J. Holiday doesn’t pull any punches when he offers his take on the current state of R&B. “Rhythm and Blues is lacking storytellers right now,” insists the candid 22-year-old singer/songwriter. Holiday then pauses, name checks the late legendary singer Otis Redding as if to show his soul credentials and asks, “Where’s our generations’ ‘Sitting on the Dock of the Bay?’ Lately, it seems hip-hop has been birthing all of the great storytellers. It’s time to show that R&B is way more than just dance music. That’s what I’m trying to convey with my music. I won’t settle for less.”

While such a statement may seem like a bold proclamation from the fresh-faced newcomer, the Washington D.C. native more than backs it up with his debut album, Back of My Lac. The buzz-heavy Music Line Group/Capitol Records release spotlights a burgeoning talent whose diverse influences range from the heartfelt soul of Marvin Gaye to the provocative street poetry of rap icon Tupac Shakur. “My sound is old school soul with a little mix of hip-hop,” explains Holiday. “If I had to give it a name I would call it ‘street soul.’ Nowadays the ‘hood has little to listen to within R&B. I want my music to be the soundtrack to their lives and beyond.”

Indeed, an ambitious J. Holiday is poised to live up to such lofty aspirations. The hypnotic first-single “Be with Me,” produced by Rodney Jerkins, finds Holiday offering the age-old tale of a man wanting to be more than just friends with the object of his affections. “You be giving me the coldest shoulder/‘cause you don’t want your emotions taking over,” he croons. “Instead of talking about you looking for a soldier/are you trying to say you don’t see that in me?” On the title track “Back Of My Lac,” J. Holiday gives listeners a glimpse of his life struggles with heartfelt lines like “I grew up in a house with my mother/I didn’t have my punk ass father/because he felt it was time to move on.”

“Without You” builds on a 70’s groove complete with soulful horns and lush strings as Holiday pushes to win back the love of a woman he’s lost. The bass-heavy hardened blues of “City Boy” (featuring dirty south rhyme royalty 8 Ball & MJG) is a two-fisted anthem of ghetto empowerment. And on “Thug Commandments,” Holiday is backed by a swinging, piano-driven break beat as he drops much-needed jewels for the block: “Stop cuffing that young girl, let her breathe/Be a father to your kids…no doo-rags in the Lord’s house/Put trust in the Lord, but keep a glock in the house.” For Holiday, such songwriting comes naturally for a young man who has never forgotten his humble beginnings.

“I can say that I’ve lived that street life,” he testifies of his time growing up in Washington D.C. “The streets are not anything to glamorize. I’m trying to let my people back home know that I’m with them. DC has a lot of talent and I’m just trying to show people that we are here.”

J. Holiday is a preachers’ son. Raised in the church by a hardworking mother, the pull of secular music was still too much for him to ignore. Fascinated by the early ‘90s R&B vocal groups such as Boyz II Men, H-Town and Jodeci, J. Holiday soon became enamored with hip-hop, marveling in the intricate rhymes of Jay-Z and OutKast. But it was during a high school talent show when a 14-year-old Holiday knew he had a passion for singing. However, local bands were unable to recruit the budding vocalist, whose mother had plans for her son to finish school before seriously pursuing music. Two years later, J. Holiday would discover the music of Marvin Gaye, an experience he calls a “revelation.”

“At the time, I didn’t really know that much about him,” he says of the late soul icon. “Marvin became my major influence. He opened me up to folks like Donny Hathaway and Al Green. Those artists had a real honest soul about them. I just wanted to mix that feeling with hip-hop.”

The gifted vocalist had found his calling. Holiday skipped college and began recording demos in a local studio. He also found himself increasingly caught up in street activities, but music offered a more positive path. Soon, Holiday met up with current manager Corey Green and formed the group 295, named after the D.C. highway. Buzz for 295 was growing but by 2003 the R&B act disbanded. Fortunately for J. Holiday, his vocal prowess and dynamic stage presence was too much of a commodity to pass up. A&R veteran, Anthony “T.A” Tate, of Music Line Group (Ciara, Teairra Marie) quickly set up a meeting with Capitol Records and a deal was made on the spot.

