Keke Wyatt is currently riding high on the release of her 4th studio album, Rated Love. This weekend the singer took time out to pay tribute to the legendary gospel artists, The Clark Sisters during the Essence Festival. The Theatre Muse spoke with the singer earlier in the week about the tribute, her music career and her future plans.
What is your relationship with The Clark Sisters?
I run into them often. I feel like I already know them because I grew up on them. I feel like I know them already, but they feel like they know because of all of my music and being on TV, so we have one of those kinds of relationships.
You grew up singing in the church, how has that helped your love for music?
“That is my core and my root. Without a core and without a root, you really don’t have anything. With that I feel very blessed to grow up in the church and I’m still in the church, deep, heavy in the church, seriously. At the time growing up being a little mixed kid in Kentucky, sometimes I felt like church was the only place that I was understood. I felt like that was my outlet. I was very happy when I would go. It was very important to me.”
You play several instruments, how did you learn to play them?
“I had no formal training. Basically everything that I know I learned it at the church. My favorite instrument to play, I play the drums in the church and because I was a girl and everyone else playing was a boy they was like you’re a girl you can’t play the drums and I was like yes I can. Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I can’t play. I learned to play by ear from listening to my dad. I pick up a lot of stuff and play and I don’t know hey but I pick it up and I’m playing.”
Rated Love debuted on three Top 20 Billboard charts – No. 11 on R&B Albums, No. 16 on Independent Albums and No. 19 on the Top Hip Hop and R&B Albums charts. It was released in April.
Tell me about you album, Rated Love
“I pretty much wrote the whole thing. I love, love and the Bible speaks on love, that’s the biggest thing. It’s all about drilling love into your mind and into your heart. It’s in a relationship format and at the same time it’s based off of love. It’s like a personal journal.”
What else is on the horizon?
“It will be released in October, but I’m not at liberty to say what right now. Just know it will be interesting!”
You are an artist, but also a wife and mother. How do you juggle it all?
“It’s really not that hard. I just try to make it work. I come from a big family so . My mother’s father has 10 of them and then my mom she’s one of 9. It seems to work. Everybody has their own personality and everybofy has their own duty and I have big set and then the small set and the big set can help mommy with the small set. The kids are so smart, so its not that hard, really. When people have problems with a lot of children, it’s when they don’t know them all personally and recognize that there all their own little person. Its not hard. It really doesn’t seem like that many honestly; I love it! I thik my husband and I are done, but nobody is sick so if it were to happen we would be okay.”
KeKe Wyatt performs during The Clark Sisters tribute at Essence Festival in New Orleans on July 3. For infpormation on KeKe Wyatt, visit her Facebook fan page.
Access Granted Journal 