Features : Keri Hilson Said ‘We Need To Talk,’ So We Did

Keri Hilson spent 15 years away from public purview. Assumptions were made. Unsubstantiated fodder came and went. Now, she’s back with a lot to say. This reintroduction started with her clarifying misconceptions with a six-part web series in conversation with herself. She continued to explain herself with her new three-part album, aptly titled, WE NEED TO TALK— where she makes it all make sense.

Scene one, as she calls it, Love, is out now. Drama and Redemption will follow.

“What inspired the album title is the fact that we need to talk […] It’s time to talk to my fans and answer some questions and give them the vulnerability that they deserve for waiting so long to hear anything from me again […] The second part of the album [‘Drama’] makes the title makes sense,” Hilson noted during part one of our sit-down.

She confessed that she chose to explain herself in this way because the extended recount is far better than the abridged one. Hilson acknowledged, “It is a story. It is a movie. I did break it up because I was [told] people consume music in short, but I just kind of went rogue and was like, ‘Well, my fans have been waiting long enough. I think my fans will listen.'” She was right.

Hilson got proverbially “naked” and admitted that she had a “real longing to be understood” because “I was hiding and protecting and doing things like that.” She continued, “I deprived the world of knowing who I truly am […] I want the world to be able to see me for the first time, and that’s what I’m trying to accomplish with ‘We Need to Talk.'”

Over the past 15 years, there wasn’t just one defining moment that made her feel ready to talk. She was ready to get to “jump back in the industry,” but also wanted to address how she’d been “perceived.” Ultimately, her decision to end her hiatus was greater than living in fear of telling her truth.

“I still wake up every day and pray that despite what I’m being asked, despite what insinuations can be made, despite what clickbait can be created from what my words actually are or are intended to be, I can stand strong, be courageous, remain open and just be me and truthful,” Hilson revealed.

In our illuminating chat, Hilson detailed why she “feels closest to God when creating,” how Method Man ended up on her album, why she doesn’t box herself in creatively, and the ways in which We Need To Talk will “satiate” her fans.

Humbly stating, “I’ve worked harder now than I ever have in my entire career to make sure that this is something that would satisfy [my fans]. I’m making music for those who like what I do. I’m making music for those who have waited to hear from me again in a real sense, who I have impacted, and who are waiting.”

For Hilson, We Need To Talk is a “comeback, redemption, [and] “resurrection” and intends for it to take “other forms,” while keeping details about what that means under wraps.

Check out our full exploration into Keri Hilson’s next musical era above. Stay tuned for her upcoming episode on VIBE’s Then & Now, where she reflects on her mid-2000s reign and undiminishable journey.