“I think the success of the first album opened the door to where the label almost didn’t even want to be involved in the second album,” Kenny Lattimore reflects over a video call with Rated R&B. “I think that they felt like the team that I had created had some kind of magic and had something that was really special that they wanted to stay out of the way of.”
Following his stint as lead vocalist in the short-lived R&B group Maniquin, the Washington, D.C. native embarked on his solo career. In May 1996, Lattimore released his self-titled debut album on Columbia Records, which put him on the map.
The gold-selling album spawned Lattimore’s timeless classic “For You.” The endearing ballad, written by Kenny Lerum, spent 17 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart. It scored Lattimore a Grammy nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 40th Grammy Awards in 1998.
Lattimore’s debut album quickly solidified him as a promising act in the R&B realm. Before the classically trained vocalist began work on his second album, he contributed to the Love Jones soundtrack (“Can’t Get Enough”).
He recorded it at A Touch of Jazz, the Philadelphia-based studio and production company helmed by DJ Jazzy Jeff.
“Can’t Get Enough” was produced by a then-budding, in-house producer Carvin Haggins. Lattimore was no stranger to the studio company, though. He had previously recorded his 1996 single “Never Too Busy,” from his self-titled album, at that studio.
Building a rapport with the Touch of Jazz production team was quite organic for Lattimore. “We had been having so much fun making music, getting to know each other, and sometimes just hanging out,” he recalls.
Their growing fellowship sparked an idea in Lattimore’s mind. “I was having a great time forging a relationship with them. When we went through the process of doing ‘Can’t Get Enough,’ the light bulb went off and I said, ‘Why can’t we keep doing this? I think that they should do this next album.’”
When it was time to work on Lattimore’s second album, he recalls his label giving him more creative leeway “somewhere in the middle” of the process.
“I started working on the album and turning in songs. I started getting the head nod. Like, ‘Wow. This is a surprise. We didn’t think you’d go in this direction,’” he shares. “Some of the songs didn’t make the album. Some of the songs they resisted and said, ‘We don’t understand this.’ It just depended on whatever the vibe was.”
Lattimore continues, “The label was also in transition. So it was a really difficult time [because] I’m fairly a brand-new artist. All of a sudden, you’ve given me autonomy and said, ‘Hey, do this album.’ You were pretty much just giving me head nods as a label with regard to things that I’m turning in. But after a while, it felt like, ‘Kenny, you’re on your own” (laughs).
Lattimore took the creative liberty to his advantage. For his second album, he wanted to explore conversations and topics at a deeper level than his debut.
“Not having those boundaries on me allowed me to come from my heart and be authentically me,” he states. “I wanted to say things that we didn’t always say as men, or maybe we didn’t know how to say. I grew up deathly shy and wanted to let the world know that music became a part of me having a voice. Music was like the blood pumping through my veins, and it helped me to communicate who I was.”
While Lattimore had an idea of the direction he wanted to take, he credits his team for helping him see that vision.
“I thank God that I was with Colin Gayle, my manager at the time, who was fantastic. There was another guy named Tony Rice, who was managing me with Colin. My A&R director, Matt Jones, was still there with me. His incredibly talented brother, Kipper Jones, was writing the songs. He had done ‘Never Too Busy’ and a lot of songs on the first album. I felt like I still had my dream team in place. [They] understood what we wanted to do conceptually and wanted the album to be something that stood out.”
Lattimore’s debut album was filled with heartwarming songs that navigate the upside of love. The lead single, “Never Too Busy,” is Lattimore’s declaration that his schedule will always remain free for his lover. On the appropriately titled “Joy,” he vows to brighten a potential partner’s day over a mood-boosting production.
His now-signature song “For You” beautifully articulates the feeling of being in love. Even when things get rough on tracks like “Forgiveness,” he prefers to work through the misunderstandings instead of breaking away.
Lattimore’s second album, From the Soul of Man, offers a deeper meditation on nuanced perspectives on love, life, and relationships. He reveals that his manager, Colin Gayle, was a significant influence in helping set the album’s direction.
“Colin was very intentional about making things important,” Lattimore asserts. “From the Soul of Man was originally supposed to [an] album and [a] book on relationships. It was supposed to be a much bigger project, but in ‘98, people didn’t understand it. He saw something greater, and he saw the platform. When we would do interviews, he would study those interviews and be like, ‘Kenny, this is what you’re talking about. Maybe you should be speaking about relationships on another level so that it’s not just about the music, but the depth of who you are as a man.’”
