S.T.I.L.L.: WHAT IS THE TITLE OF YOUR NEW ALBUM, AND WHEN IS IT SCHEDULED TO BE RELEASED?
DAVID CHANCE: The title of the new album is “Unconditional Love” and, it’s actually available right now, online everywhere.
S.T.I.L.L.: WITH THE WAY THAT THE MUSIC INDUSTRY HAS EVOLVED, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO REVAMP YOUR MUSIC TO EMBRACE THE NEW SOUND OF R&B MUSIC?
DAVID CHANCE: Well, sometimes you gotta stay with the times, as far as creative side, but I don’t really want to change. I’m a stickler for trying to keep R&B in its truest form because it’s been “watered down” since we came out in the ‘90s. So, I believe in bringing back the harmony, the quartet, the “Jodeci” and “Boyz II Men” sounds back with real soul singing. I mean, you got some soul singers out there, but they kinda put them in the “neo-soul” category when it’s really just true R&B. But, with R&B and hip hop merging, there’s no real “true” hip hop or R&B now, so it’s all sounding “pop” and commercial.
S.T.I.L.L.: HAVE YOU SELECTED A FIRST SINGLE FROM "UNCONDITIONAL LOVE" AND, IF SO, WHAT WILL THE FIRST SINGLE BE?
DAVID CHANCE: The first single is a song called “Love of All Time”, and it’s a love song. It promotes marriage and, you know, people falling in love and not lust. One of the true things about R&B (how it used to be), R&B had a lot of substance, and most of the stuff was tasteful. So, we wanna take it back to the “old school” cats and stuff with substance, and a song with no lyrical content doesn’t have any substance. So, that’s what we want to do with this album, and not only represent for R&B, but to bring substance back.
S.T.I.L.L.: THERE ARE SEVERAL PHENOMENAL R&B PRODUCERS IN THE INDUSTRY RIGHT NOW. WHO DID YOU GUYS WORK WITH, AS FAR AS PRODUCTION AND WRITING, FOR THIS ALBUM?
DAVID CHANCE: Well, actually, this is my first record where I kinda produced the record as Executive Producer. I have a few people that are featured on the album, but it’s mainly “the David Chance project”, where I’m talking about my dealings with Ruff Endz and when I first came in the music game, that kinda thing.
S.T.I.L.L.: IT'S BEEN ABOUT 7 YEARS SINCE WE LAST HEARD FROM "RUFF ENDZ" WHEN YOU RELEASED "SOMEONE TO LOVE YOU" IN 2002. WHAT WAS THE REASON FOR YOUR SUDDEN ABSENCE IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY?
DAVID CHANCE: Well, the reason was…Really, there were several reasons. We wanted to start our own label and, in the midst of that, I kinda left the group to find purpose, to take time with my son, and I got married. And then, I kinda got a whole different change and went from negative- to positive-styled songs, and now that I’m a Christian, I want to represent positive. I believe in “message” music, and thanks to all the fans that supported me, I was able to take some time off and start my own label, Chance Music Group (CMG), which is a digital labe,l since everything now is kinda done online. Right now, 70% of album sales is done online. Then, there are takeovers and merges in the retail stores, and a lot of the music stores, like Tower Records, are now gone. So, we figured that a digital label is the way to go. A lot of labels are already doing that and putting more emphasis on the digital side because that’s where the money is now.
S.T.I.L.L.: DID YOU COLLABORATE WITH ANY OTHER ARTISTS FOR THIS ALBUM?
DAVID CHANCE: I got “Woody” from Dru Hill on Track 2, and it’s called “How Could I”. He did the background vocals and the vocal arrangement on that record. It was actually a record we were going to do on our project, but we kinda put it on this record instead. I have “Platinum Souls” on the record, and they’re like a “spoken word/poetry” type of group, and we also have a children’s choir called “Children of the King” (CK). So, the album is a mixture of Gospel and inspiration music, but the album as a whole is all R&B.
S.T.I.L.L.: WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE WITH YOUR NEW ALBUM, AND DO YOU FEEL THAT THE ALBUM WILL IMPACT THE INDUSTRY IN A WAY THAT WILL GET US BACK TO "REAL R&B" MUSIC (MINUS THE STRONG "POP" INFLUENCE)?
DAVID CHANCE: I hope to achieve, with this album, an empowerment of people and leave people with a good message and, most of all, encourage people to love. I definitely believe in love, but it starts with me, my wife, my son, and the communities and culture, as we know it. If we can bring that back to the forefront, then we can really make a change like our President said. I want to encourage, like the first single, I chose to do that song because I saw the numbers of the divorce rate. And, that was a concern of mine because as a “family”, our young people are being raised by MTV and BET, and nobody’s really talking about it because people are just making money. But, I want to be one light to shine to wave the flag of “love” and be one positive influence to encourage people through the music.
S.T.I.L.L.: NOW THAT YOU'RE BACK, AND THERE'S A FLURRY OF NEW ARTISTS IN THE INDUSTRY, IS THERE ANY ARTIST THAT YOU'D LIKE TO COLLAB WITH IN THE STUDIO?
DAVID CHANCE: Not really, at the moment. I like “Chrisette Michelle”, and I’d definitely like to do something with her. I’d also like to work with “Mary Mary”, they have a positive vibe about them, and me and “Dave Hollister” are supposed to be working together on the “Love of All Time” remix, so I’m looking forward to that. It’s that kind of wedding song, and the wedding season is right around the corner.
S.T.I.L.L.: WILL YOUR FANS BE ABLE TO PURCHASE THE NEW ALBUM THROUGH DIGITAL MEANS (ONLINE) AND, IF SO, WHAT SITES WILL THEY BE ABLE TO GO TO FOR PURCHASE?
DAVID CHANCE: Yes, they can purchase the album online. It’s available at iTunes, Amazon, and Rhapsody.
S.T.I.L.L.: WILL THERE BE A TOUR OR CONCERT DATES FOR THE PROMOTION OF "UNCONDITIONAL LOVE" AND, IF SO, HOW CAN FANS GET THE INFORMATION TO SEE YOU PERFORM LIVE?
DAVID CHANCE: Fans can get information about performances at www.DavidChance.com, and on Facebook, all they have to do is type in my name “David Chance”. And from my website, I have a link to my MySpace. I’m working on a promo tour now; we went to Memphis, Kansas City, Chicago, Virginia, and Texas. We just came back through the New England area, and we’ve been on a radio tour, and we’ve been getting plays on the Baltimore radio stations.