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ABC/Ida Mae AstuteLedisi‘s new album Let Love Rule is out now and features guest appearances from powerhouse artists like John Legend, Kirk Franklin and B.J. the Chicago Kid, who, as Ledisi tells ABC Radio, actually auditioned for her some years ago.
“B.J. is doing so well,” she says.
“I remember B.J. auditioning for me to sing background and I heard him and I said, ‘He should not be singing background for me or anybody. He’s a star.'”
Ledisi continues, “So I never hired him, ’cause he’s a superstar to me. He walked like one. He’d act like one. And next thing you know, he blew up. And it’s just a full circle moment to have him on my record.”
B.J. was nominated for three 2017 Grammy nominations, including one for Best R&B Album.
On the other hand, Ledisi reveals that she had been waiting to work with Kirk for quite some time.
Prior to completing Let Love Rule, she says she told him, “You’ve worked with everybody. I’ve been waiting as your friend in the wings for you to call me one day and say ‘Hey Ledisi. Got a song for you.'”
“So he said, ‘No, no. I promise you. I’ll have something for you. Give me a minute. I got you.’ And then maybe two months later, he called and said, ‘Led, I have a song. I’m gonna send it.’ I said, ‘Cool. Finally. My turn. My turn.'”
That song, “If You Don’t Mind,” is the final track on Let Love Rule, and Ledisi says it’s “about myself and my journey.”
“The line of the whole album, it’s about love. But for me, the end [of the disc] is [that] we’re trying to get there to that great spiritual elevation.”
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