NEW YORK (AP) — If happiness is a journey, not a destination, then Yolanda Adams has used her faith and smiles to sustain her spirits through life’s ups and downs.

“I think I was born with that happiness gene that people talk about,” the gospel star said. “I want people to leave here feeling like they’re better than they are… I’ve had days when I’ve been up, I’ve had days when I’ve been down. But at the end of the day, the one lesson I’ve learned in every single one of those scenarios is that this too shall pass.”

That theme continues throughout her latest album, “Sunny Days,” her first studio project in nearly 13 years.

“The way you look at anything has a lot to do with how you deal with it,” said the booming-voiced four-time Grammy Award winner.

The 15-track project was six years in the making, delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and her role in the television series “Kingdom Business”.

“Sunny Days” is a piece written and produced by gospel music giant Donald Lawrence and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame members Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewiswhose work on Babyface also contributed to the delay. The album is promoted by the song “Church Doors”, which after only one week reached number 9 on Billboard magazine’s Hot Gospel Songs chart.

As he has throughout his profession, Adams uses his musical gift of encouragement on songs like the title track “Blessings” and “Powerful,” which has a spoken-word intro: (*13*)

“I try to be the best cheerleader I can be for everyone in my life,” the former elementary school teacher said. “You know how The Lion King says, ‘Simba, remember who you are.’ That’s what it’s all about: You are powerful.”

“When We Pray” – Produced by Jam and Lewis, who rose to fame after working with stars including Janet Jackson, Babyface, Usher and Mary J. Blige — it’s about putting faith into motion. Adams says she has a “lifelong bond” with the duo.

“We write together. We laugh, we cry,” said Adams, 63. “We talk about the problems of the world together and how we can create great music that can make people not only aware of the blessings of their lives but aware of the space they’re in right now.”

Named the #1 Gospel Artist of the 2000s by Billboard, Adams has produced iconic hits resembling “The Battle is the Lord’s,” “I’m Gonna Be Ready,” “In the Midst of It All” and “Be Blessed,” in addition to hits with Jam and Lewis: “Never Give Up” and “Open My Heart,” the latter from her Grammy Award-winning 1999 album Mountain High … Valley Low.

“Open My Heart,” which the late Luther Vandross privately championed when his record company desired to release a special single, reached unprecedented heights, crossing over to R&B radio and peaking at No. 57 on Billboard’s Hot 100.

“I was in the middle of making a business decision that didn’t just affect my family. It affected everyone on the road with me,” Adams said, reflecting on the inspiration for the song. “I’m sitting here today because I made the right decision.”

The Texas Southern graduate starred in the BET+ drama Kingdom Business, currently in its second season, as Denita, a gospel star and music executive determined to guard her family’s secrets. While Adams enjoys playing a personality who is very different from herself, she says it’s been a challenge for some fans.

“I lost a couple of fans who were like, ‘You didn’t have to swear,’” she explained that while she had no input into the script, her character is believable because churchgoers aren’t perfect. “When people are dealing with life, it can make you say things you wouldn’t normally say. And I really hope people take away from ‘Kingdom Business’ this: If you were the person you were trying to judge… how would you feel?”

Adams is currently on the 33-date Kirk Franklin Reunion Tour, which features fellow gospel titans Fred Hammond, Marvin Sapp and The Clark Sisters. While gospel has all the time been her passion, she is open to performing a secular R&B song and has spoken to Stevie Wonder a few duet and helping him with a possible gospel project.

For now, nonetheless, she is focused on getting the message of her book “Sunny Days” across, but she won’t measure its success by the variety of copies sold, but by the variety of hearts touched.

“When I hear your testimony and hear how music was a part of your life, it just makes me more accountable: ‘Yes, I have to keep making this music! I have to keep making good music! OK God, give me some good things so I can keep blessing people.'”

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Janet Jackson once almost showed her full moon to the Queen of England.

The 58-year-old music icon opened up about an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction she had within the ’90s, in addition to a few of her most memorable fashion moments. British Vogue. When the “That’s the Way Love Goes” singer stepped out for a photograph in her iconic “Rhythm Nation” jumpsuit, she said, “Funny story about that jumpsuit: I was performing for the Queen of England and we were playing ‘Rhythm Nation.’ And sure enough, as soon as I crouched down, my pants ripped right down my ass crack. And I mean that very seriously.”

Jackson was in disbelief, she said, adding: “I thought, ‘Oh my God.’ And then I started feeling air in there, so I knew it had actually happened.”

She coped with the style faux pas by never turning her back on the Queen. When the choreography required her to show, she said, “I just looked straight ahead.”

“Can you imagine what it would be like if I showed myself to her for even a second?” she asked.

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Elsewhere within the film, Jackson takes viewers on a journey through her childhood looks within the Nineteen Seventies to her more memorable stage looks from throughout her epic entertainment profession. She admits that she was a tomboy who often needed to argue her viewpoint when it got here to her mother’s clothing decisions. She preferred wearing suits and trousers, while her mother favored dresses and colours like pink.

