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PEOPLE & ARTS Friday 9 November 2018
Doing it H.E.R. way: singer rises as focus remains on music

By MESFIN FEKADU "You feel super anxious be-
NEW YORK (AP) — When cause you have all of this
Gabi Wilson is H.E.R. — her music you've been working
R&B singer stage name — on for years. You have your
she is usually rocking big dreams and you have your
hair and big sunglasses, wishes and of course you
rarely showing her full face find yourself hoping that
to her fans. it's going to all work out.
The point is to give the pub- Sometimes you've got to
lic one simple thing to focus sit for a minute and wait for
on: the music. that right moment. That's
But other days, her hair is hard — that discipline is al-
pulled into a ponytail or a most just as hard."
bun and her face is clear, "I saw H.E.R. developing as
like the time she was be- an artist, and she really had
ing driven in an Uber with this thing about her that
a friend and "Best Part," her was so exciting because it
Top 5 R&B hit, came on the was such serious musician-
radio. ship," added Keys. "And
"I love that song 'Best Part,'" then fast forwarding now,
H.E.R. recalled the driver X amount years later, to
saying, adding that he was where she is now and see-
in his late '60s. "It reminds ing that all come together,
me of my wife." I think the beauty of that is
"I wanted to cry," she add- the fact that she was really
ed. "It was so special." able to take her time and
That anonymity proved be an artist and develop
two things for the singer: and be a young girl. Her
Her choice to release eyes and her destiny have
music without giving too always been on this place
much detail about her life and needed to land in this
worked, and her fanbase is world. And it's only going
not just made up of teen- to get brighter, bigger and
agers who mainly consume better."
music through streaming — This year H.E.R. released
R&B purists love her, too. her second pair of EPs,
Since Sony's RCA Records titled "I Used To Know Her"
announced H.E.R. mys- parts 1 and 2, taking on
teriously in 2016, she has new sounds and moods in
become a rising R&B star, comparisons to her earlier
achieving success on the In this Aug. 13, 2018 photo, R&B singer Gabi Wilson, better known as H.E.R., poses for a portrait in projects. A full album is ex-
road, on streaming servic- New York. pected next year.
es, the charts and even at Associated Press She's even revealing more
awards shows. of herself: In the music vid-
Songs like "Best Part," ''Fo- sometimes. Sometimes it's the platinum hit "Best Part," 10, appearing on the "To- eo for "Could've Been," re-
cus" and "Losing" perfectly all about hype, and I didn't a duet with Daniel Cae- day" show and covering leased last week, you can
blend the alternative R&B want hype. ...I don't want sar. She earned a whop- Alicia Keys' music. She was even see her face.
sound that's popular to- people to love my music ping seven nominations at signed to Sony at 14 and "I think everything will be
day with the traditional because of what I look like the upcoming Soul Train said though she wanted revealed in its proper time
R&B sound that some feel or who I know or whatever." Awards, making her the to release music at times and slowly, like the devel-
is missing from the contem- "I feel like maybe some most nominated act. And — she did try with the song oping of a polaroid — that's
porary music scene. people wouldn't have ac- she opened on the road for "Something to Prove" in kind of what you see and
Her first two EPs — "H.E.R., cepted the music if they Chris Brown and will launch 2014 under Gabi Wilson — what her reveal is," said
Vol. 1" and "H.E.R., Vol. 2" — knew I was 19," said H.E.R., her second headlining tour she appreciates the time manager Jeff Robinson,
gave her an immediate fan who was that age when on Saturday in Atlanta. she had to develop as an who signed both H.E.R. and
base thanks to the songs' her first EP dropped. "Some She is Apple Music's latest artist and work on songwrit- Keys to his MBK Entertain-
honest lyrics and vibey mel- people, they make these "Up Next" artist and ranks ing and grow as a pianist, ment company when they
odies, as she sang about assumptions before they sixth among R&B acts on drummer and guitar (she were teens.
complicated relationships even listen to the music." the streaming platform. Her plays electric, acoustic and "There was never any hid-
and love lapses. Most peo- "Vol. 1," her seven-song set, success has been so ma- bass guitar). ing — just a concentration
ple wouldn't think she just was named iTunes' R&B al- jor that a male singer has Keys, who met H.E.R. over on the music," he added.
turned 21 months ago. bum of 2016. She earned copied her likeness and a decade ago, had similar For H.E.R., she's just happy
"The way that I released a nomination for best new released songs under the beginnings: She was origi- to have connected with
the music did exactly what artist at the 2017 Soul Train name H.I.M. nally signed as a teenager fans of all ages in an organ-
I wanted it to, which was Awards. And she opened "I don't like to acknowledge and didn't release her first ic way.
make people just listen on tour for Bryson Tiller and it," she said of the copycat. song, the No. 1 hit "Fallin'," "I'm so thankful that at this
to the music," said H.E.R., completed her first headlin- H.E.R. grew up in the San until she was 20 in 2001. point, even if you see my
which stands for "Having Ev- ing tour. Francisco Bay area to a "I was signed when I was 14 face or know who I am, it
erything Revealed." ''(And) But this year, she reached black father and Filipino and then had been devel- doesn't matter, because
just listen to the message the Top 10 of the R&B charts mother. She was originally oping all the way up to the you already love the mu-
for what it is because we with "Could've Been," the introduced to the public first album and probably sic," she said. "You've al-
tend to listen with our eyes gold-selling "Focus" and as a piano prodigy at age a lot like H.E.R.," Keys said. ready accepted it."q