Soul singer Brian McKnight sounds off on why today's music lacks substance, men who think they are pleasing their women and his hoop dream

Jet, Dec 10, 2001 by Margena A. Christian

IF you don't know what it's like to be in love, listen to Brian McKnight sing his music.

As soon as he opens his mouth, he pulls at your heartstrings by grabbing hold of you with his creamy voice, caressing the lyrics like a man who wrote the book on love.

JET spoke with the 31-year-old singer/writer/musician/producer/arranger as he sounded off on why today's music lacks substance, men who think they are pleasing their women and his hoop dream.

McKnight sticks out like a sore thumb. In a day and age when singers seem more interested in flaunting their good looks, showing off fancy outfits and belting out tunes about blowing someone's mind under the sheets, McKnight takes music back to the way it used to be--a celebration of genuine love. His current single, Love Of My Life, from his new album, superhero, is a shining example.

With so few people praising love in their songs nowadays, McKnight feels that today's music lacks substance.

"When my songs come on, you know it's me. But as a whole when you listen to the radio, you really can't distinguish who is who the first time you hear [a song] like you could years ago," he says. "In a lot of ways it's a cookie-cutter mentality in the music industry. People will throw as many of these same kinds of acts against the wall, and whichever one sticks, that's the one that's successful. It seems much less about what you can actually do musically and more about what you look like and your image. It's been gradually deteriorating over the years."

McKnight knows a thing or two about music. Skilled at playing nine instruments, he got his first publishing deal as a songwriter in 1988 at the age of 18. By the time he was 22, his first album, Brian McKnight, came out fueled by the songs One Last Cry, Goodbye My Love and Is This The Way Love Goes. The project went platinum.

I Remember You, his second album, went gold, and it produced Still In Love--which continues to be a favorite wedding anthem--Keep It On The Down Low and Crazy Love. But by the time his third album, Anytime, and his fifth album, Back At One, came out, he had been christened a modern-day maestro of love. Both albums went triple-platinum with smashes like Anytime, You Should Be Mine, The Only One For Me, Hold Me, Back At One, Stay Or Let It Go and 6-8-12. His fourth project was the top-selling Christmas album Bethlehem.

Women love McKnight and, well, so do men. The gifted musician says that men thank him all the time for making music that "puts them in the mood." And while the handsome singer is grateful for this impact, he believes the fellas should listen up well to the lyrics while they are groovin'.

When You Wanna Come, a song from his new album, speaks to men who think they have it all under control in the bedroom. In the song, he encourages guys not to take things for granted with lyrics like: "Some fellas only think of themselves/themselves and no one else/don't care if it's good for you/and fall asleep before you're finished too."

Explains McKnight, "What I'm really trying to do is give the fellas a heads-up. I know a lot of guys who really think they are satisfying their women. I listen to talk radio all the time. There was a topic one night about these women who just weren't being satisfied at all by their husbands, boyfriends or whatever. I know a lot of guys who think they are really doing their jobs. I'm trying to give them a heads up to say, `No.'"

In addition to living out his dream of being a performer, McKnight also dreams of hooping it up in the NBA. Right now he is a part of the NBA Entertainment League (NBAEL), the NBA's invitation-only, closed-to-the-public basketball league for celebrities and entertainment-industry executives. He plays for the Blazers.

"Most musicians always wanted to be athletes and most athletes always wanted to be musicians. There's a natural brotherhood there ... I didn't always make music. In school I was playing basketball and football. It's just a matter of what happened first. My dream is to still play in the NBA. But you can't have everything. I'm living one."

An aggressive player, McKnight is known to have game and takes basketball seriously. Two years ago he was named the NBAEL's MVP. And just last January, McKnight sang the national anthem at the NFL's NFC Championship game in East Rutherford, NJ, then took a plane back to L.A. in time for the NBAEL's championship game that night, and his team won.

So dedicated to the sport, the night the 6-foot-4 singer won his American Music Award he had to play a game. "I was angry because I didn't think I was going to win because I never win anything, but they made me stay at the show," he laughs. "I won and quickly ran across town. I made it by halftime. We won that game."

He also collects autographed sneakers from his NBA buddies. So far he has about 30 pairs that were worn in games by his pals like Alonzo Mourning, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, Penny Hardaway, Charles Oakley, Ray Allen and Allan Houston, to name a few.

"Most of the games I was there actually watching them play. There is a story that goes along with each pair. I never really understood autographs, but if you're going to get an autograph, I believe you should get it on something functional."