Heather Headley

By Keith Boykin, in music
Wednesday, October 30 2002, 6:00AM

Heather Headley's debut CD, This Is Who I Am, lets you have it. With songs that teeter between romantic triumph and confused love, she sounds as much a wronged woman as a joyful lover.

Right out the box, she comes at you with her hit single "He Is," and immediately you know she's not playing. I don't know who "He" is, but when Heather sings about him, I want to know.

I have to give props to song writers Joshua Nile and V. Jeffrey Smith for creating this lead song, but Headley breathes life into it with enough passion to make you believe it. He is, after all, "the mind injector, the heart protector, the soul defender of anything I fear."

The followup song, "Nature of A Man," begins with a J-Lo sounding cadence that rolls smoothly into an R&B chorus with Shanice and Gabrielle Lauder on background vocals. I have to admit I didn't like the song "Fallin' For You" the first couple of times I heard it, but that's mostly because it includes a reggae rap that I found unnecessary. But it's a radio-friendly song that will no doubt climb the charts on its own.

The Wronged Woman

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis team up for the mellow "I Wish I Wasn't," a wonderful ballad about being in love with someone who doesn't respect you. "I wish I wasn't in love with you so you couldn't hurt me," Heather sings. I can definitely relate to that. And I think this song is the sleeper hit of the entire CD as Headley's voice sparkles with polished clarity over a soft instrumental background.

Headley follows the vulnerability displayed in "I Wish I Wasn't" with a more empowering and soulful song, "Fulltime." Rather than pining for her man's love, this time she sings "if he ain't man enough" to see that love is fulltime then "you gotta roll gotta go gotta leave." Appropriately, Headley's voice sounds deeper and wiser in this song than in the one before, evoking more of Angie Stone than Celine Dion.

With a funky, finger snapping, harmonica playing sound, "Like Ya Use To" delivers the old "you don't bring me flowers anymore" message with a whole new flavor. In contrast, "Always Been Your Girl" uses Deborah Cox's words and background vocals for a fingerpointing accusation to a cheating man.

I guess Deborah Cox still hasn't gotten over the one that got away because this song is just like "Same Script, Different Cast." It's Whitney and Deborah again without Whitney. Instead of arguing with the other woman, Heather takes it directly to the man.

"Sunday," another song co-written by Headley, borrows a trick from Craig David's last CD and counts off the days of the week to a hit song. Similarly, "Four Words From A Heartbreak" shows us Heather on Monday when "I was your everything" and lets her down on Tuesday when "you had news to bring." It's a beautiful song, with touching lyrics and an emotionally charged arrangement.

"Sista Girl," also co-written by Headley, seems a personal message from the singer to young girls not to let men take advantage of them. Headley tells them to "hold on" and "be strong" or else a night of passion could end up as a lifetime commitment.

The Triumphant Romantic

When so much of our popular music is disposable, Heather Headley has different objectives with her CD. "I want this to be an album people can listen to now and ten years from now," she says on her website, "something that can exhilarate people and help them through these uncertain times." She delivers.

In "Why Should I Cry," Headley is again hurt by love, but this time she seems ready to move on. And Headley saves the best for last, with the song "If It Wasn't For Your Love." This Celine Dion-style tune, co-written by New York's own Gordon Chambers, is a melodic thank you note for the love of someone who believed in her when her dreams were still just dreams.

"And finally I see, how it feels to live a dream," she sings, "but would I have touched the sky, ever flown so high, no not I, if it wasn't for your love."

Already well known to Broadway audiences, Headley is a Tony Award winning singer who starred in "The Lion King" and "Aida." But with this new CD, she will be living more of her dreams as a top R&B artist for years to come.

© Copyright 2002 by Keith Boykin.

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