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Tweet‘s story is just as fascinating as it is

inspiring. The soulful vocalist better known as the “Southern Hummingbird” has battled depression and come close to taking her own life after dealing with an underrated music career. Those are some of the very painful moments in her life that have helped make her music so personal and heart-felt.

MUST READ: LISTEN: Tweet “Face To Face”

Tweet’s debut album entered the Billboard 200 chart at number three. It sold over 100,000 copies in the first week. It was a success and spawned the ladies anthem “Smoking Cigarettes.” The 18-track disc was a vessel for Tweet’s emotions and served therapeutic for her and so many other women out there. It has been labeled a “classic.”

That was 10 years ago. But since then, the “Oops Oh My” songstress has found God over a six-year hiatus, gone celibate and is preparing to release her third album, Simply Tweet. She is under a new label–DuBose Music Group and has a new outlook on life. With the Lord by her side, Tweet has returned to music.

We spoke to the songstress and found our what she has been doing all these years outside the spotlight!

Tell us about Simply Tweet and “Tweet Tuesdays”…

We decided to give the fans and the supporters some music to tie them over until Simply Tweet comes out. So that was just a treat for all the supporters and the fans that love the music. So we decided to do that. “Simply Tweet” is the title of the new album dropping soon, don’t have a date yet but soon because of the great response we’ve gotten from tweet Tuesdays. People are anticipating “Simply Tweet.” Its pages out of my diary, the stuff that I’ve been going through since I left the business. I guess you’ll get an idea of what I’ve been going through and how I’m a different person now but its back to southern hummingbird. All the styles I did on that and a little bit extra. I’m excited.

Speaking of being gone for so long, what were you going during this whole hiatus?

Well, what was most important for me to do was get my life right with Christ. My spiritual life was suffering. I guess being in the business, you know I was hurt and bitter and I really didn’t want to do music anymore because of everything that I was going through, I wasn’t supported a lot. And so I decided to leave the business for a while, in hiatus. I got my life together with Christ and I was mom you know for a long time and now im grandmom, happily a grandmom. I had to get back in tuned with Him.

MUST READ: LISTEN: Tweet “Trouble”

When you say you weren’t supported, you weren’t supported by fans or by the industry?

Oh its terrible. It’s probably worse now than when I got in the business. It’s definitely not the fans, they have always been there. Fans are really the people who brought me back to the business because every time I go to the store or anywhere I’m at, people are asking ‘Whats going on?’ and things like that. But back to what you were saying, the business was not being supported with the people who were supposed to be backing me. The last album that I came out with Its Me Again, I compromised myself a lot. But that album was supposed to be a part two of “Southern Hummingbird” and when I turned that album in, they didn’t want it the way, who I was. They asked me to take off half my songs and put on songs that were pleasing to their ears. So then I compromised and when I compromised, it left me out to dry. So that is was I meant by saying not being supported. And I was just tired. And plus I was in the business since 1999, it was something like that. So it wasn’t like I gave up because of that situation, but it was from being in there for years and nothing happening with my music.

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What was your favorite song on “Southern Hummingbird”?

It’s like asking a mother who’s her favorite child out of 10 /12 kids. I don’t have a favorite. There could be days where I feel like ‘Smoking Cigarettes” so I just play that or it could be days where ‘Motel’ cause ‘Motel’ is the very first song that I wrote on a guitar. That could be like the baby of the whole album. But I don’t really have a favorite.

Are you going back to work with Missy and Timbaland?

No, actually “Simply Tweet” is really just simply me. I wanted to do this on my own and prove to myself that I could do it and be a business woman. Not to say that we aren’t gonna work together and haven’t tried to, but it’s just our schedules and things just didn’t pan out on this album. But maybe in the future. We’re still friends and all that stuff, but this one was just for me to prove as a businesswoman that I could really do it on my own.

MUST READ: She’s Back: Tweet Releases New Song “Day Dreaming”

Are you still “Smoking Cigarettes” at night?

*Laughs* Oh no. I stopped smoking like 6 years ago. In the hiatus, when I tell ya, it was a whole change. My life is changed. I stopped that, I stopped drinking and everything. I had to get myself together.

Do you have any advice for someone dealing with bullying that may be contemplating suicide?

Yes, definitely don’t do it first of all. Always talk to someone, I felt like I didn’t have anyone to talk to but I did, I was just afraid to speak on what was going on in my life or embarrassed that I felt that way. I would advise someone to really speak to someone about your feelings and always know that there’s somebody somewhere going through something worse than what you’re going through and to pray. Speak to God about it, I mean that’s what I would do. Just don’t do it!

“Oops Oh My” very sexually suggestive, do you have anything like that planned for this album?

No, not really. “Oops” was an accident. Missy and I were riding and Tim had given her a cd of some tracks and that track came on. I just started singing ‘oops’ in a song and she was like ‘oh my god we need to do this record’ So start singing a song about pulling my skirt down and it was just an accident. But its nothing, I don’t think I have anything like that on this album. This album is more mature, it’s still Southern Hummingbird. I’m not afraid to be who I am vocally and just me as a woman. It’s very womanly this record, Simply Tweet.

3 sex tips:

1) Protect yourself.

2) Don’t spread yourself. Just choose wisely.

3) I don’t know, I’ve been celibate for 6 years so I don’t even know what, I’m kinda out of touch with it.

You’ve been celibate for 6 years?

Yeah since my last relationship. I’m telling you with the hiatus, I had to change my whole everything. I have a new outlook on life and everything. And that’s why I say don’t spread yourself too freely, make sure you’re making the right decisions and protect yourself.

How has your celibacy journey been going?

It’s not hard because the reason why I’m doing it is religious. The way I’m living my life now doesn’t cost, I don’t need that. Everything that I need is in my Lord and Savior and that’s important until I meet my husband. I’m focused on whatever I have to do to please God and to do my music and spend time with my family. It’s not hard at all. They say ‘once you can stop doing something for 21 days or 30 days, you can conquer it.’ I guess that’s a good advice for somebody that wants to take that route as well.

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