Her holiday album hits stores October 14, but Coko is already laying out concepts and songs for her sophomore gospel album due in 2009. And there’s one spot on the disc she’s saving for her old crew.
“SWV, they’ve agreed to join me on this next record, I feel like our bond is so much tighter than it’s been in years. We understand each other a lot more. We’ve sat and talked about a lot of things that happened and that went wrong, so I think it’s gonna be very good. I’m excited, ’cause it’s been some time since we’ve all been in the studio recording and singing together.”
While the trio’s split in the late 90’s seemed sudden to fans, Coko admits that her heart never really left gospel music.
“Even though we were doin’ it, having a good time, and were selling a lot of records, I just wasn’t happy. There was just like an empty hole, and it just seemed like nothing was working out. My mom was like ‘Well, you know what it is that you really need to do.’ And it took me to some time to really accept that, but once I accepted it, I realized where I’m supposed to be and what I’m supposed to be doing. I went back to gospel, gave my life back to Christ, and I’m much happier than I’ve been in a long time.”
SWV always had an around-the-way-girl appeal, and part of that may have come from their honesty about their individual struggles growing up – Taj with sexual abuse, LeeLee as a teenage mother, and Coko with her own rebellion and wildin’ out years as a kid in the Bronx. The now Virginia Beach-based singer hopes to draw from those experiences for her new music.
“I’m just trying to write about everyday life, you know, things that I’ve gone through. Just trynna reach the people out in the street and let them know that it’s a better way. I have a song that I wanna put on my album called “Ghetto Girl,” and it’s just about me growing up and how I made it out the ghetto. And how if I can do it, then you can do it too.”
via Milk