Lattimore adds, “He saw those things before I could ever see them. In terms of why we started to get into this deep thing about men’s emotions, it was through a conversation with him. He challenged me.”
Lattimore’s sophomore album, From the Soul of Man, was released Oct. 20, 1998, via Columbia Records. To commemorate the album’s 25th anniversary, Lattimore shares the story behind select tracks and reflects on where the album stands today.
Co-produced by Vidal Davis and Lattimore, “Days Like This” tackles the insecurities one may feel in a relationship. It’s conversational, yet introspective. Throughout the five-minute track, Lattimore assures his lover that she isn’t the problem, while he also tries to understand why he gets those feelings. “This is the time that I love you the most / But I gotta win this war inside of me,” he croons.
KENNY LATTIMORE: I remember writing “Days Like This” with that whole idea of, “Tap into your emotions about things that you felt.” I was like, “Well, I felt scared at times. My emotions are playing with and I wanna give up, but I can’t forget these — and I just started writing.
“Days Like This” was the album’s lead single. While the song didn’t eclipse the success of “For You,” the final single of his self-titled album, it peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart. (“For You” spent 17 weeks at No. 1 on this chart in 1997.)
It was strictly about the sound and the wave that we were on. It felt like a song that could possibly cut through anywhere we wanted it to go because it didn’t sound like anybody else at the time. I think that was the plan from the A&R side. What people don’t realize is you have A&R and then you have promotion — totally different department. So when you go, “I think this is the cutting edge song. This defines the album.” You give it to promotion and promotion goes, “Hmm. It doesn’t sound like anything else that we need it to sound like.” I didn’t want it to sound like anything else.
Unfortunately, we were not in sync with [the] promotion [department]. They wanted my [first] single to sound like “For You” or something like a follow-up. And that was the smart way to market an artist, but we chose [“Days Like This”] strictly from a creative, A&R standpoint. We wanted things that were going to keep me separated from the pack. I didn’t realize that we were growing into an age where they wanted the artists to roll in the pack.
On the Diane Warren-penned “All of My Tomorrows,” Lattimore serenades his lover with heartwarming lyrics about spending the rest of their life together. “All my tomorrows, they’re all for you,” he passionately sings.
KENNY LATTIMORE: “All My Tomorrows” is a humongous hit when I go to South Africa, in particular. I love it because you you see the power of a song in that moment. “All My Tomorrows” was definitely the “For You” follow-up. I think at that time, the label thought it was corny. It was totally the purpose and why we did it. I thought, ‘Well, if nothing else, they’re gonna do ‘Days Like This,’ and then maybe they’ll come back with ‘All My Tomorrows.’” After “Days Like This” did not commercially connect, things were kind of out of my hands.
On “Trial Separation,” Lattimore explores the idea of two lovers taking a break from each other, which hopefully will rekindle their connection. He co-wrote the song with Kipper Jones and the song’s producer Vidal Davis.
KENNY LATTIMORE: “Trial Separation” was hard for me because I never sang a sad song. “Trial Separation” was important because it was a conversation I was having with Kipper Jones. He said, “I have this idea. Have you ever heard of about trial separations?” And we were like, “Oh, yeah. When people go apart and try to see if it works out.” So I was like, “Kipper, tell me about your idea.” It was [us] having a conversation. He went into this whole thing about how we’re trying, but we’re not quite working out. Maybe if we separate, we can take a good look at saving things. And that was the part that was me. I always had this positive spin that I wanted to put on every song. That was the gospel side of me. Everybody adhered to that. They respect it. As he wrote “Trial Separation,” we sat down, hashed out all those lyrics, and what would I authentically say. It just came back to I wanted to take a good look at saving what we had.
On the dreamy “Make Believe,” Lattimore hopes to turn his attraction to a woman into something more meaningful. However, she seems to not be on the same frequency as him. He sings: “My emotions say this is serious, but do you agree? Or am I living a fantasy?”
KENNY LATTIMORE: It was just one of those real songs that I was like, “I’m gonna tell a story as chill as I can about something that was happening at that time.” I wanted to be in a healthy relationship, and I thought I had found the person. She was kind of like, “Uh, I don’t know.” And I was like, “What? I don’t understand. I’m this big recording artist…” all the shallow stuff. You think of all the shallow stuff that attracts women. But what I loved was this woman was a very quality person and we’re still friends today. I had other issues. I hadn’t grown up. Just because I had a career did not make me a mature man to be in a relationship with. I just kept saying, “Gosh, I’ve never been in this position.” I felt like: “I’m fighting for this young lady, and she’s not feeling what I’m feeling.”
