JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Faith Evans, author of Keep the Faith: A Memoir
(Grand Central Publishing)

R&B sensation, Faith Evans, gives us a first person account of life from Newark, New Jersey to the highest echelons of the music industry.

Keep the Faith: A Memoir is Faith’s first person account of life at ground zero of hip-hop’s greatest generation. She’ll share the truth about the love affair that changed her life and the innuendo that rocked the hip-hop world to its core. From her passionate and tragically short life with Biggie, Faith will finally lay the true story on the line.

We’ll get to see the good, the bad and the ugly side of the music industry. She shared with us how she worked her way to the top without ever sacrificing her morals. Faith also give us a first-hand account of how she managed to steer her God-given talent into a platinum-certified career.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the idea and inspiration to write Keep the Faith: A Memoir?

Faith Evans: For many years, people have always suggested to me that I sit down and set the record straight on a lot of things that went on in my life. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that, but there have been so many stories told ABOUT me. At some point, you have to decide to tell your own story. No one can give my truth but me, and that was my inspiration for deciding to tell my story.

JP: As a songwriter, you were able enter snippets of your emotions and experiences in the various songs you have written. Were you intimidated by a work of this length, and how was the experience?

FE: I wasn’t intimidated at all. I was ready, and I was prepared to do it. I had just had a baby. The collaborator I worked with had also just recently given birth, so it helped that we were both juggling newborns. It was intense. I definitely had to revisit a lot of painful memories, but in many ways it was therapeutic for me. I’ve learned from everything I’ve gone through.

JP: What did you want to achieve with this book?

FE: I wanted to set the record straight on a lot of issues. I wanted to connect with my always loyal fans and give them a piece of me that I haven’t shared before. I wanted to have a record of my life so far, for myself and for my children.

JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take for you to start and finish Keep the Faith: A Memoir?

FE: I got serious about getting started in May of 2007. I would speak with my collaborator a few times a week. We would trade notes back and forth. I would also enlist my friends and family to help me remember when and where certain things happened. The book came out in June of 2008, so it was just about a year from start to finish.

JP: What’s next for Faith Evans?

FE: I’m already working on the proposal for my next book!

About the Author: Faith Evans started her music career as a songwriter for artists like Hi-Five, Mary J. Blige, Pebbles, Al B. Sure, Usher, Tony Thompson, and Christopher Williams. In 1994 she met producer/impresario Sean “Puffy” Combs, who signed her to his Bad Boy label. In 1995, Evans released her debut album, Faith, which went platinum.

A high-profile career in R&B has endured, with several platinum-certified albums and appearances in films such as The Fighting Temptations, with Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding Jr and Beyonce Knowles.

Faith lives in California with her husband and four children.

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