Here's Why Muni Long Thinks 'Revenge' Will Be The 'R&B Album Of The Year'

After winning a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance with her 2022 R&B/pop breakthrough hit “Hrs and Hrs,” Muni Long is back with a new album. Revengetoday (August 30) at The Muni Long Inc./Def Jam Recordings. The sophomore follow-up at Public displays of affection: The album also comes with two hits already in progress: “Made for Me” and “Make Me Forget.” The latter recently scored Long's first No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay.

The singer-songwriter describes the 14-track Revenge (hear HERE) in press material as “one large journal entry”. Except for his latest single, the soulful ballad “He destroyed me”, the project includes more notable songs like the introspective “30s” (“The first song I actually wrote for the album“), the opening anthem “Superpowers” and the uptempo BFF ode “Bessie.”

From beginning to end, Revenge filled with honest, raw emotions and relatable scenarios. This is due to Long's insightful ability, such as this line from “Superpowers”: “Just like my superpowers don't work on you and me.” There's also Long's catchy voice, for which she shouts out vocal producer Kuk Harrell: “We're just washing. he knows how to get it out of me.” Additional Revenge Collaborators include hitmakers Christopher “Tricky” Stewart (“Make Me Forget,” which includes an interlude of D'Angelo's “Untitled (How Does It Feel)”), Jeff “Gitty” Gitelman (“Ruined Me”) and Jermaine Dupri and Bryan -Michael Cox (“Made for Me”).

Long had recently finished her first term at Chris Brown 11:11 tour, which ended in early August, when Bulletin board met her during a layover at the airport. At one point in the phone interview he said Revenge going to be “the R&B album of the year.

“First of all, you have to be a little delusional to do that [music]”, he continued laughing. “But I have to believe it before the album is even finished. I had to know that this is what I wanted to do as I was doing it because that energy and that frequency has to be infused into the music. That's something a lot of music lacks in terms of energy and confidence — before anyone else validates you. You can tell I didn't just throw these pieces together. This project was well thought out and well intentioned. People will appreciate that and resonate with the music on a deeper level.”

What lessons did you learn from your first arena tour?

It was like one big singalong every night. I've done three shows by myself since Chris' tour ended and this crowd came expecting to hear great songs. They want to hear R&B music. I understand it's not normal for a new artist to be on their first tour doing arenas right? So I don't take it for granted. I learned a lot: how to work the crowd. how to co-exist with the audience and not be up there like I'm separate from them. It felt like a masterclass working with Chris because he is an incredible live performer. I only had 30 minutes. So I don't know how she did it for two and a half hours at the energy level she was giving, dancing and singing in full. It was a crazy, amazing experience.

What was it like working with Mariah Carey on the 'Made for Me' remix?

The fact that she even said yes was like, wow. I grew up listening to her, Whitney [Houston] and Celine [Dion]. So not only was it an honor, but I had my name next to hers [laughs]. Mariah is also an excellent vocal producer, producer and songwriter. I don't think she gets the credit she deserves. Working with her as an artist and, before that as a songwriter, was probably one of the most memorable, valuable experiences I've had in music. But working with her, she never made you feel like she's such a big personality. It was always, “I have you here because I want your essence, your vibe. I want you to do what you do.”

You are now in promotion mode for Revenge. What sparked the creative direction behind this album?

Sometimes I'll get the itch to just write. Or I'll hear a conversation or piece of music that will inspire a lyric. I didn't really have a specific theme for what this album was going to be. It was, “I like this song. It's very good and I want to keep it.” From there we had to limit them. I had about 18 songs when I first got with Tricky. So I let him shape the album and tracklist — which is what I would normally do. But I kind of stepped back, allowing myself to do the art and let someone else help me form the image. It's the first time I've done it.

How did the title track come about?

We were in the studio and The-Dream just stopped by to visit. I remember looking around the room, and it's Tricky, Kuk Harrell, Theron Thomas, The-Dream, and me. There's no way I can have all these powerful people in this room and not get a song [laughs]. And if you've ever been around The-Dream, you know he likes to go back and forth. So we get to arguing about relationships, men and women and how we treat each other…what's the angle? Somehow we get to the point where, at a certain point, tit for tat isn't necessary: ​​I don't even want revenge. I just want you to go on somewhere. Then we started writing the verse. Actually, Dream texted what I said, went into a booth and made the whole melody for the verse and chorus. He says, “Okay, I'm done.” Then Theron and I took it and just basically wrote my story. like, this is what i'm going through right now. Because it's so close to home, I said, “That's the title.” The best revenge is success.

In your press material, you note that the journey to this moment in your career took 17 years. Did you ever lose faith while going from songwriter to singer-songwriter?

If I had known it would take this long, I probably would have done something else [laughs]. I became very impatient. I was ready to give up many times. But I think there's something to be said for listening to your gut. Every time I wanted to leave, I said, “No, what else am I going to do?” This is where my heart is and that really kept me going. I spent a lot of time writing songs for other people [Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Kelly Clarkson]. But I don't regret it because I learned so much. That's why I can write songs the way I do. So everything is done exactly as it should be.