B singer Joe is back with his 11th album, Bridges.

Geared towards lovers of true R&B, Bridges is a 16-track offering that the New Jersey artist describes as “classic Joe.”

The man whose voice is featured on some of rap and R&B’s more mainstream hits such as Fat Joe’s “Still Not A Player” and G-Unit’s “I Wanna Get To Know You” has a track with Destiny’s Child alumni Kelly Rowland titled “Love & Sex Pt.2.”

“I consider her (Kelly) to be solid R&B, you know?” Joe said on his duet with the “Motivation” singer. “She has the chops to sing any type of song, you know? Just like Beyonce. They can sing literally whatever they want, in whatever key they want, so it was a no brainer.”

Bridges also reunites Joe with rapper 50 Cent. The two connected on 2004’s “Ride Wit U“ and again for “Big Rich Town,” but Joe believes this time around will be even more special, with “Mary Jane (remix).”

“I believe when people hear that, they’ll think this is the type of R&B that we were missing,” Joe said on his third 50 Cent collaboration. “Because at one point, I felt that we bridged the gap between that hip hop and R&B as opposed to R&B being hip hop.”

Checkout what else Joe had to say in our Grio sitdown.

You can check out Kyle’s musical coverage on theGrio music page and follow Kyle on Twitter @HarveyWins.