Dave Hollister 'Things in the Game Done Changed' album

"I think this album is gonna surprise a lot of people," says R&B artist Dave Hollister about his third solo effort and first for new label home Motown Records. "Basically, it's a little lighter and more positive about relationships," he explains. "But there's still the problems that relationships go through. I'm talking about the good times and some of the bad times, but it's on a more positive note than the last couple of records."

As proof of the new album's more positive tone, Hollister offers up several heartfelt paeans to love ("Baby Do Those Things," "My Everything"), as well as seductive takes on the power of attraction ("It's Okay," "One Addiction") and the power of love ("We Gonna Make It"). As for the other side of the game, Hollister ruminates on love's duality ("Love-Hate Relationship"), confronts a combative lover ("Tell Me Why") and grapples with an emotional tug-of-war ("What Should I Say").

Hollister admits he had some issues to work through early in his solo career. Consequently, his first solo album, Ghetto Hymns (1999), offered some hard-hitting views of urban romance. However, on the new album -- as he did on his second solo opus, Chicago 85... The Movie (2000) -- Hollister demonstrates a more insightful perspective on life and love. It's basically a more upbeat Dave Hollister - not only in his attitude toward life and love, but also in the grooves.

"I got a lot of tempo on this record," says Hollister, something that helps give Things In The Game Done Changed a welcome variety of moods. "That's gonna make for a nice concert. People don't want to sit there and hear you sing ballads all night."

Hollister certainly sounds at home with any style -- whether it's handling the rhythmic melodic twists of the standout mid-tempo track "It's Okay" or caressing the slow, tender musings of the ballad "Baby Do Those Things." "I just like singing," he admits. "It really doesn't matter to me, because I try to get into whatever I'm doing."

Though he deftly handles the more kicked-up tempos, his premiere ballad-singing skills are definitely on full display on the new album. On the tracks "Baby Do Those Things" and "I'm Wrong." Hollister again proves why he's one of the foremost balladeers in the business.

" ?Baby Do Those Things' is about the little things that your girl or your wife does that turn you on," he relates. "There's a line in there about how you push the hair from off your face, or how you bite your lip when you want me to come have a taste."

A lover's passionate plea for forgiveness, "I'm Wrong" is another standout ballad, and, like the track "What's A Man To Do," presents a powerful case for giving a relationship one more try. "'It's a song about a guy that's admitting he's wrong," says Hollister. "He's cheated, he's lied and he's wrong and he's sorry about it. It's just one of those songs that you feel as soon as you hear it."

For the production of his third solo outing, Hollister turned to one of his usual cohorts, Mike City (Brandy, Sunshine Anderson), and a notable lists of contributors, including Tank, Robert "Big Bert" Smith (Brandy), Bryan Michael-Cox (Mariah Carey, Jagged Edge), Loren Dawson (Ginuwine), Allen "Allstar" Gordon (Joe, SWV), Gerald Haddon (Vanessa Bell Armstrong) and Donnie Scantz (Toni Braxton, Chante Moore).

As usual, Hollister worked quickly in the studio. "It was real easy," he says of the sessions for Things In The Game Done Changed. "It only took us about two months. If you don't think twice about what you do, it's normally better. You don't have time to turn around and change nothing."

Hollister is clearly excited about joining forces (Goodfellas Entertainment) with a new label -- and one with as storied a past as Motown. "The label let us make the record. They trusted our judgement. And we feel comfortable cause they know what they're doing at Motown. They know what they're doing with R&B music."

With a Goodfellas Entertainment and Motown collaboration, more uptempo offerings and a new attitude, Hollister is definitely tweaking his winning formula. It's a record that he is proud of, and one that showcases how much Hollister has matured as an artist, a father and a man.

"It has a lot to do with it," he says when asked whether domestic life has impacted his art. "And the fact that I gotta take responsibility for a lot of the kids. Like on my first record, I had a lot of profanity, but I was mad. But now, I try not to use profanity even in my regular, daily life. Cause, for me, it's not cool."

Summing up his feelings on the new album, Hollister offers: "I'm really proud of this record, cause it shows a more mature side of me. I'm still focused on keeping my core audience but I'm also doing music that the kids can relate to as well."

Career Overview

Whether taking a former lover to task in "Baby Mama Drama," or offering sage advice on how to keep the home fires burning in "Take Care Of Home," R&B singer Dave Hollister has formed his body of work with the edginess and knowledge of a streetwise player and the compassion and insight of a true romantic.

