US R&B hit-maker Lloyd returns from a long hiatus from music to treat Australian fans to old hits and new works.
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Lloyd. For a time, the R&B singer was everywhere. Lloyd scored US Top 10 hits, collaborated with rap talents Lil Wayne and Andre 3000 of Outkast, and scored a big Australian hit in 2011 with his song ‘Dedication To My Ex (Miss That)’.
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After that, he disappeared. Now, Lloyd is back joining the likes of J Holiday, RL from Next, and Eric Bellinger for the Men Of R&B tour. The first step in Lloyd’s return is the mellow and introspective song ‘Tru’.
“'Tru' is an introspective record that I released about my life, about the time away from music that I spent the past few years, about why it was important for me to return to making music and that’s ultimately the message I want people to take from it,” he explains.
While Lloyd has sung about his life and struggles in his music, he has never been as nakedly honest as he is on ‘Tru’. Lloyd sees ‘Tru’ as an important release in his career, although one which made him initially nervous. “The fact that ‘Tru’ is the first single release that I’ve actually been able to bare my soul has been extremely gratifying.
"It has also been a little bit scary, to be honest, because in the beginning you don’t know what people are going to say or think or feel, or if they’ll even care.
"But, my fans tend to be some of the realest people around; the people who do go through things. I think it’s important we go through them and talk about them to face it.”
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Another change for Lloyd is his newfound independence. After spending his entire career on major labels he’s looking forward to his new adventures, but grateful to those who have stuck with him. “What’s funny is even though you’re independent, you still depend on people: your team, your management, your producers, your writers.
"So it’s still a team effort, even though it says independent there’s still a bit of a dependency there. I feel thankful to have the right people around me.”
The future for Lloyd is bright. He’s currently working on a new album. But most of all, Lloyd is excited to be back performing especially for his Australian fans. “I have been lucky and blessed to be able to come to Australia many times in the past.
“Every time I release new music over here at home, I always make an effort to travel abroad to share some of the new sounds with my fans. Over the past few years I’ve learned that some of my biggest fans, some of my most exciting fans that I’ve performed for are in Australia.
“So seeing as I just released some new music here not too long ago, I felt it was a good time to come back and play some of the new tunes. I’m glad that we’re ready; the music sounds good live and I’m excited for people to come out and have a good time, as always.”
Men Of R&B Tour
Thu 27 Jul – Trak Lounge (Melbourne)Fri 28 Jul – Metro Theatre (Sydney)
Sat 29 Jul – Max Watts (Brisbane)
Sun 30 Jul – The Gov (Adelaide)
