As the title of this entry suggests, there's good and bad news when it comes to Faith Evans' impending return to the scene.
On the one hand, we have finally gotten confirmation that Faith is coming back with new music this year. That's right, the other First Lady has been busy recording new music and has struck a deal with independent label E1 Music, formerly Koch Records, who has given Evans her own imprint, Prolific Music Group. That, my friends, would be your cue to break out into a happy dance.
When I sat down to interview producer Chucky Thompson for the Men Love Mary project, we had a little listening party afterward and he played some new tracks that he'd been working on with Faith. Believe me when I say that that was some of the best music I've heard from her since Faithfully. Her voice sounded as good as it did back in the day and each song had "hit" written all over it. If any of that music that I heard that night ends up on her new disc, then Faith will be the cream that rises to the top of 2010's R&B/Soul offerings.
However, aside from this glorious news, there is another piece to the puzzle of Faith's comeback that gives me pause: she has a reality show in the works. Heavy sigh. As if her 2008 biography Keep the Faith wasn't enough of a glimpse into her life and times, now cameras will catch it all--or at least what she wants us to see--in a reality show entitled It's All About Faith produced by E1 Television. Heavier sigh.
Don't get me wrong, despite my better judgment, I am quite the reality television aficionado when it comes to shows centering on urban music stars. From Bobby and Whitney, to Keyshia Cole, to Diddy, to Monica, to Ray J, to Fantasia, to Pepa--I have spent countless hours being mindlessly entertained by their shenanigans. But most of my time has been spent clowning these people and those that they surround themselves with and their ridiculous antics. I won't lie, it makes for good television and hilarious roasting sessions on Twitter, but at what cost? Being Bobby Brown was the worst thing that could have ever happened to Whitney Houston. Keyshia Cole was overshadowed by her biologically-related buffoons on The Way It Is. And I'd rather watch fruit rot than be subject to the bore of Monica: Still Standing.
It's anyone's guess at this point what Faith's reality show will bring to the already crowded table, but it's my sincere hope that it paints her in a positive light, is more about music than a minstrel show and is uckery-fay free. But one thing I do know for sure is that whenever Faith sees Lil Kim she probably laughs all the way to the mirror.
