Faith Evans Keep The Faith Album

[Carlee Members]

Keepthe Faith is the second album by American singer Faith Evans. It was released by Bad Boy Records on October 27, 1998, in the United States. Almost entirely written and produced by Evans, the album garnered generally mixed to positive reviews by music critics, with AllMusic noting it "without a doubt a highlight of 1990s soul-pop music."[2] Also enjoying commercial success, it went platinum and produced the top ten singles "Love Like This" and "All Night Long," prompting Evans to start an 18-city theater tour with Dru Hill and Total the following year.[3]

AllMusic editor Jose F. Promis rated the album three stars out of five. He found that "Evans shines when she sings fast or mid-tempo songs, but the ballads weigh too heavily on this otherwise fine album [...] However, the classy Ms. Evans possesses a beautiful voice, is a gifted songwriter, and happily steers clear of the tacky clichs that burden so much contemporary R&B. So despite the heavy reliance on ballads, this is actually a fine album, and is without a doubt a highlight of 1990s soul-pop music."[4] Matt Diehl from Entertainment Weekly noted that Keep the Faith "remains commercial R&B, all bedroom strings and Babyface-style acoustic accents. What sets Evans apart is that she, like her soul sista Mary J. Blige, investigates her pain in a way that contradicts the lush sonics [...] It's a far richer palette than her slicker peers offer; then again, we forget that Stevie, Marvin, and Aretha's soul was considered 'com-mercial' too. While Evans hasn't hit their heights, efforts like this give us faith that she might.[1]

Los Angeles Times noted that "however heartfelt Evans' intentions may be in this homage to her late husband, the Notorious B.I.G., she seems more concerned with soliciting our empathy than with creating compelling R&B."[5] Yahoo! Music critic Billy Johnson, Jr. felt that "only a few Keep the Faith songs have the potential to keep the talented vocalist at the top of the charts."[9] Ernest Hardy from Rolling Stone felt that the album lacked song worthy of Evans' talent. He felt thath she "deserves to be known as more than the femme fatale in some bullshit hip-hop feud, and Keep the Faith is a strong reminder that she has the talent. All she lacks are the songs."[7] Similarly, Craig Seymour remarked in his review for Village Voice: "Though there's much great singing on Keep the Faith, there are too few great or even good songs. While the mostly self-penned tunes on her debut at least had a fluid quality befitting her dewy vocals, on Keep the Faith they just seem aimless. If you're not paying attention to every twist and turn of her spiraling melismas, the album passes by like a summer breeze, pleasant but neither distinctive nor memorable."[10]

Keep the Faith debuted and peaked at number six on the US Billboard 200 in the week of November 14, 1998.[11] Evans' first top ten album, it scored first week sales of 85,000 copies.[12] By December 1998, the album had sold 251,000 units.[13] On July 29, 1999, Keep the Faith was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[14]

The 26 year-old singer was widowed in 1997 when her husband, rapper Biggie Smalls (aka The Notorious B.I.G.), was slain in a mysterious drive-by shooting. The tragedy left Evans to raise the couple's son while simultaneously tending to her own career and her husband's legacy. Judging from her incandescent new album Keep the Faith, Evans is determined to become the master of her own destiny. Towards that goal, the singer almost entirely co-wrote and co-produced her new album. Her collaborations with Babyface, Puff Daddy, David Foster and others have yielded a resilient, hopeful recording; an album Entertainment Weekly says "blends gospel's range with jazzy innovation."

"Musically I've matured so much on this album," Evans says. "I put all the experiences and emotional changes I went through from the time I completed the first album to the new album. The whole team worked endlessly to make sure that it was really tight, and it is tight."

Keep the Faith is just the latest entry on Evans' expanding resume. The singer has written or provided background vocals for a variety of r&b acts, including Mary J. Blige, Pebbles, Tevin Campbell and Christopher Williams. She has performed a duet with the legendary Ray Charles and has co-written and produced songs for L.S.G. and Aaron Hall. Most recently, she was featured on Whitney Houston's hit single, "Heartbreak Hotel," and Eric Benet's "Georgy Porgy."

Evans cultivated her righteous vocal style in the churches of her native Newark, New Jersey. A high school honor student, Evans won a full academic scholarship to Fordham University, but the singer surprised her family when she prematurely left college to pursue a music career. Evans's bold move paid off almost instantly. Not long after leaving Fordham, the singer found herself composing and performing with Al B. Sure!, Mary J. Blige and others.

The singer's career got a tremendous boost when hip-hop producer Puff Daddy signed Evans to his label, Bad Boy Records. Evans' self-titled 1995 debut album showcased her gospel roots and neo-funk attitude, and was later certified platinum. In the midst of the hoopla, the singer was introduced to rapper Biggie Smalls. They were wed just days after their fateful first encounter.

Unfortunately, the union would be short-lived. Evans' son was only three months old at the time of Smalls's death. Evans transformed her grief into a heartrending hit single, "I'll Be Missing You." Featuring a refrain from the Police's 1984 hit "Every Step You Take," Evans' poignant tribute to her late husband became a global anthem of bereavement.

Now, as the title of her new albums suggests, Evans is wagering that her faith will result in fascinating new opportunities. "Just like any other human being, I went through an extremely painful stage," the singer says. "But, thank God, I was able to free my self from all of the bad aspects and look at it as another life experience."

3a8082e126