"Everything I sing or write about has got something to do with my personal life," explains Hollister, whose first two solo albums, Ghetto Hymns (1999) and Chicago '85 The Movie (2000), have established him as one of the brightest stars in the current crop of new soul men. "I write and sing about what I'm going through at the time, what I know about either myself or somebody else close to me."

Born and raised in the Windy City, Hollister began his musical training at an early age. With both of his parents preachers (he was one of 12 children), Hollister cut his teeth playing organ and drums and singing in the church choir. It wasn't long before a Chicago-area group doing commercial jingle work took notice of the young teen's skills, and Hollister was soon plying his wares at clubs as the group's underage vocalist. Later he became a member of the Chi-Boys, which garnered some local action, and even spent some time with R. Kelly in an R&B outfit called MGM.

Citing such vocal influences as Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder and Sam Cooke, Hollister used the valuable training he received in church to his advantage, eventually landing background singing gigs with a who's who of gospel's elite, including Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Daryl Coley and Yolanda Adams.

Eager to advance his career to the next level and tired of being pigeonholed by shortsighted A&R executives, Hollister moved his base of operations to the Big Apple. "I had a demo that was being sent around to different companies," recalls Hollister. "But, back then, that was the era of house music, and they thought anything that was coming out of Chicago was house, so they didn't even really listen once they found out I was from Chicago. So I moved to New York City, and that was the best thing that ever happened to me."

Hollister continued to make career inroads, working with such artists as Mary J. Blige and Usher, and also appearing on several soundtracks, including The Perfect Model (1988) and Boyz N The Hood (1991).

But the hookup that would launch his career was when he crossed paths with producer Teddy Riley (the father of New Jack Swing) and joined him in a new group venture, Blackstreet.

The quartet released its promising self-titled debut in 1994, but Hollister soon left, bolting from the restrictive confines of the group setting. I didn't leave to do a solo project. I was just gonna write and produce. But people kept asking me when was I gonna do my own thing. I was actually scared to do my own thing. It's lonely up there on the stage. It's just you. But I'm comfortable now. I miss the group thing, but I've gotten comfortable with doing my own thing."

After releasing the soundtrack cut "Weekend" in 1998, Hollister began his first solo effort, Ghetto Hymns (1999), released through Def Squad/DreamWorks. Featuring contributions from a variety of guest artists (including Redman). The album - with such standout tracks as "Baby Mama Drama" and the Top 10 R&B hit "My Favorite Girl" -- showcased a distinctly hard-edged view of urban romance and all of its pitfalls. "It was a pretty cool start for me," says Hollister in hindsight. "But I was mad back then. I had issues."

To ensure that he avoided the dreaded sophomore jinx, Hollister enlisted a solid group of collaborators to help him craft his all-important follow-up, including, Mike City, Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson. "I've got a pretty good ear for songs and music, so I just went to some people that I could trust, and most of the people had songs already that I liked. And some of ?em, I had to tell ?em a direction that I wanted them to go in.

"For example, Tim [Kelley] and Bob [Robinson], they would ask me what was on my mind, and I would tell ?em, and they would come up with the songs. And they write really quick. I did that with most of the producers. I just basically gave them a scenario or told ?em how I felt that day, and then they would come up with whatever it was."

Hollister definitely likes to work quickly in the studio, preferring to trust his first instincts and not over-think a creative decision. "You don't have to take years to make no record," explains Hollister, who says his second album, featuring the top 10 R&B hits "Take Care Of Home" and "One Woman Man," was cut in 28 days. "Because if you think about it, that's when you're gonna mess it up. Just go do what's in your heart and put it out there. Don't think that much."

As more proof of his impatience in the studio, and his skills as a vocalist, Hollister usually handles all the vocal parts himself. "I get in there and I cut real quick. I can't stand sitting behind a vocal booth telling somebody what to do, and they can't get it, and it takes three hours to get one line."

Now, Hollister has once again moved his base of operations, Goodfellas Entertainment, this time he joins forces with legendary label Motown Records. Clearly excited by the association, Hollister says his new album will exhibit the same kind of artistic growth that he displayed on the last two.

"I try to grow from one album to the next," he says. "I don't really think about the last project that I've done once it's over and I've started on a new one, I just focus on what I'm doing at the moment."

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Dave Hollister - Things in the Game Done Changed