(August 13, 2026) Joe Leone is a preacher’s kid. He is also a talented artist who sings, writes, and composes music. As a high school student, he dreamed writing film scores. Church folks say that a person who owns that array of talents has a gift, and they expect the recipient of those gifts to use them in the service of the Lord exclusively.
That’s not the choice Leone made. He did not step away from gospel or contemporary Christian music, and his religious music is quite good. However, Leone specializes in the kind of romantic balladry that used to be played in basement house parties when the blue light came on.
So, it should not be surprising that Eric Benet has become a mentor, or that Leone is a Benet protégé. Leone wrote the lyrics to “Safety,” his latest single. Those lyrics tell the story of a man who speaks to a woman who’s been betrayed one time too many, and assures her that he can affirmatively answer her one pressing question: Can he provide the all-encompassing security that she wants?
Reading those lyrics, it’s easy for me to see how the years Leone spent reading and studying scripture guided him as he wrote words like “When you reach out the palm of your hands/Am I the kind of man who holds them safely.”
Check out Joe Leone new ballad “Safety” here.
By Howard Dukes
