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This is the record where my music truly reflects who I am,” proclaims Tamar Braxton about her long-awaited new album Love and War (Streamline/Epic, Sept. 3). “It’s sassy, opinionated, insightful, smart and high energy. It’s everything that defines me as an individual. It’s finally time for me to be me.”

In fact, it’s finally time for this multi-talent to take her deserved place in the spotlight. Ever since she was a young girl, Braxton dreamed of being a singer, songwriter, producer and television star. Fanning the flames of her musical vision was a backstage encounter with Whitney Houston. At the time, a 14-year-old Braxton was singing background vocals for her sister Toni. “Whitney said to me, ‘Your voice is amazing! You’re going to be a star,’” recalls Braxton.

Now Houston’s prediction is coming true—as is Braxton’s long-held dream. Having already scored two back-to-back hits off the forthcoming Love and War (the title track and “The One”), Braxton is riding the perfect multimedia storm. Reality TV star (WE tv’s “Braxton Family Values,” “Tamar and Vince”). Engaging talk show host for Fox-TV’s “The Real.” Savvy business entrepreneur (“Get Your Life” fashion line). Illuminating author (upcoming book “Love and War.”)

And while the realization of Braxton’s musical dream might have taken longer than planned, she says it’s still right on time. “I’m a perfect example of God having another plan for me than what I had in mind,” she says with a laugh. “No matter how good the situation, it just seemed like nothing would never ever happen. Now with everything starting to happen, I realize it all boils down to timing. But singing has always remained everything for me.”

Love and War, Braxton’s album, offers a diverse mix of impassioned and impactful songs threaded together with pure soul. Heartfelt and honest, the set brims with deep emotion and searing honesty painted against a modern R&B backdrop.

One of the first songs she cut was the title track and debut single. She co-wrote the ballad’s lyrics with legendary writer LaShawn Daniels, whose credits fittingly include Whitney Houston (Michael Jackson, Usher), and Makeba Riddick (Beyoncé, Rihanna). The no-holds-barred song explores the push and pull of a relationship as well as how real love can weather any storm. Over a slow sultry beat, Braxton's soulful soprano simply captivates.

 "I'd experienced love, but I never experienced passion until I met my husband," reveals Braxton. "This song is the soundtrack to our relationship. We fight hard, but we love even harder. We get through everything, and we keep going strong.”

 As did the single. It spent ten weeks at No. 1 on Urban AC and reached No. 13 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, racked up more than 7 million views on YouTube and gave Braxton her first Centric Award at the 2013 BET Awards. "The award let me know," says Braxton, "that I was on the right path." Saucy follow-up single, “The One,” is following the same trajectory.

A veteran performer who began singing backup vocals for her older sister Toni at age 12, Braxton was also a founding member of R&B group The Braxtons with Toni and their siblings Traci, Towanda and Trina.

"I found the sound I'd been looking for within myself for years,” recalls Braxton. “I’d never had the chance to go as deep as I did. The vocals just poured out of me. I also let the music pick itself. You can't make or force a personality or feeling onto an artist. It never works."

Music isn't the only way the creative Braxton expresses herself. She executive produces and stars in the WE tv reality hit "Braxton Family Values," which comes back for a new season in November. Originally created and spearheaded by Braxton and sisters, the show soared as the cable network’s highest-rated television show. Braxton also co-stars alongside her music manager husband Vince Herbert on WE tv's spinoff Tamar & Vince. Its second season premieres on Sept. 5. 

Elsewhere on the TV front, Braxton co-hosts and produces FOX-TV’s “The Real” which recently rated #1 as the highest rated test-run in talk show history. Braxton reveals, "'The Real' is one of the best things to ever happen to me. I get to chat with a group of women and its feels like happy hour in the middle of the day.
 
A fashion force as well, the multi-tasking Braxton launched her own fashion line, “Get Your Life,” through Bravado in 2012.  Dedicated to "real chicks"—as its creator eloquently puts it— and inspired by Braxton's catchy, colorful hashtag phrases (#getyourlife, .com) on "Braxton Family Values.”

In the meantime, Braxton’s frank and sassy writer alter ego will surface again in Fall 2013 with the release of her first book, “Love and War.” Co-penned with husband Herbert, the tome examines both sides of the relationship equation. Readers will “get a detailed and honest look at the yin and yang,” pledges Braxton.

But first things first. In what continues to be a banner year, a tireless Braxton is getting ready to bring her music to her “Tamartian” fans live across the country. In conjunction with Love and War, the singer will open for Grammy Award winner John Legend during a national six-week tour that kicks off in October.

“Everything I’m doing is liberating my different sides: sister, wife, girlfriend and entrepreneur,” declares the glowing new mom. “Now, with Love and War, it seems SHE has it all.”


The man who wears many musical colors. 

Those seven words eloquently capture the multifaceted essence of Donald Lawrence. Songwriter. Producer. Composer. Music/choir director. Recording artist. The guiding force behind such No. 1 hits as “Encourage Yourself,” “Back II Eden” and “The Blessing of Abraham.” Equally at home in both the inspirational and contemporary arenas, the multiple Grammy and Stellar Award winner has collaborated with a diverse roster, including such marquee names as Karen Clark Sheard, Donnie McClurkin, Kirk Franklin, En Vogue and Mary J. Blige.

