18 to watch in '98

Ebony, Jan, 1998 by Laura B. Randolph

They're talented, charismatic and hotter than July. They're so hot, in fact, that word on the street is that the powerbrokers in Hollywood and Washington have put them on speed dial. Who are they? The elite roster of people generating big buzz from New York to L.A., the folks everyone will be talking about in 1998.

We don't have to tell you that Oprah, Halle and Whitney have major projects in the works; they always do. What you may not know is that, in addition to artists like Babyface Edmonds and Debbie Allen, you'll soon be healing the names of a whole new constellation of stars-on-the-lise. On the following pages, we highlight a select group who will sizzle in the new year:

At 24, Maxwell, the Brooklyn-born soul singer, is being hailed as The Next Big Thing. His debut album, Urban Hang Suite, sold more than a million copies, and during his last tour, he left women across America screaming for more. After his MTV Unplugged performance aired last summer, Sisters were calling him "the sexiest man alive." He's gorgeous, to be sure, but it's his music that is really turning Sisters on--there's no shooting, no tales of glorified violence, no drinking or drugging. "There's more to the urban lifestyle than that," says Maxwell, noting that his music "is about the search for one woman, not many."

Last summer, Angela Bassett appeared in Contact with Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. This summer, the Golden Globe recipient and Academy Award-nominated actress will star in the screen adaptation of Terry McMillan's bestseller, How Stella Got Her Groove Back,for 20th Century Fox. Bassett, who recently wed actor Courtney B. Vance, will also return to the New York stage as Lady Macbeth opposite Alec Baldwin. The buzz is she has also agreed to star in Wings Against the Wind, a film about Bessie Coleman, the country's first licensed Black pilot, to be directed by Euzhan Palcy.

In 1996, Seal, the London-born vocalist, set the music world onfire when he won Grammys for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Now he's putting the finishing touches on his much-anticipated follow-up album, which he plans to release this year. Early buzz is that it is every bit as stirring as his last album, about which one reviewer observed: "Each song is a personal recipe for salvation."

Kenny (Babyface) Edmonds and Tracey Edmonds are Hollywood's hottest power couple. Since they produced the hit film Soul Food (at press time it had raked in close to $40 million), the buzz in Hollywood is that they have the golden touch. Since they make clear they're a team, we're counting them as one. Their next film, to be released this year, is the romantic comedy, Hav Plenty, the story of a struggling writer in love with a good friend. The couple also have a TV show, Schoolin', in development at Fox, and Babyface is putting the finishing touches on a story he has written for the big screen, L.C. Soul Unlimited, which is a fictionalized version of his first band.

Last month, Debbie Allen, the Emmy-winning star, did what almost no one in Hollywood believed she could do. She brought Amistad, the story of 53 African slaves who seized their freedom in the bloody waters of the Middle Passage, to the silver screen. It took her more than 10 years to get a studio to back the project, but the struggle was worth it. President Clinton and the first lady were scheduled to attend the Washington opening. Now Allen is starring in a one-woman show in which she portrays the abolitionist Harriet Tubman.

This is the year the Queen of Soul will release her long-awaited autobiography and "it will be juicy," she has promised. The multiple Grammy-winning star? who was recently accepted to the prestigious Juilliard School to study classical piano, will also be adding "producer" to her long line of credits. Her first project? A TV movie about the life of longtime friend Jesse Jackson, based on Marshall Frady's biography. Oh, and she'll also be re-creating her memorable role as a restaurant owner in the upcoming Blues Brothers movie sequel, Blues Brothers 2000.

On October 22,1997, Susan Rice, a Rhodes Scholar and Phi Beta Kappa Stanford University graduate, was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. Rice will trace the pivotal role in formulating, coordinating and implementing U.S. policy toward Africa. Before joining the State Department, Dr. Rice, who has a Ph.D. and a master's degree from Oxford, served at the White House as special assistant to the president and senior director for African affairs and was director of international organizations and peacekeeping at the National Security Council. "Gone are the days of viewing Africa as a playground for superpower competition," Rice said at her swearing-in ceremony.

Cuba Gooding Jr.'s break-out performance in the smash hit Jerry Maguire propelled him to the forefront of the entertainment industry and earned him an Academy Award. Only the sixth Black to win an Academy Award, Gooding's star remains on the rise. This year he will star in three new films--Ishmael, a Disney movie co-starring Anthony Hopkins, What Dreams May Come with Robin Williams; and the independent movie, A Murder of Crows, in which he plays an attorney.