ESSENCE Fest Dream Team : Joe

R&B singer Joe stopped by our New York offices to preview his new album Bridges, due out June 23rd.

We pulled him into the hot seat to find out what legendary artist he wants to tribute. Over the years, the singer has tributed legendary artists such as Frankie Beverly and Maze and Earth, Wind & Fire, so we were excited to hear what type of tribute he would produce if given the opportunity.

There are so many good names that I feel should be honored, but they have probably happened already. But I love, love Stevie Wonder. I’ve always been a big, big fan. I’m not sure if he’s been honored, but Lionel Richie, too. It would be interesting to do a nice R&B tribute to him and the Commodores maybe.

[To help with the tribute] My number one pick is Brandy. She’s one of the best R&B soul singers and one of the best voices in the game. Very creative when she’s thinking on her own and doing her own thing. She would be certainly one of them. I love Tank. Tank is one of the gritty singers — smooth but gritty. I feel like he puts a lot of passion into it and I think he can sing any song and make it sound good. Between those two right there they would make any song sound good. I mean, Lionel Richie has great songs, so that’s not going to be hard to do. And I would have to pull a legend in. I said Stevie Wonder and I would have to certainly call him and see if he’d come through and be a part of that tribute.

Joe’s new album is available for pre-order here and two songs are available immediately. He also told us he would be in New Orleans for ESSENCE Festival this year. Stay tuned to find out in what capacity.