Please don’t ask R&B legend Charlie Wilson about working with T-Pain UNLESS you’ve done your research.
“Every time I sit down with a writer, they always want to talk about working with T-Pain. T-Pain wrote for me before he got hot,” jokes Charlie Wilson when asked about the latest collaborations on Uncle Charlie. “In between that first album of his and this new one, he blew up. So now people always ask me what am I doing with T- Pain. I’ve worked T-Pain before and no one even asked about it.”
“Matter of fact, when I went to work with T-Pain he had a black board full of names,” recalls Wilson. “When I asked him what was that list for. He said those are the people waiting in line for a song. But I wouldn’t have to wait, because I showed him love early on. You feel me?”
We feel you.
Uncle Charlie, the second solo set by Wilson on Jive Records, is the follow up to 2005′s Gold certified Charlie, Last Name Wilson, where R. Kelly repaid Wilson for years of inspiration by taking on the role of executive producer. This time around Wilson, instead teams with Jamie Foxx (“Suppa Sexy”),The Underdogs (“Homeless”) and frequent Babyface collaborator Greg Pagani (“There Goes My Baby”) and delivers an album that rises to the occasion of being traditionally soulful yet still light-hearted enough to continue to garner the attention of younger fans. Rather than seek out the tenants of a more retro R&B sound, Wilson continues to bridge the soulful sounds that he’s become famous for with the flares of contemporary producers.
Wilson who is widely known as the former lead vocalist for the Gap Band has had a successful career. He continues to perform regularly and remains active in his community. However at age 56, his life changed drastically when he discovered he had prostate cancer during a routine screening.
“It was devastating when I got the news. I had to pick my face up off the floor. When you hear stuff like that, you think your life is over at that exact moment,” recalls Wilson of receiving the diagnosis that he had prostate cancer. “I thought I was going to die right then and there.”
Wilson had become one of the statistics that he now repeats as a sign of warning for other men, in particularly African-American men. “One in six American men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year where 1 in 3 African American men are diagnosed. Every three minutes we’re diagnosed with this disease,” warns Wilson. “So shouldn’t be looked at as something that couldn’t happen to you. It happened to me.
“The statistics are scary, but black men still aren’t talking about it,” explains Wilson. “A lot of brothers out there don’t get checked out because they think they can overcome anything or they think getting tested will take away from their ‘manhood’. Well, for years I’ve been performing, now its time to start informing. A man dies from this disease every 18 minutes. Prostate cancer is serious business.”
That said, Wilson remains optimistic. “My recovery from the surgery has been excellent,” says Wilson. “I couldn’t exactly ride a bicycle right away, but I’m feeling pretty good with the results. I’m loving life now more than ever.”
Since his battle with cancer, Wilson has now made it his mission to use his prominent name in the African-American community to spread the word on the importance of early detection for prostate cancer. He’s taken this message on the road with him as he begins a media and concert tour in support of his new CD which has included performances for American troops serving tours of duty in Iraq and Kuwait.
Uncle Charlie is in stores now. – Kevin R. Scott
