A Quick Chit-Chat With Maxwell

Last Sunday was a good night to be Maxwell. After a sold out concert at the United Palace Theater, he headed downtown to the Bowery Hotel where a room-full of lucky fans and celebrity friends like model Liya Kebede and the gal-about-town Bevy Smith waited to welcome him. Between hugs, kisses, and more hugs, he took five minutes to chat with me about his return to music, his insecurities and his roots as a Brooklyn boy.

So how are you feeling right now?
I feel such a sense of validation because I never thought that people could be so patient and so loving and so respectful of the fact that when people make music they need to live a life to bring that music to them. It's like, in this day in age they want to love you and destroy you. But that's not happened. People genuinely love me and have been genuinely pulling for me to just get to it when I was ready. I want to thank anyone out there who did that for me.

So it's safe to say that you were you blown away by the response you've gotten?
You've got to remember, I'm from Brooklyn. I grew up on welfare. My mother was a nurse. It's like grass roots, immigrant type shit -- excuse my French. But to be in a situation where you get to do what you love, take a break, come back, and still have people there, it's given me so much confidence. I'm a very insecure person. I know I may come off a little bit like I know my shit don't stink, but at the end of the day, I just want people to like me and I hope they like what I do. This made my world. This whole tour. especially New York tonight has been a monumental moment for me.

So speaking of the new album, when are we going to see it?
The new album is going to be out first quarter next year. We're starting a secondary market tour and then we are doing an arena tour so I will be on the road for about two years. Going to Africa again, going to Asia, going to everywhere I haven't been.