But, Jackson noted with a sly smile, “I’ve gotten my way in a lot of cases.”

She added: “It was just about being myself and being comfortable.”

In another photo from her teens on the American Music Awards, she wears a red ruffled taffeta dress and a pair of hoop earrings, one in all which has a key hanging from it. She explained that since she didn’t carry a key chain, she needed to get creative when it got here to keeping her keys on her person.

“I was in charge of the animals, and we had animals: giraffes, mouflon sheep, pheasants, toucans, cockatoos, dogs,” she said, adding: “That’s why I kept the key there.”

She also noted that she hadn’t seen the dress for the reason that ’80s, when her older sister LaToya wore it herself.

“Sisters,” she said with fun.

The video ends with a scene from her current tour designed by Tom Browne.

“There are certain designers who are just brilliant to me. Thom is right up there. He’s a genius and he did this for me on tour,” she noted of the designer she called a friend.

“I think he did it, but he did it, and I did it,” she said of the tuxedo jumpsuit look.

Discussing the present tour and her fans, the music legend said, “You know, it’s people who have grown up with my music since the beginning and their kids. It just lets me know that my music has stood the test of time, which would be any artist’s dream.”

One day last fall, while I used to be in school at Howard University, I felt a bit uneasy about the work that several of my students had become me. I don’t have to go into detail, but let’s just say I felt something like — RIP to Rich Homie Quan. My class felt it, so I closed the class and let everyone leave early. Anyway, I showed as much as my next class wearing triple-black (otherwise often known as all-black) Nike Air Force 1 Lows. One of my students, who can also be a sneakerhead, noticed my shoes and said something like, “Oh, what era are we in?” I began lecturing my class about how kindness is weakness and that they were confusing my desire for them to succeed with my willingness to just accept mediocre work. Although it wasn’t a fun class that day, all of us got here away with a clearer understanding of my expectations and their efforts. I had shown the black energy of the Air Force 1, they usually knew it.

The black Air Force 1 is a legend in the footwear industry. While the all-white Nike Air Force 1 Low is a beloved shoe worn by people from ages 8 months to 80 years old, when people think of its black counterpart, they think of sinister, mean, indignant, and destructive behavior. Anyone who wears black Forces just isn’t committing against the law, but anyone who does commit against the law is wearing (or has worn) black Forces. That last statement might be not true, however it could thoroughly be true. Black Forces are synonymous with the type of one who is above things and living that life; either they’ll show you that they’re serious, or they already are and you understand you shouldn’t mess with them anymore. The black Air Force 1 is the shoe of a one who stands as much as the system and every little thing in it.

That’s why I wasn’t surprised when Kendrick Lamar posted an untitled single on Instagram (the streets call it “Watch the Party Die”), which featured a worn, battered black Air Force 1 cover. It’s Kendrick Lamar’s first song since his summer heater and potentially the best diss album of all time, “Not like us.” The shoes in the Instagram post could thoroughly be the ones he stomped on Drake’s credibility and coolness; Kendrick’s entire record series criticizing Drake’s post “Yes,” gave the black Air Force 1 energy.

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The song itself is interesting since it almost feels like the thoughts of a man walking down the street whose favorite shoe is a pair of black Air Force 1s. Kendrick is sick of, well, all of you. Maybe even me. He’s annoyed by fake individuals and folks who haven’t got anything to do with anything, men here who don’t have anything to supply women there. Now he’s a considering man who’s on a mission to destroy and rebuild the game because, well, possibly he seems like he’s the just one who can do it. That’s definitely the black energy of the Air Force 1.

He can also be conflicted. He desires to have empathy for those individuals who just don’t appear to know any higher. He wants to wish for them, but… he’s wearing black Air Force 1s. He’s about motion and pushing boundaries for many who matter most to him. He also knows that the price of his fame, celebrity, and artistry is his peace of mind. The same con artists who’re a threat to the community through their music and their lives will attack him because he has something to supply.

Again, Kendrick feels like a person whose job and actions are about purpose and getting the job done, and he’s stuck in an industry full of individuals who care about nothing but destruction. He needed to get rid of Drake for being the epitome of that thing. Look, I do not know if that is what Kendrick actually thinks about every day when he goes into the studio (or in any respect), but when we later discovered he’s rapping in the same shoes he’s wearing on the cover of this song, I wouldn’t be surprised. This is a person who has every little thing, and who also knows what meaning. That’s what I got from this song: Kendrick, who may or might not be on the point of drop a brand new album — he tends to drop songs as precursors to his albums — is drained of everyone.

Now I can be remiss if I didn’t mention that Kendrick is an artist and he just competed in and won the biggest rap battle we have had in ages. He’s having the best 2024 ever, it seems. AND NOW he’s a Super Bowl headliner in New Orleans. But I feel that is the point; regardless of how high you’re, you possibly can’t stop being yourself, and Kendrick is willing to place that work into all of you who’re making the game worse for many who are coming up.

Kendrick says it is time to look at the party die. I’m guessing he’ll do it in his black Air Force 1s because that is 100% the energy he’s giving.