By any measure, Vivian Green has the whole package. A songwriter and singer since she was an early teen, Green had the voice, the songwriting skills and the looks to be a major star. And while her career has certainly had its bumps, over her quarter century in the spotlight she has developed into a consistent adult soul artist with a clear vision.
A Philadelphia native, Green paid her dues as a background singer for Jill Scott before being signed as a solo singer by Columbia Records in 2001. For her debut, A Love Story, Green followed her mentor Scott’s penchant for intelligent, personal lyrics (though almost exclusively about troubled personal relationships) and combined them with modern R&B and jazz elements that made the album more interesting than the slew of other female neo-soul albums that were released that year. And though the album was of uneven quality, her hot single “Emotional Rollercoaster” and her willingness to experiment with varied musical styles made her an artist to watch and one who appeared to have the ability to further differentiate herself from the pack in subsequent releases.
Unfortunately, her second album, Vivian, appeared to focus more on Green as a sex symbol than as versatile musical star. It was both critically and commercially a step down from its predecessor. Green moved to E One Records for 2010’s Beautiful, a solid disc that was an improvement over its predecessor, but an album that had trouble finding a major audience.
Green made a nice appearance on the 2012 compilation, Soundtrack of a Revolution, performing “Oh Freedom,” and also provided a guest vocal performance on Bob Baldwin’s Thom Bell tribute album, Betcha By Golly Wow, singing “La La Means I Love You.” Later that year she released The Green Room, a more independent-minded project that included the singles “Anything Out There” and “When Can I See You Again” that showed Green comfortably handling adult soul sounds rather than chasing younger radio trends.
In 2015, Green teamed with producer Kwamé for Vivid, and the collaboration gave her career a welcome jolt. The album was led by the upbeat single “Get Right Back to My Baby” and also included “Work,” giving Green a brighter, more contemporary sound while still keeping her songwriting front and center. She continued that partnership on 2017’s VGVI, a generally strong sixth album that included “I Don’t Know” and “Vibes.”
Green returned in 2020 with Love Absolute, her seventh studio album. Again working with Kwamé, she mixed romance, heartbreak and social awareness, with guest appearances by Ghostface Killah on “Light Up” and Mike Phillips on “Harlem Blues.”
By Chris Rizik
