Michigan-Based Artist Champagne On The Making Of New Project ‘Yours Truly’, Developing A New Sound, & Mental Health

New Album ‘Yours Truly’ Out Now

Certified Champagne is an emerging artist and performer from Detroit, Michigan. Growing up in a family where music was simply a part of daily life, Champagne may have had no choice but to end up a musician. The Detroit artist’s first introduction to entertainment was as a dancer. Naturally finding himself on stage, Champagne would memorize songs like ‘Just The Way You Are’ by Bruno Mars to perform at talent shows. Moving forward with his apparent love for music, the artist began to dabble with producing and eventually made his way to songwriting. Heavily influenced by The King Of Pop, Michael Jackson, among other greats like Kanye West and Drake, talent in multiple genres and mediums seem to be what Champagne is drawn to. With a knack for expressing himself through music, the R&B genre is where Champagne is making his mark.

“The reason why I call myself Champagne is because when you listen to my music, you’ll either feel love or happiness. Either way it’s a celebration.”

Champagne fits perfectly in the ever-expanding R&B genre. He can make upbeat alternative R&B songs with hip-hop influence, traditional R&B love songs made popular in the early 90s and 2000s, or acoustic ballads where you may only hear a guitar and his voice. He prides himself on versatility and always wants to keep the listener guessing. Deeply passionate about his craft, Champagne is going to be one of those artists that continue to work on their sound and create the music that connects with the current moment in time. In a world where artist’s tend to go with the sound that’s working, Champagne definitely does not want to sound like everyone else. Sometimes he doesn’t even want to sound like himself! He scrapped a bunch of tracks that were supposed to make this album, ‘Yours Truly’, because he felt they sounded too much like his older music. It’s going to be dope to see Champagne continue to experiment in all of the sub genres of R&B, until finding the perfect blend that is truly his (no pun intended).

A New Sound

Champagne describes this album, Truly Yours, as sort of an experiment; a journey into an unknown new sound that he would identify once he got there. There didn’t seem to be any specific end route or expected outcome besides a bit of afrobeat influence. Happy in his relationship, Champagne first recorded ‘Uniquely, You’, a track that expresses appreciation and love for his partner. When Champagne dropped the song exclusively on SoundCloud, it pretty much exceeded all expectations. After seeing the feedback, Champagne knew the track had to be on his next album. One track in and no title in mind, Champagne had to figure out where he wanted to take his next project that would eventually be known as ‘Truly Yours’.

With the goal of creating a statement album following his previous project ‘Love Don’t Cost Volume 2’, Champagne started recording music to add to his project. After creating a couple of songs, he felt like he sounded the same. Curiously browsing some dancehall beats, he began to format his new sound piece by piece starting with a song titled Affection.

Listening to the Affection instrumental, the first thing that came to mind was a simple melody and the words ‘it’s yours truly’. For a couple of days, the song went untouched with only those three words recorded. During that time, the hook finally came to Champagne. ‘I wanna take your pain away, pain like this don’t fade away.’ Champagne went on to drop a snippet of the track on Instagram. This would be the first time fans got to hear the new sound, still early in development. Encouraged by good reviews, Champagne released the track. The second official song that would make the  the album was here.

With positive feedback to his new sound, Champagne went back in the lab to find more dancehall inspired beats. During that session, Champagne found the beats that would turn in to songs like Room 212 and Let’s Get Married, tracks two and three on the album ‘Truly Yours’.

Champagne’s Latest Album ‘Truly Yours’

In totality, ‘Truly Yours’ is an R&B album about love and affection. Underneath those emotions, Champagne also sheds light on other topics like mental health. In his official album trailer, Champagne says that he identifies with those who may be battling in silence. In the middle of creating the album, Champagne dealt with his own meatal health struggles and admits he had to step away from music all together. Inspired by that experience, Champagne thought to include a song titled 1 – 800 Self Love, a song that the versatile musician holds very close to his heart. The track borrows some inspiring words from a J. Cole song titled Love Yourz. “No such thing as a life that’s better than yours, no such thing… no such thing”.

Champagne says he knows what it feels like to be “anxious or depressed”. Dealing with personal issues outside of music, even completing this album is a huge accomplishment. During the five month creation process of ‘Truly Yours’, Champagne unfortunately caught the COVID-19 virus. He remained in ‘album mode’ and completed a track on the album with the covid virus. Champagne was more than determined to make this his best album yet.

“This is the year that they’re going to hear me.”

My Review

Champagne’s music is really his story. He opens up on every song and displays real emotions that you cannot help but relate to. The first three songs on the album seem to be inspired by his current relationship, which is beautiful to see. While the majority of music today is slightly more promiscuous, Champagne instead chooses to share his loving relationship with us. That is how we can tell that Champagne’s music is a reflection of what is really going on, and not just words that sound good together. In addition, ‘Truly Yours’ is the coming out party for the artist’s new sound. Like I said earlier, I expect Champagne to continue tweaking his sound and challenging himself to sound different, but for now we’re not mad! There is something unique about Champagne’s melodies, ad libs, and beat selection on this album. The project has full cohesion throughout (lyrics, subject matter, overall sound) and that is something I can appreciate. While some of the songs on the album may sound alike, I can’t say they sound like somebody else. Champagne’s sound will continue to develop and we like where it’s going. My personal favorite track is ‘Forever Love You’, an acoustic track that highlights Champagne’s vocals and writing ability.

We asked Champagne a bit about his career thus far, early influences, and inspiration for the album ‘Truly Yours’. he didn’t hold back! Check out the video above and stream ‘Truly Yours’ now (available everywhere).

 

– Tyler Baisden