The first single off My Soul is “Tell Me You Love Me,” a track that James co-wrote with Andrea Martin and Gordon Williams. The track was produced by rap and hip-hop producer Gerrard Baker (Toni Braxton, Billy Crawford, Masta Ace), who deftly inserts a sample of James riffing on a line from “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye,” the classic ballad made popular among soul audiences by the Manhattans in 1978.
“This is one of my favorite tracks on the record,” says James. “It’s a song about someone who’s really trying to make love work, which is the same message you hear in ‘Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye.’ Great songs are great songs, no matter when they’re recorded, or by whom. And sometimes two great songs blend together well, like they do here.”
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