Tyrese Gibson on his most personal album yet, "Fast & Furious" success
Tyrese Gibson wants you to listen to his new album, "Black Rose," in full. No one listens to an entire album these days, he says.
"I got a real R&B soul album. It's got 14 of my best songs, period. They came from the fibers of my heart. What and when is the last time you supported a full album?" Tyrese said during a recent visit to CBS News.
Well, something must have clicked: The R&B singer notched his first No. 1 album on the Billboard chart earlier this month. Released on his own Voltron Recordz label, the album has been billed as Tyrese's "last."
Tyrese said he tapped into raw emotions and his own personal experiences when putting together his first new set of material since 2013's "Three Kings." The result? "Black Rose" is his most personal album yet.
"You don't have to worry about listening to this album and not believing my story," he said. "I went three and a half years -- everything imaginable was thrown at me trying to take my legs from under me, stopping me from creating this art. This is my life right here," he said while pointing to the CD.
Tales of his romantic life can be heard in songs like "Shame," "Without My Heart" and "Leave."
"I was in a five-year relationship, no one knew about it. My girl lived with me. That relationship crashed and burned because I did a lot of dumb stuff -- cheating, lying, running around," Tyrese revealed. "Social media will get you caught up...I lost my girl and I put all of that on that album...It's my truth. I'm not even embarrassed about it."
Although more recently Tyrese is known for his acting roles on the big screen in movies, including the "Fast and Furious" franchise, music is his first love, he says.
"Real music represents the most significant moments of your life -- when your wife got pregnant, when you proposed, when you went through a heartbreak...when one of your friends died. Music helped you get through that trying time," he said.
Music likely helped Tyrese get through the death of Paul Walker, who died in a car accident in 2013, right when the cast members were filming "Furious 7." Shooting was delayed, but eventually the show went on, with Walker's brothers stepping in to help with unfinished scenes. The movie, which also starred Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez and Jason Statham, ended up doing great at the box office, becoming one of the top-grossing films of all time.
Tyrese is still overwhelmed by the massive response.
"Paul is the nicest guy and will forever be the nicest guy any of us have ever met. The whole world loved him and the whole world obviously didn't meet him on a personal level. So for the whole world to show up -- over $1.5 billion in box office receipts...We can't believe it. None of us. We understand that everyone wanted to come out and experience Paul with this beautiful art that he left the world. And we tried our best to stay in tune to the sensitivities to it all. We didn't want to exploit or make anyone feel like we were exploiting. We were always thinking about his daughter, Meadow Walker. We were thinking about his parents, his brothers. It's one of the movies I think we were able to check off all the boxes...We were very proud that throughout all of the challenges and the emotional roller coasters that went down we as a family -- we're not just employees or co-stars -- we as a family pulled together. We were able to rebuild each other."
They will continue that rebuilding -- as another sequel is in the works. But before that, you can catch Tyrese in season 2 of Fox's new hit show, "Empire." He says he was hoping to star in season 1, but the timing just didn't work out.
"I am mad that I missed season 1 and I'm sorry to Taraji [P. Henson] and [director] Lee Daniels that I didn't do season 1," he said. "But I'm here and I just love that it all came together."
And something us that this isn't the last we've heard from him -- on the music front, either.