Grammy-winning R&B singer Monica is set to release her long-awaited country album Open Roads later this year after years of delays. She first started discussing the Brandi Carlile-produced project in 2022.
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She announced the album while letting the world know that she has once again signed with WME. “I’m truly excited about this full circle moment to reconnect with WME since that’s where it all started for me with my debut album, Miss Thang,” she shared in a statement. The statement also confirmed that her new R&B album MDA and her country album Open Roads are set for release later this year.
Monica on Her Country Album
In a 2022 conversation with Entertainment Tonight, Monica revealed that she has always loved country music. When she was young, she would sing country songs. However, others would tell her “That’s not what you do.” In recent years, she stopped listening to those people.
“I realized there are no limitations to what we can do and Brandi Carlile told me, ‘Monica, stop waiting and I will help you.’ Since then, we have been working nonstop,” the Grammy winner told the publication.
In a 2020 interview with Sirius XM, Monica talked about her desire to record a country album. She also revealed that she’d never leave R&B behind. “I don’t want to be in a box in any form. I speak about what I lived but there are many ways to speak about it,” she explained. “So, if I really started to move in that direction—not to leave or forsake R&B, ever. That would always be the base and foundation. My goal is to really create a record first and see how it is really received,” she added.
“I would want it to be well-written and very well sang. I would want it to be produced by someone that would be hard on me, not be afraid of me,” she said of the future project.
Monica’s second album ‘The Boy Is Mine’, which was released in 1998, remains her best-performing release to date. “Angel of Mine”, “The Boy Is Mine”, and “The First Night” all notched appearances on the Billboard Hot 100. She’ll look to find similar success with her venture into the country scene later this year.
Featured Image by Photo by Derek White/WireImage
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