Published: 12:00 AM, Thu Feb 04, 2010
Listen Up: Von Demetriz
For as long as Javon McNeal can remember, she has loved to sing. It was evident that she was destined to use her voice when she started singing with the church choir at an early age.
Now the R&B songstress, who locally is known as Von Demetriz, is pursuing her passion in hopes of making music her full-time career.
"I'm a child-care provider right now, and I love children. And I'll never let that go, but I'm definitely an entertainer," McNeal said. "I'm ready to use that and move forward with it."
Her debut album, "Confirmation," is slated to be released in the spring.
"The album has a lot of pain in it, a lot of love. People are going to understand it," she said.
McNeal has performed throughout Fayetteville and has been spotted at Big Shots Entertainment Sports Bar and most recently Docks at The Capitol. Her most notable gig was as an opening act for Monica, the R&B vet and reality-show star.
McNeal's latest single, "Swagg," turned out to be a crowd pleaser and is now available on her MySpace page and YouTube.
During a quick break in the studio at Hittz Records, McNeal talked with the Weekender Street Edition about her music and future.
Weekender: When did you know that music was the career for you?
McNeal: My thing is definitely entertainment. I'm more so into the crowd then anything and am a crowd motivator. So when I learned that, I knew how to grab who I needed to grab, and knew I could sing a little bit, and I had started writing, I just knew. Then it was like non-stop.
There's enough coming out of me that everyone would feel it. It's been a long time since music has been real and coming from the heart. The way music comes out, it just come out naturally for me. Even now, I'm on my lunch break, and I step in (the studio) just to speak, and we done laid down another hit, and got an interview going, too.
Weekender: So what does your album have in store for listeners?
McNeal: I just feel like it's about the movement, at every angle. It's got some club stuff in there that will keep them moving. And I got some things on there that might make them go home and slap their husbands. Then there's some stuff that will make you go home and love them.(laughs)
Weekender: Who are some of your influences?
McNeal: I'm Mary J (Blige's) and Jill Scott's biggest fans. And Lauryn Hill, where you at? Kelly Price, Kim Burrell, with the gospel and all the Clark Sisters. As far as writers, R. Kelly, Ludacris and Eminem and OutKast and Goodie Mob influenced me. I like that kind of flavor.
That's why the (management) is like, "How we going to market her?" There's a lot of jazz, hip-hop and lot of R&B. I even got some pop flavor.
Weekender: So with all that going on, what do you feel like you're bringing to the music game?
McNeal: I'm bringing the "new-new." This is a bracket that no one has come out of. I'm confident, not cocky about it, because I want to stay as humble about it as possible. I ask the Lord all the time to order our steps and lead us in the path that we need to go.
Weekender: So where do you see yourself and your management going in five years?
McNeal: Like everywhere. International, just spreading love and making music and doing what we love to do. It's like a basketball player. Like LeBron (James) knew where he'd be in the next five years, because he knew the gift that God gave him. That's how I feel. We're heading to the next Capitol Records, or any other majorlabel.
Weekender: Wow.
McNeal: We're just letting the world know it wasn't easy for us. We didn't come up in a place like New York, California or Miami. We were down in the bottom of a hole. And like ants, we had to crawl out and go get the food and bring it back.
And that's the kind of image we hold: Little ants.(laughs).But look at how much weight little ants carry, and there's thousands of them!
Weekender: Do you hope that people will be inspired by that persistence and drive from your work and music?
McNeal: I definitely want to be there for the younger crowd. We wasn't born with silver spoons in our mouth. I've been there dealing with guys and drugs and the streets. If there's anything I can do to stop a young female from doing something - or a young guy - I want to be involved in that.
Staff writer Jessica De Vault can be reached at devaultj@fayobserver.com or 609-0649.