Muni Long’s long and winding road to R&B stardom

Muni Lengthy is placing love on the forefront.

“I believe toxicity is what individuals reply to,” says the R&B singer and songwriter. “In order that’s what persons are making. However there’s a motion of individuals responding to like. I truthfully really feel like that’s why ‘Hrs and Hrs’ did so effectively.”

Lengthy, led by her breakthrough hit “Hrs and Hrs,” is a prime contender for a greatest new artist Grammy nomination in November, an unlikely “in a single day” flip of occasions that the 34-year-old has been working towards since at the very least 2009, when, as Priscilla Renea, she launched a blink-and-miss-it album on Capitol Information. (Her actual title is Priscilla Renea Hamilton). All through the 2010s, she would toggle between co-writing hit songs for established stars — Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Pitbull and even Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert — and recording her personal country-tinged music.

But it surely wasn’t till 2020, when she launched her first single as Muni Lengthy (pronounced “cash lengthy”), that she actually discovered her groove, as an R&B singer chronicling the heartbreak and ecstasy of intercourse and romance. On “Hrs and Hrs,” she pines for an limitless love session over stripped-down manufacturing and a affected person drum groove. Now she’s doubling down on these relationship-driven themes for her newly launched debut album, “Public Shows of Affection: The Album.”

The venture combines her 2021 EP “Public Shows of Affection” and 2022 EP “Public Shows of Affection Too,” whereas including 5 new tracks. The PDA is actual, nevertheless it isn’t at all times rosy — look to “Ain’t Simple” for the struggles of sustaining a long-term relationship, whereas “Time Machine” sees her making an attempt to rewrite historical past to keep away from the following heartbreak.

“I did ‘Ain’t Simple’ and ‘IMU’ on the identical day,” stated Lengthy. “That was the primary time I had ever cried within the studio, as a result of I usually don’t get too private. Very emotional day. Such as you’ll have a small disagreement and ‘it’s over,’ breaking apart over silly s—.”

On this nice September afternoon, she’s sitting within the yard of her dwelling within the midst of the Fairfax district, staring out on the two small waterfalls that cascade into her pool throughout the grass. There’s a ramification of pastries and juices on the desk in entrance of her, too excessive for the frenetic poodle darting by the home to succeed in.

It will be an idyllic L.A. dwelling for a lot of, however Lengthy is bound to notice it’s not her dream home.

“It’s simply the stepping stone,” she stated. “I have to be by the water. I’m a Florida woman, I like tropical stuff. Extra space.”

Lengthy grew up on a farm in Vero Seaside, Fla. As a baby, her household was outnumbered by the chickens, geese and different livestock that surrounded them. Her favourite was a younger hog named Powder, who met his demise sooner than she would have preferred.

“I used to speak to him after college,” she stated of the hog. “I got here dwelling sooner or later, and stated, ‘Granddad, the place’s Powder?’ He pointed throughout the sphere, and Powder was roasting on a spit.”

From a younger age she was at all times singing — her mom says she began at 2 years previous.

“I simply thought it was one thing everyone might do,” Lengthy stated. “It wasn’t till center college or highschool that I grew to become conscious of ‘Oh, that is totally different.’”

Nearly as quickly because the platform was created, she started importing karaoke movies onto YouTube, and not using a clue the positioning would turn into the behemoth it’s right this moment. After she’d constructed a web-based following, Capitol signed her to a document deal — after which informed her to desert YouTube, a thought that makes her blood boil in hindsight.

“They have been like, ‘Oh, you don’t want that,’” she stated. “So I let it go, and I hate that I did that. Now, labels search for these numbers. Issues would have been so totally different.”

Quickly after it began, it was clear the partnership was doomed to fail. Refusing to return to Florida, she discovered work as a songwriter, lending her pen in as many as 5 periods every day.

The success got here early — she scored her first placement on the electro-pop single “Promise This” with British singer Cheryl Cole, which went to No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart.

“Within the music enterprise, nobody actually cared about UK artists,” she stated. “However to me it was like, ‘That is actual. You’ll be able to actually generate profits being a author.’”

She doubled down on her writing, crafting songs with hitmakers from Rihanna to Madonna. She landed a world No. 1 hit when she co-wrote “Timber” by Pitbull and Kesha, which topped the Billboard Scorching 100.

Her time as a songwriter got here with its blessings, however the need to fly her personal ship remained lodged in her thoughts. After just a few false begins, she made a clear break from songwriting in 2019, launching her impartial label Supergiant Information and formalizing the delivery of Muni Lengthy.

“I noticed you’ll be able to’t shuttle. It’s a must to set up ‘that is the top of that. I’ve to place my focus right here,’” she stated.

“Hrs and Hrs,” which finally reached No. 16 on the Billboard Scorching 100 and No. 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, introduced her to the entrance door of Def Jam Information. Lengthy had recognized then-incoming CEO Tunji Balogun for years, and he was capable of quell her reservations about leaping again into the most important label system after her first run-through.

“Her character hasn’t modified a lot, however I believe she’s extra assured,” Balogun stated of her evolution from Priscilla Renea to Muni Lengthy. “She was at all times extraordinarily vibrant and somebody who knew herself. I simply don’t know if she put all of it out into the world till this period.”

As a songwriter, she’s been hooked up to Grammy-nominated songs and profitable albums, nevertheless it’s arduous for her to depend these as her personal, particularly since she obtained solely a certificates, not a trophy.

“The Grammys is such an incredible a part of being an artist,” she stated. “I believe plenty of us are mendacity to ourselves saying we don’t wish to be part of it.

“Rattling proper, I wish to win a Grammy,” she continued. “I wish to be on TV, I wish to journey the world, I need the jets, the homes, the boats. Why wouldn’t I need that?”