in the SPOTLIGHT

Jet, August 13, 2001

Syleena Johnson Makes Music Debut With Tough-Love Songs

Syleena Johnson deserves some respect. At 24, this rising singer and songwriter's voice possesses a maturity that belies her age, and the songs on her debut album, Chapter 1: Love, Pain & Forgiveness, reflect a wisdom gleaned from her painful experiences with love.

Her single, I Am Your Woman, written and produced by R. Kelly, is becoming the Sister anthem of the summer, and her celebrity is getting hotter as the mercury rises. So keep your eyes and ears on Syleena Johnson, because Chapter 1 promises to be the first installment of many good tunes to come.

THE LOWDOWN: A native of the Chicago suburb Harvey, Johnson's dad is blues and R&B musician Syl Johnson; mom is Brenda Thompson, the nation's first Black female police commissioner. Johnson just celebrated her one-year wedding anniversary with hubby Marcus Betts, an Illinois State University student.

HER SOUND: "R&B to the second power, with the second power being on the blues," Johnson says.

WHY SHE'S THE BOMB: Chapter 1 debuted at No. 1 on new artist charts. Johnson is the opening act for R. Kelly's summer tour, and her single, Hit On Me, about domestic violence, resulted in a partnership with the National Domestic Violence Hotline that will have her touring women's shelters.

MESSAGE IN HER SONGS: "I didn't take those fears and angers and turn them into bitterness," she says. "I turned them into something that I can share with the rest of the world and let them know that regardless of what you're going through, it's going to be OK and this is how I did it. You can too."