From the pulpit to the bedroom with Raheem DeVaughn

In town for a taping of the Mo'Nique Show, DeVaughn, a recent Atlanta transplant, has a lot to say and he hopes he communicates that on this, his third album, a mix of socially conscious songs combined with his trademark odes to the fairer sex. He describes the album as therapeutic, not just for his audience, but for him as well. We are, he says, in the midst of a spiritual war, and it’s time to chose a side wisely.

“I hope my music takes people to a new level of consciousness especially the youth," he says. "When you are young, you feel like you are invincible.”

DeVaughn, himself, has done a lot of growing up since his first album debuted in 2005. Born in Orange, New Jersey to a family heavily influenced by music, DeVaughn recalls growing up in D.C. trying to emulate idols such as Michael Jackson and Marvin Gaye. After getting kicked out of Coppin State University for spending more time making music than studying, DeVaughn signed to Jive Records in 2002 with 99 percent of his album complete.

Manager Jerry Vines heard DeVaughn singing a demo and told the singer he wouldn’t mind working with him.

“His voice reminded me of Marvin Gaye,” says Vines who also admires DeVaughn's songwriting ability and work ethic. “He’s on the road 200 days a year,” Vines says. “He is working when other people aren’t.”

The hard work paid off when DeVaughn’s sophomore release earned two Grammy nominations and two BET J awards. “One of biggest things I’ve learned in the business is to have patience,” he says.

But with success came a new challenge; the strain on his personal relationships. He doesn’t see his mom or his two sons, ages four and two, as much as he would like, but the trade-off is having a job he loves and doing it his way.

“I enjoy what I do. I think some artists, if you don’t write your own songs or have the right team around you, then you are stuck being a robot,” he says.

DeVaughn is just now getting into producing and he regrets not learning to play a range of musical instruments at a young age. But he figures there is still time to learn as he recently did shooting a film about Chess Records, in which he plays the role of blues singer, Andrew Tibbs.

“It gives you the opportunity to be somebody else and it was like a history lesson at the same time,” he says of the experience.

For now, though, he’s all about spreading his message, something he believes is the goal of music whether artists like it or not. On this album, DeVaughn professes to take it “from the pulpit to the bedroom.” He assembled a team of artists ranging from Atlanta’s own Ludacris to Phil Adé, a new artist on DeVaughn’s label. Even Princeton professor Cornel West loaned his voice to the album’s poetic interludes.

For one song, “Nobody Wins a War,” DeVaughn corralled Jill Scott, Anthony Hamilton, Ledisi and other stellar artists for his version of “We are the World.”

“I thought I would do it myself, but felt it would be bigger if different artists were singing every line,” he says.

Just as important as the mega peace anthem are the songs about black love, he said, such as “I Don’t Care,” and “The Greatness.”

“I have two sons now. I stepped up my game as a black man trying to be a better person and finding new ways to tell the story, the plight of the black man,” DeVaughn says.

Right now, this black man needs mayo for his sandwich and has to chat with a producer from the Mo'Nique Show, who asks if there is anything he doesn’t want to talk about during the interview — not likely, for such an outspoken and uncompromising artist.

“It’s easy to talk about b.s. It’s not so easy to channel [your art]. We live in a world that is very fast-paced, everything is cookie cutter," he says. "The only thing I want people to duplicate is the positive.”