Just James: The Real Story
By Lisa Collins, senior music editor, GospelMusicChannel.com
From Twitter to Facebook to iTunes, the buzz was overwhelming, but it was the charts that would reveal the success of J. Moss’ third CD, Just James, which released
August 25.
True to form, the Detroit native not only scored, but hit the ball right out of the park, with the CD that landed him at number one on Billboard’s top-selling gospel albums charts, number six on the R&B albums chart, and number 74 on the Billboard Top 200, as of press time. What’s more, the lead single “Restored” is winding its way up Billboard’s top gospel songs chart.
“It’s not one of the ones where people are bumping in the street saying, ‘it’s a must-have record for the summer,’” says the award-winning singer/producer. “Instead it’s one of the must-have records for your life, and for me that’s really gratifying.”
He characterizes the project as a heart record; the pain he went through to get to that level of introspection is difficult for him to convey.
“Heart attracts heart. That’s why a lot of people are feeling it,” Moss says. “There are not a lot of strings or bass lines to decipher through or clever clichés to pull back. It’s just basically straight at you from a hurt man, a restored man, and now a triumphant man.”
In June of 2008, Moss was named in a paternity suit that began what would be an ugly court battle that shook his 13-year marriage to its core. In October – after a court-ordered DNA test determined the 36-year-old singer as the boy's father with "99.9 percent" accuracy – Moss was ordered to pay child support.
The case and the implication of infidelity created a credibility problem for the artist, with reports sprouting up all over the web, many of which criticized and even slandered the singer.
But it was out of court, off the Internet and in his home that it caused the biggest problems, leading to a day that forever altered Moss’ outlook on the scandal, his marriage and his new CD.
