Perfecting His Pitch

"Artists have to be more proactive, especially if you're doing something left of center -- and right now, straight-ahead R&B is left of center," says Gail Mitchell, who covers R&B and hip-hop for Billboard magazine. "You can't sit back and hope the label will do whatever."

There has been a resurgence of interest in DeVaughn's type of sound, which is as old-fashioned as his work ethic. Although traditional R&B has been overshadowed for years by its more contemporary, raunchy counterpart (thanks, R. Kelly), Mitchell believes that is changing. "It's tracking back around and Raheem is a good flag-bearer for that," she says. "He's saying something."

Mitchell says she was floored the first time she heard "Woman," DeVaughn's feel-good ode to good mothers, grandmothers, wives and girlfriends that was produced by another D.C.-raised artist -- producer Chucky Thompson. "He's talking about substantive stuff and people are ready to embrace him," she says.

"Love Behind the Melody" is filled with ballads that sound plucked from the Motown catalogue: "Mo Better" is a seven-minute-plus '60s-inspired slow wind; "She's Not You" uses Bobby Womack vocals to sing about love amid groupie temptation; and, just in case listeners don't quite pick up on the juxtaposition the artist is going for, there is "Friday (Shut the Club Down)," which uses the Temptations' "My Girl" as its starting point. Contemporary flourishes come courtesy of producers such as Scott Storch, Bryan Cox, Mark Batson, cameos from Floetry and Big Boi of OutKast and a few of-the-moment tracks such as "Customer" and "Energy."

The centerpiece of the album, of course, is DeVaughn's voice, which he says has been compared to that of Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway and, um, Ray J? "I've heard it all, and I respect it all, from Donny Hathaway to Ray J," DeVaughn says. "Some comparisons I embrace more than others, but I learn to take it all as a compliment. I just like the fact that they're listening."

DeVaughn has been writing songs and singing since he was a kid, living with his mother, a now-retired federal worker, in Montgomery and Prince George's during the school year and visiting his father, jazz cellist Abdul Wadud, during the summer, mainly in Georgia.

His mother, Imani Smith, says her son first showed an inclination toward music in preschool. "He was the class maestro," she recalls. "When the class had musical events, he would conduct them -- with short pants and long socks on."

By his early teens DeVaughn began to imagine his career path. One of his favorite artists was Babyface, and Smith recalls that her son once begged her to visit the Waxie Maxie's record store in the District to buy a promotional picture of the singer/songwriter/producer. "I got it and he put it on his wall, and I think that led him to what he's doing now," she says.

With his father, DeVaughn recalls going to gigs and getting his first taste of the life of a working musician. "I had no idea at the time what I was witnessing," DeVaughn recalls. "I had no idea I'd be doing this -- I would have appreciated it more."

After graduating from High Point High School in Beltsville, DeVaughn enrolled at Coppin State University in Baltimore but left after two years. Smith says she understood he had made the right choice when one night she heard him sing Michael Jackson's "Lady in My Life" at a show at the Ibex. "I said: Wait a minute -- this is my son?"

DeVaughn took a job at Tower Records -- which would be his last 9-to-5. While putting price stickers on CDs, he began working the D.C. music circuit -- performing with various groups and hitting venues such as State of the Union and Bar Nun with CDs of his songs in hand.

"The best thing you can have when you step offstage, whether you're a singer, comedian -- even a stripper! -- is to have a tangible product," he says. "That became my thing. Someone would run up on me and I'd have a new mix tape. That's just the hustler in me."