|  | Ray of Light: 7 Questions With Sunshine Anderson
 | | Sunshine Anderson |
With her first single, "Heard It All Before," topping the R&B charts, Sunshine Anderson, 26, is heating up. And with some professional diva help from her manager, singer Macy Gray, the North Carolina-bred Anderson is confident her debut, Your Woman (April 17), is going to go supernova. Anderson lit it up with Rahman Dukes and described hooking up with Gray, how her name perfectly describes her personality and why you probably won't find her sweating her chart position.
Tell me how you were discovered?
Anderson: I was discovered by [producer] Mike City when I was in college at North Carolina Central University in Durham [North Carolina] I happen to be in line at the cafeteria, humming [a song] and this guy heard me and dragged me back to his dormitory and was like, 'oh my God.' He called City and City came to campus and listened to me sing. He didn't act real impressed at all [but then] he introduced me to Chris Dawley, who was then the CEO of Soulife [Entertainment]. [Then] I started going home on the weekend, holidays, spring break and to New York [to record].
How did you hook up with Macy Gray?
Anderson:- Macy Gray is my manager. She has been friends with Chris Dawley for 4-5 years and he introduced me to her. We started to hang out a lot and Macy saw some good things in me. She saw that I had a lot of potential, she loved my music, and more importantly, she saw what I was dealing with and took it upon herself to say, "hey, this is what I like to do." Macy has been in the business for a while and she knows what she is doing and [has] gone through the ups and downs. Who better to guide me with this than Macy? But more than anything, Macy is a friend and we hang out. It's not just work and boom, boom, boom.
Your single ["Heard It All Before"] is very soulful and you can tell you're singing it with a lot of feeling. Is it based on a personal experience?
Anderson: I'm still working on my writing skills. I co-wrote the songs on the album and there is one called "Crazy Love" that I wrote. I operate off of a feeling and sometimes things come out that I didn't even know I can do. [There's] no plan for it, it just happens. Sunshine is my real name [and] I really think my name has some bearing on how I feel and the things that happen in my life. Even "Heard It All Before," the second verse just talks [about] feeling kind of angry and grimy because he brought this woman to my house. When I perform it the look comes across my face, like, "what did you think you was doing?"
For a new artist, you seem to have a lot of creative control, because usually with a new artist there's a learning process...
Anderson: I can't conceive of anyone telling me "talk about this," and we're going to do your hair this way, and you are going to wear these kinds of clothes. That is just totally absurd to me. And yes, I have all the creative control, and yes I like this and I don't like this. I'm very firm in what I believe. You're getting Sunshine and if you're gonna get it, you will get the real and what I want you to have.
Does your name really describe your personality?
Anderson: I am exactly what my name says. I'm a very outgoing person. I like to laugh, I don't hold anything back. I say what is on my mind, I'm not rude, I just like to have fun. I'm a country girl – big up to all the Charlotte people – Sunshine says it all.
With all the success lately of female R&B artists, where do you think you fit in there?
Anderson: There's no expression for what I'm bringing to the table. You need sunshine for all things. You need sunshine to see, to make the plants and flowers grow. You need me and right now music is missing sunshine. I'm a very soulful singer. The conviction is in my voice, the strength. I think music is missing a sunshine and I'm ready to add a little flavor to it, bring it back to the old days like it used to be.
Do you get all caught up in the charts? What if you don't see your album in the Billboard top 10?
Anderson: No, I guess I wouldn't base my whole career on Billboard and what the charts say, because if you own the chart at all, somebody is listening. I do my music for the people, but at the same time it is for me, so whether we are #1 on the charts or don't get on there at all, somebody is listening.
###
For more on Sunshine Anderson, check out the MTV News Archive >>
| |
| |
