“They Don’t Know.” “Are You Still Down” featuring Tupac Shakur. “Someone to Love” featuring Babyface. Jon B’s brand of soulful music has kept female fans screaming for 30 years. Now the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter-producer-musician is celebrating — and continuing — that legacy with the March 21 release of his eighth studio album, Waiting on You (stream HERE).
“Man, 30 years,” Jon B tells Billboard of reaching that lofty career milestone. “I love what I do, and Waiting on You is just another product of my loving what I do. I also love my fans, who have allowed me into their lives. We’ve gone this long together and still got that love, so let’s keep this thing going.”
That sentiment is reflected in one of the album’s 11 songs, “Still Got Love,” whose cha-cha groove is reminiscent of another Jon B fan fave, the 2001 club jam “Don’t Talk.” In addition, Waiting on You has already spun off two singles: the ‘90s-vibed title track and the atmospheric ballad “Natural Drug.” On the former, Jon B reunited with Tank, who first collaborated with his fellow R&B purveyor on the title track for another Jon B album: 2004’s Stronger Everyday. Along with Tank, Jon B’s Waiting on You production collaborators include Brady Watt, Loren Lomboy and Donte Jackson.
Of his and Tank’s musical rapport, Jon B says, “He can play, write and sing. So when you put us in a room, we immediately start talking that musical language. I love his bridge [on “Waiting”] because it brings back the harmonies and energy that we were giving in the ’90s — a little of that old goodness that’s kind of missing in R&B.”
As does the ballad “Understand” featuring late ‘90s-early ‘aughts R&B artist Donell Jones. The album’s other tasty offerings include the uptempo love ode “Hills to the Hood” with rap icon Rick Ross (“WhenI made the track, I thought the only voice that needs to rap on this is Rick Ross”) and the meditative “Show Me” featuring rising star Alex Isley (“Her lineage and classic voice speak for themselves; she sounds ahead of her time.”)
“I only have 11 records on here,” Jon B adds, “so there’s just a different intensity with each song. I don’t feel like there any song that’s redundant or just filler. Every song could be a single.”
The one thing that’s remained constant in Jon B’s creative evolution is his smooth, sexy and supple tenor. It’s what caught fans’ ears in 1995 when debut studio album Bonafide was released by Tracey Edmonds’ Yab Yum label via Epic Records division 550 Music. The set boasted the later Grammy-nominated song with Babyface, “Someone to Love,” which initially appeared on the 1995 Bad Boys soundtrack. Jon B’s enduring catalog has since been sampled by the likes of The Weeknd (“Niagara Falls”), Drake (“Cameras / Good Ones Go Interlude”), Chris Brown featuring a posthumous appearance by Aaliyah (“Don’t Think They Know”) and Gunna and Chloe Bailey (“You & Me”).
Now Jon B is back on deck with Waiting on You, the follow-up to his 2019 single “Priceless” and last formal studio album, 2012’s Comfortable Swagg. All three projects are under his own label Vibezelect. Jon B credits his wife Danette as being “the backbone” of the family operation. “She’s the executive producer, artistic director, stylist and booker,” he explains. “It’s a really cool collaboration between the two of us and has been now for almost 20 years.”
The pair’s next collaboration is Jon B’s Pick Me Up Tour. Named after the album’s newest single, the 10-city trek — with additional dates forthcoming — begins April 11 at The Fillmore in Silver Spring, Maryland and will swing through New Orleans, Dallas, Houston and Chicago, among other cities. Opening for him will be Nigerian-born British singer-songwriter Shaé Universe. “People are really going to be in a trance when they hear her sing,” Jon B promises.
In the meantime, the newly minted 50-year-old says it’s “pretty cool” to come back with new music and new energy. “I feel better and more confident about being an artist than I ever have. After searching for a long time to find my rhythm, I’ve finally figured this whole thing out. Now I’m definitely coming into my own.”
