Thug Life Army

‘Mama I Want to Sing’ is a story about faith, family, and the power of love which comes DVD February 14 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Adapted from the hit off-Broadway musical, MAMA, I WANT TO SING brings down the house with electrifying performances by R&B and gospel music legends.

Talented but naive, Amara Winter (multi-platinum selling artist Ciara) is a young gospel singer who dreams of pop stardom. Raised in a tight-knit community, Amara is discovered by agents who quickly propel her to the top with recording sessions and television appearances. Soured by the sudden media attention, Amara's preacher mother (Emmy Award®-winner Lynn Whitfield, Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story) implores her to stay grounded. Amara faithfully pursues her music career even in the face of creating a strained relationship with her mother, and turns to her father (Grammy Award®-winner Marvin Winans, I Can Do Bad All By Myself) and Sister Carrie (Grammy Award®-winner Patti LaBelle, "A Different World") for support. On her way to the limelight, Amara must learn to navigate the often-treacherous world of celebrity and find a way to remain true to herself and to her family.

MAMA, I WANT TO SING features a star-studded cast, including Billy Zane (Titanic), Broadway legend Ben Vereen (All That Jazz), Hill Harper (For Colored Girls), and Kevin Phillips (Notorious).

He explained that when the Wu was first working together, there was a certain energy and hunger that unified the nine members behind the W. But as members branched off with their own projects, certain emcees' solo fame led to divisions within the group that ultimately hurt almighty Wu's effectiveness as a team.

"What I really miss is that energy from my brothers. We were young, we were child stars at that time, but I miss being around niggas and laughing in the studio…just, every line that come out niggas, everybody's head lift up like, 'Oooh,' and everybody's head go down and get back in that pen and pad," he said. "To me, it just created a force and I'ma tell you something - and I ain't told nobody this - but I feel like in a way, us doing solo things hurt us [as a group]. I never told nobody that, y'all niggas the first ones to know. When we had something so pure and so solid together, it could've been structured more togetherly. It could've been more stronger if we knew it had to stay like that. But when we allow[ed] each other to do us, some did better than others and when some did better than others, it caused a certain kind of reaction in the whole movement."

VladTV recently caught up with Raekwon to talk about the legendary Wu-Tang Clan's career and their legacy as of date. During the interview, the Chef explained that he personally feels the Clan hasn't been as active as a team as of late due to differences that arose out members' solo success.

He added, "It wasn't like nobody was trying to out-do each other, because we all was nice, it was just that some probably worked a little harder and some did more things and some was just playing his part. You can't be mad at it; the nigga is playing his position and when it's time to go shoot and you say, 'Yo, shoot!' - 'Aight, shoot - bong,' but not being a slinger. To me, when we did that, it kinda like put us in a more competitive situation with each other instead of focusing more strongly on the brand. The brand is so big just as a team, it's like when we did that, it jumped into some ego shit - which normally happens, but what I'm just trying to say is if we would've stayed more tighter, we probably would've had about 30 albums right now."

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