“It’s said that the music you do is where you’ve lived,” says Lawrence of his creative journey. “What I do isn’t contrived. I don’t think in terms of genre or religious perspective. It comes from being honest. I just honor the gift and purpose I was given to touch the world and inspire. And people have paid attention to that.”

Indeed they have—to the tune of 20 years and counting. After scoring his second No. 1 gospel album with 2011’s YRM (Your Righteous Mind), Lawrence is preparing to commemorate his anniversary milestone with the first of two albums featuring live re-recordings of select songs from his vast catalog complemented by several new tracks. Due this fall, the first Light Records volume, titled Best for Last, was recorded primarily in Chicago with longtime songwriting/production colleagues Daniel Weatherspoon and Percy Bailey. The second volume, slated for 2014, will be recorded primarily in Charlotte near Lawrence’s Gastonia, North Carolina birthplace.

Also joining Lawrence for the two-volume series is a host of special guests, many of whom have played important roles in his career. The list includes Karen Clark Sheard, Kierra Sheard, Kelly Price, Lalah Hathaway, Hezekiah Walker, Stephanie Mills and Yolanda Adams. Adams’ bring-the-house-down vocals on volume one’s title track kick off a rousing celebration 20 years in the making. Yet its chorus also hints that Lawrence doesn’t plan to rest on his laurels anytime soon: “Although you may think that your time has passed \ God only saving the best for last \ Your future greater than the past.”

“I don’t know why it’s said that your best days are your youth,” explains Lawrence of the song’s message. “The Scripture talks about your latter being greater than the former. I wanted to speak to people who feel it’s a wrap. It’s never too late to dream.”

Additional standouts include “The Gift Looks Good on You” and “Hebrews 4:9.” Both are spirited lessons revolving around Lawrence’s central theme of grace. In this instance, he is talking about grace as talent; that people should stop looking across the fence at what others may possess and instead honor their own gifts. “Most people think grace is covering sins, but it’s also an area of divine enablement,” he says. “Some people have the grace to write or sing. I do music. Don’t covet someone else’s grace; honor yours. And if you honor it, God will allow you to take it to a broader arena.”

Lawrence began taking charge of his grace while growing up in Gastonia, NC. Raised by a gospel-loving aunt and influenced by gospel pioneer Walter Hawkins, he taught himself the piano at 15. From there, Lawrence put himself through the prestigious Cincinnati Conservatory of Music as a musical theater major. He and Worth Gardner, one of the school’s professors, later wrote the 1986 musical revue “Sing Hallelujah!,” which toured across the country and played off Broadway. 

After a stint on the musical staff of the TV series “PTL Club,” Lawrence trained his sights on secular music when he was asked to become vocal coach for hit-making R&B/pop female group En Vogue. The early ‘90s found him integrating both worlds. That’s when he began an eight-year tenure as music director for Broadway/R&B star Stephanie Mills while honing the groundbreaking urban inspirational style of his own choir, Company. Signed to Giant Records, Company released its debut album, Devotion, in 1993. 

Concurrently, Lawrence started sending songs to a North Carolina-area group called the Tri-City Singers. Hired to succeed the act’s former musical director, he helped the group claim a No. 2 debut on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums chart with 1993’s A Songwriter’s Point of View. The set, melding hip-hop and other contemporary rhythms, featured guest turns by Peabo Bryson and Mills. Over the next 12 years, Lawrence & the Tri-City Singers issued a string of top five gospel albums, including No. 1 Bible Stories, tri-city4.com and Go Get Your Life Back. These releases sported such memorable hits as “Testify,” “Message to the Saints” and “The Best Is Yet to Come.” The albums also boasted an array of guests, including Clark Sheard, Ann Nesby, Kelly Price and Kim Burrell. 

Lawrence & the Tri-City Singers retired in 2006, culminating their run with a cross-country, sold-out tour and a live recording, Finale. The project spun off the hits “Encourage Yourself” and “The Blessing of Abraham” with the latter spending 18 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs chart. 

Two years prior, Lawrence stepped out with his first solo album, the Donald Lawrence & Co.-headlined I Speak Life, with cameos by Donnie McClurkin, Hezekiah Walker, Faith Evans, Lalah Hathaway and jazz icon Ramsey Lewis. Featured hits included “You Covered Me” and the anthem “Healed.” He followed that with a second No. 2 album, 2009’s The Law of Confession, Part I, and the hit “Back II Eden.” He then scored his second No. 1 with YRM (Your Righteous Mind). 

Lawrence’s musical passion continues to manifest itself through various pursuits. He has written and produced for the legendary Clark Sisters, Clark Sheard, Kirk Franklin and Hezekiah Walker (including No. 1 single “Souled Out”), among others. After earning his master’s degree in fine arts at Chicago’s Columbia College, he was asked to join the school’s faculty where he still teaches intermittently. And in September, he’ll celebrate his sixth anniversary as host of Verizon’s national gospel choir talent competition “How Sweet the Sound,” working alongside Walker, Yolanda Adams, Tamela Mann and other special guests. Future plans include expanding into TV, film and Broadway projects. 

“New ideas and concepts for songs, new talent, more knowledge … the more creative I can be is what keeps me excited,” says the indefatigable Lawrence. “You reap what you sow.”

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