[youtube id=”9TF7JsQEnyQ”]Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are releasing their first compilation album this year after writing decades of hits for others. They explained in their Instagram post how they had intended to release an album as artists thirty years ago but songs they wrote were eventually used by Janet Jackson on Control,  her breakout album. In their quest to expand they started Perspective Records and made the Sounds Of Blackness their first artist and they had a hit with their single “Optimistic.” Jam and Lewis reunited with Ann Nesby and the late James “Big Jim” Wright who both were past members of the group. Singer Lauren Evans is also featured on the gospel-heavy tunes. The song is the first one from the forthcoming Jam & Lewis Vol. 1 due in the coming months. 

[youtube id=”ox5Q-bYduZw”] Ann Nesby and Al Green recorded “Put It On Paper” for Nesby’s second album named after the song. Their performance gave Nesby her first Grammy nomination as a solo artist. She already had success as the former lead singer of the Sounds Of Blackness. They won Grammys, blazed Billboard and had some of their songs remixed into major club hits during the ’90s. Nesby and Green’s vocals together formed a powerful soul pact of love. The strength of their duet and the overall collection including a cover of Brainstorm’s “Lovin’ Is Really My Game”  announced her true coming out as a solo artist. Nesby released her ninth solo album Living My Life in 2014.