Kipper Jones - Keep It Pushin’

The recent release of singer/songwriter Kipper Jones sophomore project, Keep It Pushin', eighteen years after his 1990 debut, Ordinary Love, underscores several recent music industry phenomena of note. Jones project highlights how these are the best and worst days for industry veteran artists and songwriters. Best, because the industry's democratization of music through Internet expansion has increased direct consumer access to artists and their downloadable creative goods, removing the labels as middlemen. This cultural shift has allowed successful, established songwriters like Jones to step out of the shadows of liner note celebrity onto a more public stage as a recording talent. A gifted, once maverick singer/songwriter dropped by a major label (Virgin Records) after releasing a critically-acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful debut, is exactly who this indie revolution should benefit. A quadruple threat, with production and arranger credits on peak projects for Boyz II Men, Brian McKnight and Chante Moore, should be even better primed for-and maybe even deserved of-greatness. Within such an idyllic context, with his proven skills and seasoning, Jones, should now be poised to become a recording star rather than sell star-making hits to others. After all, this is the same Kipper Jones who co-wrote Brandy's star-turning first hit, "Baby," and wrote Vanessa Williams into R&B history with the hits "The Right Stuff" and "Comfort Zone." And yet, the perfect industry storm matched with Jones's perfected talents has produced a sophomore project that delivers more rain than thunder. SOURCE OF THIS STORY