"I don't do what everybody do, I do what I do and
that's that," former SWV lead singer Coko offers
matter-of-factly. The tall, slim singing beauty
refers to the absence of 20,000 guest appearances on
her debut solo album, Hot Coko. "I don't feel like I
need a whole bunch of people on my album to help me
out," she continues. "That just takes away from what
I'm trying to do."
The fact that all-star collaborations sell records
today doesn't change her mind. Of Hot Coko's 11
songs, only two feature collaborations: female rapper
Eve appears on "Trifling," and model/ MTV VJ/ singer
Tyrese joins Coko on a remake of Marvin Gaye & Tammi
Terrell's "If This World Were Mine," which has also
been recorded by Luther Vandross & Cheryl Lynn.
Coko handles the limelight well and has patiently
pursued a solo career. Singing with her childhood
friends Tamara "Taj" Johnson and Leanne "Lelee" Lyons
as Sisters With Voices provided her a comfort zone
for years, though it was her singular vocal
gymnastics and range that drove SWV's singles "Right
Here," "Weak," "You're The One," "Can We," and "Rain"
to the top of the charts. When record labels offered
Coko solo record deals following the success of SWV's
debut It's About Time, the Bronx native declined. "I
wasn't ready at the time," she explains. But after
the run of Release Some Tension, SWV's third album,
Coko chose to take up RCA's offer.
Brewing dissension in the group was causing problems,
and the label's push for heavy hip-hop influences on
Release Some Tension frustrated Coko, who's a fan of
gospel acts like Twinkie Clark, Tramaine Hawkins, and
Men Of Standard. The opportunity to record a solo
record allowed her more creative freedom, as is
evident on Hot Coko. Aside from Eve's raunchy,
confrontational raps on "Trifling," which Coko hopes
to release as a single, Hot Coko follows a subtler
path. Some songs revisit the styles of SWV, while
others tackle new terrain: "Try-Na Come Home" drips
blues and soul, and "So Hard To Say Goodbye," another
one of Coko's faves, easily passes for a straight-up
gospel song.
"Well, I wasn't trying to sound any different," the
singer born Cheryl Gamble explains via phone. "I just
went in [the studio] and just sang from my heart and
soul." Considering the lyrics to "Sunshine," a
self-penned track about her son, emotions in the
studio must have run uncontrollably. In the otherwise
romantic-sounding song, produced by Rodney Jerkins,
the proud mother sings, "The day you came my cloudy
days were slept away/ Without you in my life it's
filled with rain/ So stay right here with me."
The soft-spoken, straight-to-the-point 25-year-old
has managed to raise her son as a single parent, with
the help of her mother. Coko takes him on the road
when he's not in school, and when he is, her mother
takes care of him. "If his father isn't doing
anything, he'll come and he'll take him," she says of
her former beau and current friend, Digable Planets
frontman Butterfly.
Whether tending to her son or putting her all into
recording, Coko insists on getting the job done. Even
regarding several published exchanges between herself
and her fellow Sisters With Voices, she denies that
there's any lingering animosity. "I don't hate them,"
Coko clarifies. "I have a lot of love for them. But
right now, I have to focus and concentrate on what
Coko is doing."
