I was doing my daily check on Soulbounce and came up on a piece that made me smile.

Last time I heard anything about El DeBarge, the singer was headed to prison. I believe he was serving time for a drug-related offense. An expose in Vibe magazine and an episode of the TVOne documentary “Unsung” spelled out the fact that the gifted singer had been sliding down a bad slope for years. I was saddened to see that such a great talent had seemingly pissed away his gift for good.

Well, El was released from prison early and popped up on Brian McKnight’s show looking great (that brother is cleaner than a muhfucka) and speaking in an upfront manner about his issues-all celebrities should be so responsible. While the interview itself was great to see, even better was his performance of the 1983 classic “Time Will Reveal”. That was one of the first 45s I ever bought as a kid, and to hear it performed nearly thirty years later was a treat. The fact that El’s vocal gift appears to be intact (try to sing along with this song in the same register El sings it in-virtually impossible) was a relief, especially considering other vocalists who have been through similar issues with diminishing returns from a vocal perspective (*cough*Whitney*cough*) He hasn’t released an album of new material since “Heart, Mind and Soul”. That album was released on my 18th birthday. I’m now approaching 34. El, it’s about time. I hope this very talented-and criminally underrated-musician gets back in the studio and releases new music soon. More than that, though, I’m very happy that he seems to have gotten his life together.

No bullshit, this performance sent chills up my spine. I can’t remember the last time that happened!!