R&B Sensation Marcus Allen made his comeback this year with singles "Like No Other", "Slide" and "I Can" with each one having a different vibe. They have all been climbing the charts at an incredible rate. Now the 22x award winner has released his first-ever Holiday album Unforgettable Christmas to all digital music platforms. Written and produced all by Marcus Allen with the help of upcoming singer-songwriter Michael Robles, this album will take you on an emotional roller coaster celebration of holiday spirit with an R&B twist.
MARCUS ALLEN: Thank you. To be honest with you, I've always wanted to release a Christmas album for years, since I was younger and since I got in the business. It just never felt like the right time. You know when you have another release out during the year and you're pushing it and when you're on the road and doing shows and preparing for media and getting intertwined with all the other things, it never seems like the time. Time just flies by and next thing you know, you're in November and December. So this time around, I really put emphasis on wanting to get this done and was willing to put the time in and didn't let anything get in the way.
TERRANCE: What's unique about this project is it's not your typical Christmas album with cover songs.
MARCUS ALLEN: Right. Yes, that was done purposely. I wanted something different. Not the regular, not the norm that people would expect. Something for people to just say, oh this is different, let me give it a listen. And so in doing so, it has created its own buzz. So I'm really thankful and really happy I decided to go this route.
TERRANCE: Give us some background on what inspired the songs and how they were created, starting with "Picture Perfect Christmas"
MARCUS ALLEN: Oh man, the process to this album was incredible. I literally didn't want to go in with any idea of what I wanted to do. I just wanted to go in and create and that's exactly what we did. I didn't write anything down to any song. Every song that was done was pretty much done off of feeling alone. So I pulled from my past history of Christmas and being with family and spending time with the one's I love during the Christmas season and holiday. That's really what made the records come to life, like "Picture Perfect Christmas".
TERRANCE: "Pull Up"
MARCUS ALLEN: Every holiday, what do we do? You know if you're in college, you go home. If you're in high school, you're out for the holidays. If you're not at work, you take some days to go home and visit family and friends. And what do you do? You get with your friends and your family and you pull up somewhere and have a good time whether it's your grandma's house and the music is playing or whether you're with your friends at the club. It's always a good time somewhere, somehow. That's what I wanted to create. Some positive energy.
TERRANCE: "Grateful"
MARCUS ALLEN: This song is just wanting people to take the time out to look around you and appreciate the small things. Appreciate the things on the day to day basis that we tend to look past. That's how "Grateful" came about. Just wanting to be grateful in the moment. Embrace the moment for what it is and cherish it while you can.
TERRANCE: "She Made It Worth It"
MARCUS ALLEN: This is like the dearest to my heart record on the album. I smile while I say this because it goes back to my childhood when we didn't have anything. We didn't have much at all. We were dead broke and my mom was a single parent. It was me, my brother and my sister and her smile made it worth it. Her smile made Christmas worth it and we just leaned into each other and just enjoyed what we could afford and what we could have and to see my mom smile made everything worth it.
TERRANCE: "Stay for Christmas"
MARCUS ALLEN: "Stay for Christmas" is basically what a lot of us tend to go through or what a lot of us have gone through at some point where you had a relationship and it worked and it was fun and there was love there and then you lost that. It's like a part of you miss the moments you guys shared during Christmas and some of us try to get that moment back. That's pretty much what that is.
TERRANCE: "All On Me"
MARCUS ALLEN: This is basically facing the fact that the one you were with during Christmas is gone all because of your mistakes and your actions. So now you're spending Christmas alone and you're just wishing and hoping that she would pick up that phone.
TERRANCE: "Season 4 Love"
MARCUS ALLEN: "Season 4 Love" is just that feel good record that when you listen to it, you see Christmas in front of you. It came from just wanting that type of situation for Christmas. When you listen to it, it gives you the vision.
TERRANCE: "With Peace & Love"
MARCUS ALLEN: When you turn that on, you can hear Christmas in it. All of the records are original records. They have a touch of Christmas vibes to them, but when "Peace & Love" comes on, it just takes you to a place. That wishful place that comes when you get closer and closer to Christmas day.
TERRANCE: What was it like filming the visuals for "Pull Up"?
MARCUS ALLEN: Man, I never smiled so much for a video. I think I smiled about half the video. It was so cold outside, but it was so much fun. We filmed in Anderson, South Carolina. We filmed in Greenville, South Carolina and we filmed in North Carolina.
TERRANCE: Overall, what do you hope listeners take away from the Unforgettable Christmas experience?
MARCUS ALLEN: I want them to go back to a moment that was unforgettable for them during the Christmas holiday because one thing about Unforgettable Christmas is that we have all lived and we have all lived to learn. That's what Unforgettable Christmas is about. It's not all about the greatest moments. It's about moments we have to learn from during Christmas to apply to next Christmas whether it is being grateful or whether it is hoping she stays for Christmas and not making the same mistakes so she does stay for Christmas and being grateful for the things we have and not the things we don't have.
TERRANCE: Any final words you would like to share with your fans, followers and the readers?
MARCUS ALLEN: I want to say I love you all. Without you, there is no me. There's so much more to come, so ride this journey with me and enjoy Unforgettable Christmas because it's an album you won't forget. God bless you, I love you and Merry Christmas.
Follow Marcus Allen:
www.marcusallenofficial.com
www.twitter.com/marcussallenn
www.facebook.com/marcussallenn
www.instagram.com/marcusallenofficial
No comments:
Post a Comment