Many people know R&B Singer Sparkle from the Surviving R. Kelly documentary. Old heads like me, however, knew her from her “Be Careful” duet with him in the 90s.
I had the pleasure of speaking with her 7 years before the doc aired in 2012 on my Bold & Sugar blog while in college. She was as sweet as you’d expect, which was a huge relief for me.
I wanted to keep the conversation steered away from R. Kelly in this particular exchange. One: I was NOT ready to dive into that subject. Two: this was my first celebrity interview. I wanted to start slow.
Curious to know what we talked about? Read below.
DIMITRIUS:
You scored the big “Be Careful” hit as well as the Sparkle album. What did it all feel like at first?
SPARKLE:
It felt great, and I knew “Be Careful” was going to be something, but I didn’t know it was going to do as great as it did. Just in the studio with recording, you know, was just supposed to be a song just for me, and then you know, Robert [R. Kelly], being the genius that he is, said “This needs to be a duet. I need to put something on there.” So it came out as a great, great song.
DIMITRIUS:
Tell me about what’s happened since then you came out with your second album Told You So in 2000.
SPARKLE:
“It’s a Fact” was the first single off that, which I co-wrote, and I felt great about the album. I don’t know that the labels put enough umph behind it to let people know that there was a Sparkle second album. You know, some people don’t even know that I did a second album. But, you know, Motown Universal was my second home. The first one was Rockland Interscope.
DIMITRIUS:
So you worked with other artists like Mary J. Blige, Wyclef Jean, and Aaliyah. Is that correct?
SPARKLE:
Yeah, Aaliyah, it was her first CD. I did all her background. With Mary, I did one song with Robert. I did background on a song called “It’s On.” I did both of those albums under my birth name which is Stephanie. I enjoyed it. I love working with Aaliyah. She’s a sweetheart. And Mary is I love Mary. Love, love, love Mary.
DIMITRIUS:
Oh, that’s wonderful. So you have a new song out “So Bad.”
SPARKLE:
I hate tooting my own horn. I swear I do, but I mean God is all through this here project. I’m so thankful and grateful for my comeback, my new beginning as I would call it, and the song was called “So Bad.” And I mean vocally I’m in a different place, and I’m just giving it my all.
DIMITRIUS:
so I listened to it and I was like, wow, this is exactly what we need. Yeah, I do. I really do.
SPARKLE:
My voice was getting a little stronger. Yeah. Thank God. Yeah.
<Listen to the full interview below>