Roi “Chip” Anthony Delivers Charming Single: I Love Myself

If there’s a vocalist that’s consonant with his delivery of southern soul music, Roi “Chip” Anthony is your man. He’s never wavered from being a soulful vocalist and has remained pragmatic in the genre while releasing hit after hit.

The native of Loreauville, Louisiana, is singer, songwriter and producer that works with others in the music industry from the middle weights to the heavy weights. Roi doesn’t mind tucking one of his gifts into holster while utilizing the other. He doesn’t mince words when he talks about his various virtuosos. If someone needs a songwriter, he can do that—If a fellow artist needs musical productions, he can facilitate that, too. He’s man of many talents but master of singing soulful music.

Roi has that girth, that southern charm that rings loudly in his ballads, like his newest single “I Love Myself,” a charged track filled with affirmation and messages about grace, affecting confidence, and good virtue.

Roi said that he was taught old-school music at an early age, but he wasn’t really fond of it at the time. As he’d gotten older, he’d develop an affinity for the music that he disliked—He was inspired by Luther Vandross, Freddy Jackson, Earth Wind and Fire, and Lenny Williams… “It was crazy,” he said. “It was getting me ready for the blessing, the walk I was going to walk—having that old-school spirt within me.”

Roi performed in church with his older brothers—They eventually formed a singing group called “LeJit, where they traveled locally and abroad, performing classics including their own album Just Press Play Vol. 2: Let’s Play Human Da Mixtape, and The One. The siblings released the album entitled New Beginning under pseudonym The LeJit Brothers.

Roi agrees that there is thunderous boom surrounding southern soul music – but he says his music is just soulful— “It’s going to end with soul,” he said. “It can be country soul. It can be a southern-soul. It could be pop-soul. At the end of the day, baby. it’s just going to be soul. I’m trying to do my thing and bring people back. You understand the radio. They broke our genre up so many times. R&B is rhythm and blues. It’s not R&B or pop. It’s R&B. It’s rhythm and blues. They did a lot over the years, but it’s soul music. Everything has soul music. That’s the root of all music, soul music, you know? And soul really means it’s coming from the heart. Soul means you’re gonna get a little bit more runs than the normal country song.”

Roi says that you gotta have a budget to push love ballads but if you don’t have a budget, it makes it kind of hard where an up-tempo songs make it easier for DJ’S to play which is the reason party goers rarely hear slow jams anymore when they are at the club. According to Roi, nobody is dancing to that anymore.

Roi concluded that it's easy to make upbeat anthems, to get on stage and sing with authenticity about life evolving around him.

“It feels good. I live that life. I do me. I love myself, and that’s the reason I’m pushing out self-love. I gotta show some love to the line-dance world cause when they are line-dancing, they sing my song.”

The composer released an Afro Beats version of the song, which garnered listeners from the east of the United States to Africa.

“It’s good. I really live with that truth. It makes it so much easier to perform. It’s just like I’m speaking to someone the way I’m speaking to you right now, and a song comes out of it."

Roi recently produced a project with R&B pioneers, Tank, Calvin Richardson, and Keith Sweat-- "Since I'm a prdoucer I have to share my talents , and my focus," he said. "Yesterday, it was just me, Keith Sweat, Calvin Richardson and Tank, one or two other great singers. Tank complimented Calvin on his great vocals and, it's cool-- And we did something, and I'm more of the producer. I'm the maestro, which it might be unseen a little bit; but it's definitely the heartbeat. I share the way I move in producing. We did a record, and I actually, I did a lot on the record. I did most on the record, but I did less as a soloist. I know I have a strong voice and all that stuff. It's always a balance. It's not a struggle, but it's always a thing that one thing outshines the other and whatever, whatever: and  I'm in the conversation, though. I can hold my own. A lot of people love the distinctive voice," he said.

The singer, songwriter gives off the Shedeur Sanders aura of, "I'm who they been looking for," but he keeps his ego in check, and creates the magic with those that's lightened the path for him to do what he does-- He's standing on the shoulders of the greats while still adding value to the conversations in the room. Either go to the table or create your own-- Roi has opportunity to do both, but right now, he is seated at the table, making hits.

"I'm glad I didn't just put myself out there as only a vocalist," he remarked.

The composer said that now is the right time to present his music as a soloist, to introduce Swingout-Southern soul. He released "I Love Myself" as part of the series, where he's reaffirming self-love as mentioned above.

"I like to make a great song first. Of course, seeing how people are out there dancing by themselves, line-dancing or whatever. We need a song that's representative of themselves, so they can sing it loudly. That's pretty much my lane. I love inspiring people. People love that song because it lasts forever. I'm not worried about a slow start. We had a slow start to this record, but we are still pushing, but it's a timeless song. It's forever. That song might catch on in another year more than anything because people cannot deny that message of loving yourself. I think people gotta hear it, and that's the reason I did the Afro beats version."

Roi is planning to release the song in house music as well as a few other genres that resonates with the listeners-- Roi said that he worked with African dancers from Rwanda called African Queens, and they created a line-dance for the song.

"If you like the soul version, cool. The Afro-beat version feels good. It has the global appeal, and that's the reason I had to do that. Afro beats has a larger reach than soul music. I'm just giving people different ways of hearing the song and being creative. The house version is coming. I gotta get Chicago. I mean thats how music used to be worked. That's how real music still works. You might hear ten different versions of Beyonces song. You have to— You have to push every button , and try to reach all demographics— That's real workings of the the music business, when you're working your songs. That’s a requirement to do all that, if you want success."

The singer went on to say that it's the reason he loves creating songs with inspiring messages. "You can't be too gimmicky." he said.  

Roi says that artists looking to break into the industry or even the ones that's established should keep going. "The only people that make it are the ones that don't quit. You're going to make it if you don't give up on yourself. Music is not like a four-year degree you get, or you know what you're going to get in a year or two. Your opportunity can come early in life, or your opportunity can come later in life. A lot of artists inspire me. You see actors like Morgan Freeman at fifty years old; he had been doing it but that's when he started shining.  A thing, more artist, and more black artist would be coming out and doing their thing. That's what the southern soul has done. It's allowed artist to give it another shot. On the black side, if you're past a certain age, you're too old— but in other races, you can be fifty or sixty years old making records like Celine Deon. So just believe in yourself in everything you do. The only thing that sells is people that believe in themselves."

Roi released fedoras as well as a cigar line. He's also partnered with Classe Vodka as an ambassador, in addition Sleck Vodka-- though the latter vodka is coming soon. "There's so many things in our small town of Loreauville, Louisiana. Me and my family, and my brothers. We acquired the elementary school there and turned it into a sound stage, a place for people to come and do their wedding and perform. It was a school that everybody went to when they were young, so basically, we got a whole facility for events, and video shoots. I'm always open to having other businesses, doing what I got to do, and pushing myself and pushing my brand."

You can follow Roi Chip Anthony here.