“You just have to stay true to yourself,” Holiday says of his turbulent journey to becoming a recording artist. “A lot of artists nowadays are trying to be something that they are necessarily not. I don’t care how good a song is…if I don’t feel it personally, I’m not going to sing it because it’s not true to me. I feel very personal about my album. There’s nothing fake about it. This is my life. There are a lot of different stories out here and people just need to listen to them.”

SE (Seven): J. Holiday! What’s up? Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today.

J. Holiday: Definitely! Not a problem.

SE (Seven): OK, so you have your debut album coming out later this year, entitled Back of My ‘Lac, is that correct?

J. Holiday: Yeah, we still trying to set up a date, man. We’re shooting for the spring, early summer right now.

SE (Seven): OK. Now the first single off the new album is called “Be With Me”, which is produced by Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins. How did the two of you hook up?

J. Holiday: Actually I did a song - me and the guy that wrote that song together, Donny [Adonis] Shropshire - we did a song in Atlanta to another Rodney track that is going to be my album called “Without You” and [Rodney] heard it and he was just like, “man, I want to get him up here and do something specifically for him”, because that other track wasn’t specifically made for me. So we flew up to Atlantic City and hooked up with him and he made something specifically for me right there on the spot and that’s how we got “Be With Me.”

SE (Seven): So how was the experience of working with him? It’s Rodney Jerkins! I mean that’s major so I’m assuming there’s a lot of pressure when you’re working with someone that talented.

J. Holiday: Man, it was amazing! It was like sitting in front of a great. You know all I could do was learn. I mean, I was in there working, but I was probably learning more than anything.

SE (Seven): Now you’re originally from Washington D.C., right?

J. Holiday: Yeah, D.C. is home.

SE (Seven): OK, because when I first saw your video for “Be With Me,” Ben’s Chili Bowl stood out for me. And I remember that was one of the first places we hit up when I first visited D.C. So I’m curious to know: what part of D.C. did you grow up in?

J. Holiday: I grew up pretty much all over the area. I’ve lived in the suburbs and all of that, but I spent a lot of my time in southeast and a little bit in uptown. But a lot of my homeboys and a lot of my girlfriends, growing up, stayed in southeast. So that’s where I spent a lot of my time.

SE (Seven): You made an interesting comment in another interview and I wanted to ask you to expound on that. You mentioned how you felt R&B music is missing the element of storytelling and how you want to bring that element back to R&B music. What is it about the R&B music scene today that makes you feel so strongly about the lack of storytelling?

J. Holiday: Well, when I say storytelling, I am basically saying that I think the passion is lacking and when you start losing passion for what you are doing then you aren’t necessarily....it’s not real anymore, you know? Then you just get to writing songs, good songs, that don’t really relate to anybody. They’re just good songs and that’s it, you know? Like there’s a lot of great songs out there right now but I don’t feel like there’s any passion to where I can believe the story that’s in that song, you know what I’m saying?

SE (Seven): Right. Now the comparisons have already begun, people comparing you to the likes of everyone from Trey Songz to Mario to R. Kelly. As a new artist, how do you handle these comparisons?

J. Holiday: Well, actually I enjoy it because it’s good being compared to somebody who’s out there and already doing their thing. So that means I’m on the right path. I don’t really let the comparisons bother me.

SE (Seven): As a new artist, do you feel the need to differentiate yourself from the other male R&B acts that are currently out right now?

J. Holiday: I just try to let my music speak for itself. I feel as though when people hear my songs, they’re not going to associate me with the R&B artists that are out right now, you know? I mean, I don’t dance...I can’t dance so I just don’t. And I think a lot of artists use that as a gimmick and I feel that is one thing that is going to set me apart from a lot of other acts.

SE (Seven): Do you believe that your life experiences have helped to shape your music?

J. Holiday: Of course! My mom is a preacher and I lost my dad when I was young. I guess that probably had the biggest effect on me because a lot of the things I ended up learning in life, I had to learn on my own. By my mom being a preacher, there was certain things I just couldn’t talk to her about.

SE (Seven): Right. That's definitely understandable.

