Chante's Got A Man At Home And A Baby, Too - African American rock singer

Ebony, Sept, 1999 by Aldore D. Collier

LIKE many successful singers, Chante Moore has gotten her share of accolades from adoring fans who love her beautiful ballads and delicately artistic videos. Nowadays, however, she gets a totally different but no less positive reaction. Black male fans walk up and thank her while Black women beseech her for advice. Both reactions are responses to her hugely successful single, "Chante's Got A Man," a song that addresses Black male/ female relationships and lets Black women know that truly good, thoughtful and sensitive Black men are out there if they have the patience and fortitude to search for them.

"Most guys will come up to me and say: `Thank you. We appreciate that a woman is not down on us. We appreciate you saying good things about us.' Women come up and they're like: `So, how do I get a man?' or `What do you think I should do?' It's funny. I just say, `Well, love yourself. Be who you are.' It's so funny. I've become like the little Doctor Ruth [Westheimer]."

Of course, it's pretty easy for her to address the issue of good Black men, since, as she proudly proclaims to an interviewer, she, indeed, has a very good Black man at home. For the last six and a half years, she's dated Kadeem Hardison, who acted on the NBC hit sitcom A Different World. He now spends more of his time writing. The two are proud parents of Sophia Milan, now almost 3.

"Chante's Got A Man" is one of the first singles on her third album, This Moment Is Mine. She co-wrote 10 of the 12 songs on the album, which was produced by such music legends as Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis and Jermaine Dupri. The title of the single came from a conversation she had with Jam and Lewis while working on the album in Minneapolis. "Jimmy and Terry tease me a lot because I write a lot of happy songs and I'm always smiling. They were like, `Come on, we need to write a sad song.' When they teased me, I said `Don't get mad at me because I got a man at home. Jimmy was like. `That's it! That's the name of the song.' That's how it came about."

For her, it's pretty easy to write and sing about romance. While not 100 percent ideal, she describes her relationship with Hardison as "wonderful." In the almost seven years they've been together, she says they've never argued or even raised their voices at each other.

"We disagree about things, of course, like normal people," she says. "But it's not like we disrespect each other. We know how to have a disagreement without arguing. I have a gentle spirit and he does, too. We just respect each other. It's not respectful to yell at people. You wouldn't do that to your boss unless you're planning on quitting. Or to your mother unless you plan on getting knocked upside the head."

Besides having a positive, productive relationship, she says she lucked out in having a mate who's also a good father. Now, when she has to leave Los Angeles to tour or promote the album, she knows Sophia is in good hands. "Kadeem has good fatherly skills. He knows how to change diapers. Plus, she's more aggressive and interactive than when she was 2 months old."

When she was that age, Chante packed her up and took her wherever she had to be. Sophia was with her in Minneapolis and Atlanta when she worked on the album. "I was breast-feeding. So, she went where the food went. Have food, will travel."

And speaking of babies, she says she really wants to have either three or four. But "no time soon. I've got work to do right now."

Now, she is in a very good place. And she credits having a deep relationship with God for bringing all the successes she's experiencing now. "I'm more focused and grounded in the Lord," she says, "and it makes me more clear with the rest of my life. I'm striving for excellence in my spiritual life, in my home life, in my child and in my relationships."

Even though Chante's enjoying some of her greatest success now, she says the career is still at the bottom of her list of priorities. She places the Lord at the top, followed by Sophia, Kadeem and herself. "The career comes after all of that because people can't be replaced. You can do a little bit of twisting with a career," she says.

As far as her future with Hardison, she simply responds, "We're together. We're very happy." In addition to having an easy spirit like hers, she says Hardison loves to make her laugh. "He's not a jokester or anything, but he is very funny," she points out. "I'm not funny, but I like laughing."

They are very supportive of each other. And she is his biggest cheerleader. "But Kadeem doesn't need very much cheering. He's very self-assured in the way he goes about life.

He's not tentative."

And neither is she when it comes to her work. Her: music has struck such an incredibly responsive chord with fans, both because of her elegant delivery and the advice-like messages she sends out to listeners. Some might feel that because she's a strikingly alluring woman her advice might come from the experiences of others. But she is quick to point out that she has had her share of romantic failures.