Tyrese Darnell Gibson

R&B singer Tyrese began his career at the age of 14, performing in local talent shows around his home in Los Angeles' Watts section; his big break came when he starred in a commercial for Coca-Cola, shortly followed in 1998 by his self-titled debut album for RCA. He followed three years later with 2000 Watts.

Confident, self-assured yet down-to-earth and always real, Los Angeles native Tyrese is referring to the sizzling cuts on his much-anticipated J Records debut album I WANNA GO THERE, an electrifying follow-up to his best-selling 2001 release, "2000 Watts." Speaking from Florida where he's been hard at work completing the album and wrapping up filming for the action movie "The Fast and The Furious II" (due out in the summer of 2003), the passionately soulful singer says, "Every album is a listening biography for me. I have no choice but to pour my heart into the music. If I just went through something, I write about it. I'm a great listener. If a woman is talking about a situation she's been in, I can embrace her feelings, understand what she might be going through. I like getting to know people and just one conversation can inspire me to write a song." Jam-packed with potential hits, I WANNA GO THERE features a number of cuts Tyrese created with the hitmaking team of Damon Thomas and Harvey Mason Jr., known collectively as The Underdogs (who also worked with him on "2000 Watts") including the hypnotic first single, "How You Gonna Act Like That". "That song is about a past relationship. It's about temper tantrums, you know... but it's about working it all out. I think the subject is something everyone can relate to... and like everything else on the album, I put my heart and soul into it." The album features a cover of the late Tupac Shakur's 1996 duet with Ki-Ci and JoJo "How Do You Want It," produced by Johnny Jackson who also produced the original version of the song. Other prime cuts on the new CD include "Down and Dirty," produced by Jermaine Dupri, which Tyrese describes as a "club record"; "South Beach," produced by Jack Knight; and "Taking Forever," produced by The Trackmasters which Tyrese states "is another song based on my experience in life and particularly how I felt before I had a record deal."

CD's

TYRESE 3 / 5

I WANNA GO THERE 3.75 / 5
2000 WATTS 3.5 / 5