Last year it was about the fellas and this year it’s about the ladies. Singer Charlie Wilson is on a mission to teach people how to respect, treat and speak to women.
“I’ve been around so many hip-hop artists who have downgraded women in their raps calling women the B-word and stuff like that. That’s crazy. It’s not fair. I decided to try and show them the right lyrics to sing. Men and rappers need to man up. Rappers can sell as many records without all of that. They are just trying to be heard because there’s a new generation of kids coming up. We also have to change little girls and the way they think about themselves and help them understand that they are humans and queens,” explained Wilson who hails from Tulsa but resides in Los Angeles.
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CHARLIE WILSON
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Wilson will be bringing that message and his beautiful voice to the Monroeville Convention Center on Mother’s Day, May 8. The show is being presented by the Savoy Restaurant and proceeds from the show will benefit the fourth annual Women’s Walk For Peace.
The Women’s Walk for Peace supports National Domestic Violence Month in October and consists of a two-mile walk. The event is open to the general public and seeks to claim victory over violence through unity.
“A lot of people have been receptive to my message saying that their boyfriends should be told that they are queens,” Wilson said with a smile.
Wilson released his third Jive Record solo album in December entitled “Just Charlie,” which spawned the top-10 single “You Are.”
“That song is for a woman who has stood by her man and it’s also for men who don’t know how to say what they feel to their girlfriends and wives. This is the wedding song of the century,” he said.
In addition to “You Are,” the second single, the remake of “I Wanna Be Your Man” is a shout-out to his friend and fellow musician, Roger Troutman from Zapp. The remake features songstress Fantasia.
“Roger and I were friends and he came to me back when we were all funking and asked me about music and then he came back to me with ‘I Wanna Be Your Man.’ It was one of my favorite songs and I wanted to redo it. I wanted to keep it authentic and do the best we could do vocally so we said lets’ make it a duet,” recalls Wilson. “I said what about Fantasia? She was in town finishing her album and she was great. She did the song in one take. She was a sweetheart.”
In addition to promoting “Just Charlie,” Wilson recently finished his third tour of Iraq entertaining the troops.
“I keep going back because they keep asking for me. I was nervous the first time that I went because there was automatic gun fire. Then I thought if these teenagers can do it, I’m a grown man and I can do it. I have no reason to be afraid, if they can put their lives on the line and put it down, then I can give them morale,” he said.
Wilson is scheduled to go to Afghanistan next year.
The consummate performer is still working to educate men about the benefits of getting tested for prostate cancer. Wilson was diagnosed with the disease in 2008 and thanks to early detection, was cured. He wants the same outcome for other men.
“Men don’t like to go to the doctor because we don’t want to know what’s happening to us. My dad lived to be 91; my grandfather lived to be 98 and my grandmother lived to be 113. You can live a long time if you take care of yourself,” he said.
And Wilson does just that. When he isn’t making the ladies swoon or boosting the troops morale with his amazing voice, Wilson enjoys spending time on his 20-acre farm with his wife, Mahin, and their numerous animals.
“I’ve definitely been blessed and I thank my fans and my family,” Wilson said.
(For tickets to Wilson’s concert, call 1-888-718-4253.)
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