Rochester, New York native Tweet has had her fair share of heartache and pain. Like many artists before her she used her music as an outlet for that pain. Tweet's life is one that many can relate to. From her dark time of wanting to commit suicide to becoming a platinum selling R&B artist, she's been through it all. Now with the release of her second album It's Me Again the follow up to the successful Southern Hummingbird. Tweet is on a new mission to bring back the old school soul to R&B music. Tweet talks to MahoganyGirl about the new album, her friendship with Missy Elliot and her soulful mission.

MahoganyGirl: Hey Tweet.. How are you doing?
Tweet: I'm good.

MG: You're new album is about to drop...How does it feel to be back out there again?
T: I feel really good. I'm excited about it...I just feel blessed right now.

MG: Before we talk about the new album. Let's talk about "Southern Hummingbird". It was a good album with some strong topics and it went platinum but how did people respond to the heavy topics and the pain of dealing with thoughts of suicide?
T: I mean people come up to me saying that they wanted to commit suicide and my music saved them. I just think if you really went through some things in your life you understood where I was coming from.

MG: Like on "Smoking Cigarettes"...
T: Yeah. Sometimes when we lose things in our live are have problems we tend to pick up habits like smoking and eating and people relate to that... I think the singles that were released like "Oops" and "Call Me" wasn't a clear idea on what the album had to offer.

MG: In the past you talked about wanting to commit suicide... How does it feel now to look back on that situation?
T: I feel strong and blessed. My faith is God has strengthened. He took me through a lot of things but it made me stronger.

MG: Let's talk about the new album "It's Me Again"... What are some of the stand out tracks on the album?
T: "Cab Ride" is a great record. I'm the first person to get a sample clearance for the TV show "Taxi" theme song for the record. So that was cool. "My Man" and "The Two Of Us" with my daughter and me is another good one. I pretty much kept the formula from my first album but this time it's more in your face lyrics and more singing. This album is a revelation.

MG: The first single "Turn Da Lights Off" is different. It has that old school Diana Ross R&B feel to it and I see Kwame produced the track... How did that come about?
T: When I heard the track I was blown away. Cause I think that's what music is missing right now... It's got that old school basement vinyl feel to it. Missy and me wanted to bring back soul music.

MG: You and Missy seem to be really close... Is it hard for you and her to keep your friendship and maintain a business relationship at the same time?
T: Missy and me are friends first. We've been friend since 1994 before the music thing we were friends. So with us it's our friendship first before business.

MG: You mentioned doing a song with your daughter... Is it hard to balance your career and being a mother sometimes?
T: It's not a problem for me. She's around me all the time. She's older now and she can understand things better now. She doesn't give me any problems. She knows I'm mommy and she's proud of me.

[MGirl Extra!]

What's In Tweet's CD Player?
Van Hunt
John Legend

For more information on Tweet check out www.tweetmusic.com

- [ LS ] -