I went out to Tarrytown, New York. Barry Eastmond had a track that he was starting to work on. I had this lyric idea over here that I’m not good at make believing that I don’t want you. I’m not good at covering up things and trying to pretend. I want to be open. I want to have this mature relationship. [“Make Believe”] represented the things that I desired at that time, [but] I wasn’t ready for.
In this downcast ballad, Lattimore laments about a potential partner who moved on with her life after waiting for him to feel ready for a relationship. He knew that she was the one for him but he insisted on pursuing his career so he could get to a place where he could comfortably provide for her. “Now I’m living my dreams, but it ain’t nothing ‘cause you’re not with me,” he croons.
KENNY LATTIMORE: Andre Harris was sitting at the organ, doing something in the studio one day. And I said, “That’s ‘Tomorrow.’ That’s what it’s supposed to sound like.” It has a pain to it. It’s not totally melancholy, but the music just had a pain to it. I said, “That fits this lyric,” because the lyric came before the music on some of the songs, which is not how I did most of my albums. When we did From The Soul of Man, it was like I had written poetry and ideas, and I would take those ideas and match them with music, which is a completely different approach.
With production by DJ Jazzy Jeff, Lattimore delivers a faithful cover of Donny Hathaway’s classic from his final album, Extension of a Man.
KENNY LATTIMORE: This was my first remake. I felt like that song was the spirit of the album from the generation prior. It was almost like he was helping me make the statement. He was validating this need to tell these stories by telling his story that he had already sung. People may not know, but DJ Jazzy Jeff produced that song straight live. We didn’t want to deviate much from the original format. Lalah [Hathaway], her mom and people who embraced it meant the world to me. I wanted to give him the kind of tribute that his family and fans would say, “This kid is okay.” (laughs).
“Well Done,” a stirring deep cut, is Lattimore’s conversation with his Higher Power. On the gospel-tinged number, Lattimore hopes for his life’s journey to bring approval and satisfaction to Him. “Well Done” is easily one of the album’s most personal and moving songs.
KENNY LATTIMORE: Patrick [McClain], the gentleman who wrote the song with me, was sitting and playing the piano one day. I said, “I have an idea for this.” He was like, “Cool. Just write to it.” I started writing, and what came out of me was a gospel song. I felt kind of embarrassed at first to say that to Patrick because I’m thinking every writer that comes in here wants to know their song is going to be this big commercial smash. So apologetically, I went to him and said, “I’m hearing a gospel song with this.” He was like, “Ooh, I think that’s really cool.” And I was, “Wow. Okay!” The song was written within minutes. I thought about, “‘Well done.’ What a statement. ‘Well done’ at the end of an album. ‘Well done’ for my soul, and what do I want to say to God when I see him?’” It was so many different things that were going through my mind.
When “Well Done” was complete, Lattimore was presented with another gospel-leaning track — one that would become a critically acclaimed hit in the early 2000s by a new artist.
KENNY LATIMORE: There was a song that was written for me that I listened to the first time and said, “Hmm, it sounds almost like a gospel song.” But the way that the writer and performer were singing was really unorthodox. It had a different kind of style. [It] was the song “Love” by Musiq Soulchild that was written for me. I had my gospel song already, and I couldn’t hear me on it properly. I probably didn’t give it as much a shot because I had a “Well Done.”
But “Well Done” really is who Kenny is for real. “Love” had an element to it. I loved the statement of “Love” because it was broader. “Well Done” was just me and God. Me singing when the world’s not listening. It’s like being in a quiet space and you’re alone. “Well Done” encompasses the spirit [and] the type of song that made me who I am so that I could appreciate every moment and feel like I did what I came to do. I was happy singing “Well Done.” I knew that the ultimate statement was God had given me control to be able to do what I wanted to do musically at that particular time period. And I wanted Him to smile.
From the Soul of Man debuted at No. 15 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, a four-slot increase from his self-titled debut. While the album fell short of landing singles on the coveted Hot 100 chart, like its predecessor, it did produce two top 10 hits on the Adult R&B Airplay chart: “Days Like This” (No. 4 peak) and “If I Lose My Woman” (No. 10).
KENNY LATTIMORE: From the Soul of Man will always be one of my best works because it was made with such love, care and intention. It’s early Kenny Latimore figuring out Kenny Latimore. It’s me being vulnerable and talking about things that I didn’t always know how to express. It made me dig deep into who I was and say, for other men, “This is how we feel in our emotions.” Its purpose was fulfilled and I’m very happy that I made that album.
Stream Kenny Lattimore’s album From the Soul of Man below.