The Lyfe Jennings album preview for I Still Believe, was held at the Canal Room in NYC last night. The album, supposedly his last is supposed to hit stores on August 31^st. People of all kinds flooded the club, all awaiting one thing and when Lyfe finally did bless the stage, somehow all the differences noticed in the crowd before were immediately erased. His voice seemed to still the crowd, putting everyone at full attention.

He started with his first number one hit ever, “Must Be Nice,” which sent the audience back into time as they sang along to the hood love tale. He then gave a snippet of the unforgettable hit “S.E.X.” that encouraged young girls to wait to lose their innocence and recognize their beauty. The last existing hit that he blessed the crowd with was “Never Never Land,” another crowd favorite.

If you’ve heard his previous albums and have experienced his well known spiritual core, you would know to expect more message filled music from this guy and that’s exactly what you’ll get from I Still Believe. The first new joint off the album he performed was the single, “Statistics,” a song again aimed at young girls, this time telling them what kind of chance they have to find the good 10% of men left, while giving the ladies rules to follow (respecting themselves) in order to really do so. The crowd really took to this song; the ladies seemed to be appreciative of the love. He joked about being bashed by the fellas for selling them out but let the crowd know the seriousness he held for the topic.

The next track, “If Tomorrow Never Comes,” took the audience to a different place, and left them watery eyed. The message in this song was to appreciate your loved ones and to not bicker over the little things. Because if tomorrow never comes, none of what was wrong will matter anymore. Throughout these knowledge bearing tunes Lyfe managed to keep the crowd at smiles, throwing jokes out every now and then to keep the mood light. This was a heavy one though and the crowd took heed.

The last song he performed was “It Could’ve Been Worse,” another heavy hitter. In this spiritual melody, he stressed to be grateful. To thank God for the small things because there’s someone out there that lost everything. It reminded you to remember that you still have a chance no matter what hardships you may be facing.

Everything Lyfe sang or said gained added value from his male and female backup singers as well as his pianist. His words and presence held strength, knowledge and sincerity. There’s a lot of music that’s made for the club, to stay at the club, but Lyfe insisted on giving his supporters music they could carry home from the club. You can expect Lyfe Jennings album, I Still Believe to be an uplifting array of music, which will have a lasting effect on the hip-hop community and urban society.

Images by Christian Ortiz for Parlé Magazine

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