J. Holiday: It was like trial and error basically and I try to put everything that I’ve been through in my music. So I would say that would probably be the thing that affects my life and my music the most.

SE (Seven): Now in addition to singing, do you have any other talents, music or non-music related?

J. Holiday: I draw. I do that all the time and I write. I get into the little spoken word thing a little bit. I just like getting my emotions and my feelings out. So however I can do that, that’s how I do it - whether it be drawing or whatever. I’m trying to learn a couple instruments but I haven’t really focused in on that yet.

SE (Seven): What are some of your favorite tracks off of your album?

J. Holiday: My favorite track off of there would probably have to be…of course “Back of My ‘Lac”, a song called “Ghetto”, and there’s another song called “Thug’s Lyrics.” That’s another one of my favorites.

SE (Seven): Though you’re still fresh to the entertainment industry, based on your experiences so far, what would you say are some of the positive and negative aspects of the entertainment industry?

J. Holiday: Well, I always say people have to have tough skin to do this. One of my things that I’ve always gone through is just all the politics and the B.S. There’s a lot of behind the scenes stuff that people don’t see. It can be stressful but that’s part of the game. That’s what I signed up for. But, of course, there are good things like the performing. I love performing. That’s probably the biggest upside. Just touching some of the same stages of people that I watched sing on.

SE (Seven): Speaking of performing, are there any tour plans for this album?

J. Holiday: Definitely. I’m actually on a promo tour right now. I’m trying to get on this tour with Robin Thicke. I’m opening up for him a couple of dates this month so if that goes good, maybe I’ll jump on the tour with him. But I’m definitely going on tour for the album. You know I gotta do that! I’m a live band type of person so it’s I gotta get out there and let the people really feel my music.

SE (Seven): We definitely need to see more of that return to live bands and performances. That’s something that we’ve seen diminish over the years, especially on the R&B scene, so it’s good that you’re trying to bring that back. Now aside from yourself and Rodney Jerkins, who else do you have lined up for this album?

J. Holiday: I worked with Sean Garrett, State of Emergency, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Kawan, my homeboy Quincy with Black Music Productions - he’s from D.C. Adonis did some production on the album and some of the writers like The Clutch. I worked with Co-Stars too. I wrote the majority of the material on my album, so as for writers, I don’t have too many writers on the album. But I got The Clutch on there, Adonis, Big Jasper…don’t let me forget Big Jasper.

SE (Seven): (Laughs) Other than your own music, what other artists are you currently listening to?

J. Holiday: Well, I always keep the old school in rotation. You know, the Marvin Gaye and Donny Hathaway. I’m listening to a little bit of Pac and a little bit of Biggie. But right now, probably the only artist that I’m listening to is Robin Thicke.

SE (Seven): OK. He’s amazing!

J. Holiday: He’s got a lot of that same feeling in his music that I have in my music and I can tell we have a lot of the same influences. But other than that, I feel that everything is so oversaturated. Everybody is trying to do the same thing.

SE (Seven): Yeah that is true, very true. You mentioned earlier that your mother was a preacher. What was her reaction to you doing secular music?

J. Holiday: She always said that she wouldn’t mind what I did as long as I stayed positive. I’m not out here sending any negative messages and that’s been another one of my problems with music. I feel like they’re sending out the wrong messages. There’s nothing wrong with it, but I just can’t glorify and praise the money, the women, the cars and all the stuff that ain’t gonna mean nothing when it’s gone. And there are a lot of kids that are watching and listening. So I just try to stay positive. I always talk about my life. There may be some things in my life that some people may not agree with, but I’m not trying to force my opinions on anybody, you know? I’m just talking about my life. But, yeah, she’s cool with it.

SE (Seven): Before we conclude, do you have any last words for your fans?

J. Holiday: Just support ya boy and rock with me, man. I’m going to bring something positive and I’m gonna always make sure it stays hot. And anybody who is trying to do this, just make sure you have tough skin because there’s a lot of craziness that goes on so you gotta have tough skin to deal with a lot of folks that’s in this business. But other than that, just stay true and it will happen eventually. You’ll make it happen for yourself.