[EXCLUSIVE] Deborah Cox Talks Music Comeback, New Album, Honoring Whitney Houston, Reality Shows, More

Powerhouse vocalist Deborah Cox is making her return to R&B after a seven year hiatus from music. That may seem like a long time to many, but for Cox, her break was consumed by various other professional endeavors.

“The time has gone by so quickly, and I’ve done so much in that amount of time that it doesn’t feel like I’ve left,” Cox told Singersroom. “I know for the fans that love the soul and R&B side of me, I know it’s been a minute since I put out a single, but I have been kind of busy on Broadway, kind of busy doing other projects and stuff, so for me, I feel like I’m coming back to the party.”

Prior to the launch of her brand new single, “Kinda Miss You,” a record that dips into the desirable feelings of a past relationship, Cox kicked off the party by delivering ferocious vocal performances in the Lifetime biopic, Whitney, a movie about the late, great Whitney Houston.

“The experience doing the Whitney film was really an honor. I knew that I had big shoes to fill, I knew that she needed to be represented right,” she says. “My focus was on making sure that I got the correct timbre and tone and phrasing down, so that people would be sort of lost in her performance in the film… I feel like she deserved to be honored and shown in the best light possible.”

While she may have a vast amount of experience on stages, Cox wasn’t ready for the visual attention. We asked her if she ever thought about playing the Whitney lead, and she told us, “That never entered my mind only because I was called for a specific purpose, and that was to lend my voice to the film. I didn’t read the script… or have any other involvement outside of providing the vocals.”

Cox appreciates her privacy, so when the producers of TV One’s ‘R&B Divas’ called for her to appear on the show, she also passed up that visual opportunity.

“Reality TV is not necessarily something that I would do, it depends on how it’s done, who else is a part of it; so many things that I consider first before committing to something like a reality show,” she says. “I have a family now, it’s very different, it’s not just about me; I have to think about them as well… I’m also a private person… I enjoy my anonymity outside of music. I probably will just stick to social media and keep people informed that way.

As far as her new single, “Kinda Miss You,” Cox continues to resonate on the fun and walk-it-out vibe track, her first offering since her 2008 album, The Promise, and 2011 remix to “If It Wasn’t For Love.”

“It’s a great song. I think it really has all of the elements of who I am musically,” she says. “It gives you that soft, soulful ballad at the beginning, and then just sort of thrust into this cool, laid-back beat that just keeps you moving… I really wanted something kind of fun as a first look off of this record.”

Cox’s upcoming album, Work of Art, which revolves around her life experiences, will include a variety of songs, including her powerhouse ballads. "People won’t be disappointed because I know there are other ballads on this album. There’s like a nice cross-section of songs that talk about relationships, self-love, positivity, and this really is where I am right now in my life.”

She adds, “It’s different from my debut album or even the One Wish album; this one really infuses what’s happening today in music, and also reaches back to my roots as a soul singer.”

Watch the full interview with Mrs. Cox Below: