Chaka Khan

Chaka Khan

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A CLASS ACT
R&B Legend Chaka Khan Returns to Her Roots with the Standards-Based Classikhan
After 30-plus years in the music biz, R&B powerhouse Chaka Khan is still going strong. Ever immortalized by the intro to her 1984 hit "I Feel for You" -- "Chaka Khan, I wanna rock you, I wanna rock you Chaka Khan" -- the eight-time Grammy winner looks back to the songs of her childhood on Classikhan, belting jazzy renditions of pop standards, as well as '60s and '70s movie themes, including "The Best Is Yet to Come," "Round Midnight," and "To Sir with Love." Barnes & Noble.com's R&B Editor, Tracy E. Hopkins, had the pleasure of chatting with Khan via telephone about her new disc and more.

Barnes & Noble.com: How did you select the songs for Classikhan?

Chaka Khan: These are songs that I grew up with. My mom and dad used to play them when I was a little girl, and we used to sing them around the house. I also took songs from movies that my mother took me to see, like Goldfinger and To Sir with Love. These songs became part of my fiber. I grew up with them and they became a part of me. I had a list of 100 songs to choose from, and I had to cut it down to 13 for this first volume. There will be another volume to follow.

B&N.com: What will be on the second volume?

CK: More of the same, but I haven't really picked the songs yet. I'm doing a contemporary album between Classikhan and the next volume.

B&N.com: There's a trend of artists doing albums of standards or soul classics. How long had you planned to do this album?

CK: I've done a jazz album before, Echoes of an Era, so this is nothing really new for me. It was just good timing.

B&N.com: You've been a big influence on many contemporary vocalists, including Mary J. Blige. Of the younger vocalists, whom do you like?

CK: I think Faith Evans is great. Mary J is good. Lauryn Hill is great. And I love Rahsaan Patterson and Lalah Hathaway. There are a few who can sing. [laughs]

B&N.com: What makes the biggest impression on you about an artist?

CK: If they have true talent and they mean it. It's more than just a moneymaking tool for them. I sense that they have to [sing] in order to maintain their sanity. There's a need to sing, and they're able.

B&N.com: Have you had a chance to give younger artists any words of wisdom?

CK: I do if I meet them. I give them my honest opinion and try to be a big sister.

B&N.com: You've also been embraced by the hip-hop community via the De La Soul single "All Good" and Kanye West's "Through the Wire." Are you a hip-hop fan?

CK: I like hip-hop. I don't have any favorite artists or buy records. But I like certain people I hear. When I'm at home, I have a few jazz albums that I listen to, and some Joni Mitchell. I can't stand to listen to the radio -- it's a wreck. So I'm not up on a lot of artists, but I like where Kanye's coming from. And [Kanye's new R&B artist] John Legend is off the hook. I like Snoop. But I mostly listen to jazz.

B&N.com: What jazz artists were your biggest jazz influences?

CK: Well, all of them. My dad was a big bebopper. My Christian name, Yvette, was after a Stan Getz song. I come from that. I listen to a lot of Peggy Lee, Ella, Miles, Dizzy, Coltrane, Parker, Billie. These people are for real.

B&N.com: You're signed to Sanctuary Records now. But a few years ago, weren't you working with Prince's record label? And what was it like working with Prince?

CK: Sanctuary and I are partners in conjunction with my label, Earth Song Entertainment. Prince and I had the same arrangement. Prince is brilliant and I love working with him. It's the closest thing to working with myself that I've encountered so far. We did that whole CD, Come 2 My House, in two weeks. He's a genius and he's like a brother.

B&N.com: On Classikhan you work with the London Symphony Orchestra. How did that collaboration come about?

CK: I've worked with them a couple times before. They're really cool people and I love them. I've had a home in London for almost 20 years. So it's an option for me [to record there].

B&N.com: How has living abroad changed your artistic outlook?

CK: I still have a home there, but I'm in the States more than I am there. But living in London has broadened my horizons and my scope of musical appreciation.

B&N.com: What else can we expect from you in the near future?

CK: I'll start working on the contemporary album the beginning of the year. Hopefully it will be out in summer 2005. I'm getting ready to shoot a DVD at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles, where I'll be performing all the songs from Classikhan -- but we're filming it like a mini-musical. There will be dancers -- I'll be dancing too -- costume changes and the whole nine.

December 6, 2004