Season Finale of ‘R&B Divas’ Tonight on TVOne!

‘R&B Divas’—Season Finale Tonight on TVOne

Network garners another hit reality series showcasing African American women in a positive light

By: Eleanor L. Smith

Cherish the Soul Entertainment                                                                          

(L-R) Monifah Carter, Nicci Gilbert, Faith Evans, Syleena Johnson, and Keke Wyatt. Photo credit: Alex Martinez / TV One

We all know the ladies of the hit reality series ‘R&B Divas’ from the music: Faith Evans, Nicci Gilbert (One third of the group Brownstone), Syleena Johnson, Monifah Carter and KeKe Wyatt all have achieved major success and have the cuts and songwriting credits to prove it. But there is so much more to the fabulous five than meets the eye and we got a chance to get up close and personal with the songstresses who each have amazing stories to share. On tonight’s season finale, the divas give an exclusive look into their experience of performing at this year’s Essence Music Festival.

“You will see the joy we all felt being so honored to perform with the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin. It will probably be a reason to hate Nicci on this episode, I’m sure. It was my birthday and I was a nervous wreck. I had a couple of cocktails. I wanted to go on stage and represent, do my thing,” said Gilbert, who rose to fame as the lead voice in the chart topping all girl group Brownstone. Signed to Michael Jackson’s MJJ Records record label in the mid 1990s, Brownstone was known for grooves like ‘If You Love Me’ and the classic women’s anthem/break up slow jam ‘Grapevyne’.

Fans don’t get a chance to hear from Gilbert what contributed to the demise of the group, which is another multiple layered story within itself. Throughout the season, music seemed to be the enemy for Gilbert, which is totally not the case. She did speak about it (the group’s breakup), but it got edited out the final cut of the show along with some other pertinent things that she wanted highlighted. “I didn’t break up the group. I don’t hate music. I love music. It’s in my blood and both my parents are musicians. I had a tummy tuck at 24 and I was at the fat camp. Curvato (Gilbert’s clothing line) was never a line that I started because it is a lucrative business. I literally had a stylist drop clothes and say ‘I can’t find anything to fit you, which was embarrassing. It was really about me getting past my insecurities. That was the story that I wanted people to experience. I hate that people couldn’t see the truth. It was about turning my past insecurities into loving myself,” said Gilbert.

“What you will see is that KeKe was picking on me!” said Carter, who is best known for her songs ‘Touch It’ and ‘I Miss You (Come Back Home)’ and as the late Heavy D’s protégé back in the 1990s. “You’ll also see all the fussing and nerves that go into putting on a great show. The singing is easy; we can all do that with our eyes closed! (laughs) But it’s other people’s energy and what’s going on around you that is difficult,” she continued. Now celebrating almost two years of sobriety, Carter was determined to conquer the abandonment issues that being dropped from her label after getting caught in corporate changes resonated. “I’ve been blessed. I was absolutely adamant that my story would not end the same,” she said.

At this stage of their lives, the ladies felt comfortable with telling the world everything about themselves—the good, the bad and the ugly. For the most part, it is about self love and helping others. “God positioned us all to this place in our lives and when it came to reaching out to the ladies, I saw that there was a void on television in terms of African American women and I knew that we could create something that’s positive and that can help inspire people in a lot of different ways, said Gilbert. They have known and worked together before for a number of years and have done things outside of music. “I felt like it was important to show who we were and give the world the opportunity to see another side of what being a black woman is outside of music—a wife, a mother and a professional. We all have a great story,” she continued. “Naturally, there’s that moment when you think, ‘oh my God do we really want to show this?’ We all trusted each other and we all have that one thing in common—we are right where God wants us to be right now. The show is helping people more so than it’s hurting people which is a great thing.”

“I felt apprehensive at first, but then I started thinking to myself that this would be a good platform to help other girls who are going through what I’ve been through, and I thought ‘shoot, why not!” laughed Wyatt, who is best known for her soulful collaborations with R&B recording artist Avant—‘My First Love’ and ‘Nothing In This World.’ Wyatt’s career stalled after reports involving her first marriage surfaced and she became blackballed in the industry. “You never know what people are going through and I think what got me behind or under the radar was that a lot of people didn’t want to support me because I couldn’t tell my story. My lawyers told me not to say anything. Now, I can tell my story and what better way than this,” said Wyatt. Fans will be ecstatic to know that a new album is in the works slated to be released next year. “It will be KeKe Wyatt with a twist. It is just me,” she gleamed.

Watch the season finale of ‘R&B Divas’ tonight at 9pm CST/10pm EST on TVOne.

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