| Eddie Levert Defiantly Still Has It |
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| Entertainment |
| Written by Gildra Hearns |
| Wednesday, 25 April 2012 12:17 |
 Through triumphs, joy, heartbreak and pain, award winning singer Eddie Levert is back and better than ever with his first solo album filled with raw, primitive, hardcore R&B entitled, Eddie Levert: I Still Have It.When asked what exactly it is that he still has, Levert replied, “I still have a love for music, a love for the business, a love for work, a love for my family, and I still have a love for God. I still have a love for all the things that I’ve always enjoyed doing. I still have that, even though I am of an old age, I’m not ready for the old folk’s home yet.” A native of South Bessemer, Levert lived on 22nd Street, by the railroad tracks to be exact. “When I left there they were still burning crosses,” he said. At the age of 6 he moved to Canton, Ohio where his musical journey began. He is one of the founders and lead singers of the legendary R&B group, The O’Jays and the father to late musical legends, Gerald and Sean Levert. His album is to be released on May 1st,, it is both written and produced by him, with no collaborations. The first single released, The Last Man Standing, was done in memory of his sons. “When you lose children like that, you always feel guilty because you feel like maybe you missed something that you should have told them that would have protected them from the situation. In feeling guilty like that, you have to rely on God to help you get through that point and know that it was out of your hand, it was nothing that you could possibly do, and it was something that God was in control of. In learning that, then taking a look at myself and saying ‘Eddie, what would you change now to try to make things better for the people that you love still here?’ So I went about a transition, and that’s what The Last Man Standing is, my transition song that describes the remaking of me,” Levert says. As a parent his advice to fathers is that they should discipline their kids. “See I’m old school, whoop their a**, but only after you have to be repetitive. If you have to keep telling them the same thing over and over again, they are disrespecting you. That’s when you have to get physical with them, and let them know that there are consequences when you don’t do as I say. [The Bible] says, ‘spare the rod, spoil the child,’” says Levert. Recently inducted into the Alabama Hall of Fame, Levert enjoys spending time in Birmingham. “I’m treated very nice when I’m down there. I always have a great time,” he says. While in town one of Levert’s favorite places to visit is Nikki’s West Restaurant. The singer wants Birmingham to know that soon and very soon he plans on coming to the city and hosting a listening party for his upcoming album. “To do something that impact people for so many years, it’s a blessing. It’s awesome, it’s hard to describe, it humbles you. God is so good to me,” he says. |
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