Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Soul Sista

Jully Black is wearing Canada’s R&B crown with pride Who: Jully Black Where: Garfinkel’s When: Wednesday, June 25 They say it takes 10 years to become an overnight sensation and Jully Black – Canada’s First Lady of Soul –

Jully Black is wearing Canada’s R&B crown with pride

Who: Jully Black

Where: Garfinkel’s

When: Wednesday, June 25

They say it takes 10 years to become an overnight sensation and Jully Black – Canada’s First Lady of Soul – is definitely testament to that. The sensual and super smart goddess of Toronto’s R&B urban community has been doing business with names like Shaggy, Dan Hill, Destiny’s Child and even appearing on a compilation alongside fellow soul sisters Angie Stone, Jill Scott and Mary J. Blige.

Well known on the Canadian urban scene for her hip hop collaborations with Choclair, Kardinall Offishall and Saukrates, it wasn’t long before the movers and shakers on the major labels started sniffing. She was snapped up by MCA Records, which promptly took her off to see their stable of successful producers and songwriters.

However Black was no manufactured pop princess looking to be a one-hit wonder. She’d been writing and singing for a lot longer than her youthful looks would suggest. The 25-year-old beauty stood her ground, equating the early days of making her debut album with being on blind dates.

"I was sent to writing teams that had bunches of songs all ready for me but I didn’t know these people, they didn’t know me. I didn’t feel comfortable with the songs and it just didn’t feel right. It’s so much easier to sing with conviction when you write your own words and work with people you’re comfortable with."

Black decided to trick the label into trusting her ability. She wrote a song and performed it for them – without telling them it was her work.

"They loved it and they finally got me. I’ve now written on 10 of the album’s songs, with the other four written for me by people who heard my music and spent a couple of days vibing with me to understand where I was coming from," she said.

Enter a mix of old friends, producers and co-writers, including DJ Nastee, Little Stevie (B2K), Saukrates, and Megahertz, plus a track called Material Things, featuring U.S. rapper Nas, and the product is something she’s damn proud of.

Her debut album, I Travelled, is due out in September.

Pique:

What does I Travelled mean to you?

JB:

It’s the title track I wrote for my mom. I’ve come a long way to get to this point and my mom came from Jamaica to make a life here in Canada for our family of nine. I’ve since travelled a lot myself and have been singing and songwriting for over 10 years. It’s also about the journey from girlhood to womanhood.

Pique

: Would you say that the major labels are now opening their eyes to more Canadian black female talent?

JB:

Just talent period, yes definitely. I feel like I’m a pioneer for the urban community and I’m not turning down any opportunities that come my way to help pave the way for the next generation. I like to introduce upcoming artists and speak at schools to the kids about literacy and the importance of a good education. My mom came here to make a life for her kids and it wouldn’t make sense to not continue her journey and end the struggle. It’s really tough migrating from another country and knowledge is power.

Pique

: I believe you wrote a song for Destiny’s Child.

JB:

It’s called I Know. I wrote it on my guitar, demoed it and a friend of mine who’s part of Soul Diggaz and Missy Elliot’s camp got it to Beyonce. She liked it for herself but decided it would be perfect for the girls to do as a reunion type song. The subject matter is real, it’s one of those uplifting songs that has a "don’t let anything get the best of you and I know what you’re going through" type of vibe. Beyonce’s starring in a movie with Cuba Gooding Jr. called Fighting Temptations and that’s what they recorded it for, so I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that it makes the soundtrack album. They’ve recorded it, it’s mixed, it’s mastered, let’s just hope politics don’t get in the way.

Pique:

I saw you have a song on the Brown Sugar CD, with Angie Stone, Jill Scott, Mary J. Blige and lots of other big names in the R&B, soul world. What was that like for you?

JB:

That was a major accomplishment for me. It was the first major release I was on as myself not as someone else featuring Jully Black. I felt like I’d graduated from university or something. It was that big for me. As far as I know, I was the first Canadian in the R&B world to appear on such a high-end compilation. My mom can look at it and be proud and it’ll be something my kids will be able to find, even if it’s in the bargain bin for $1.99 in 20 years time.

Pique

: You have such a sexy, sultry voice but I believe you had a very unsexy job for a while as a bouncer.

JB:

My ex-boyfriend had a security company so I’d work the door of this club for a while but I got out of that game real quick when somebody got shot right beside me. But if it wasn’t for that job, I wouldn’t even be in the music industry. The first manager I ever had met me on stage at the club where I was working the door. He was up going, "Is there any talent in the house?" and I was at the door still searching people. But I asked the boss if I could go up and he said, "yeah, sure." And so I got up, sang this little jingle that I wrote called Underqualified, which was just a little tacky teenage song. But this guy said he wanted to manage me and took me to New York where I got my first record deal. It since fell through the cracks but it all started from there.

Pique

: You returned to Toronto soon after, where it’s taken you another five years or so to get another record deal. Did the first deal fall-out bother you?

JB:

Not at all, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. If that had worked out, I wouldn’t be around today. No way. It was a dictatorship, my voice wasn’t developed, and just being so young you know I hate to think about all the drama I probably would have gone through.

Catch Jully Black and her full five-piece band at Garfinkel’s next Wednesday, June 25. Tickets are $10 in advance, more on the night. Doors open 9 p.m., show starts 10 p.m. Ph: 604-932-2323.