Songwriter/vocalist/producer L. Young spends considerable thought in putting together his albums. Although he ventures into rock, funk and hip-hop for variety, his greatest care is spent developing ballads he believes will re-kindle audience craving for the kind of melodic, romantic numbers penned and performed by Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder.
He composes and performs in between writing and producing for such major pop singers as Patti Labelle, Gladys Knight, Toni Braxton and his late close friend Teena Marie. He is also a veteran composer of soundtracks for film and television shows. The primary components of each song he writes are an infectious melody and sensitive lyrics expressing his concern about humanity and the world in which we live. One of his recurring themes is the plight of today's children.
L. Young frequently presents music workshops and programs in Los Angeles schools. Each appearance makes him sadder than the previous one; he is especially dismayed by his recent discovery that many students cannot identify the most common band and orchestra instruments. At their age, he and his peers throughout the country were immersed in band, orchestra and vocal programs from the elementary grades upward. He laments the terrible disconnect in today's younger generation because music has always been a driving force behind change and major events in history and has spearheaded the development of the arts for centuries.
L. Young grew up in a musical, church-going family and sang before he could talk. After graduating from the Youth Performing Arts School in Louisville, Kentucky, he headed to Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio as an acting major. One of his high school classmates, Nicole Sherzinger, is best known today as a member of the Pussycat Dolls. The two worked together often during their early years and he is the one who encouraged her to take her talent to the West Coast. They are still close friends.
He credits the launching of his own career to Michael Carter, tour manager for Mary Blige. Carter urged Young to move to L.A. and focus on writing and producing, but once he began singing at live shows, the positive audience reaction convinced him to record his own songs.
His writing process varies and occasionally surprises him. Sometimes while taking a shower, he gets an idea for both lyrics and melody. Or he may simply sit down at the piano and strike a particular chord that sends him in a new direction. Once a song presents itself, it never leaves his subconscious. Regardless of the style, tempo or melody, L. Young's foremost goal is to write lyrics with deep meanings that evoke change in people.
Emily Cary is a prize-winning teacher and novelist whose articles about entertainers appear regularly in the DC Examiner. She is a genealogist, an avid traveler, and a researcher who incorporates landscapes, cultures and the power of music in her books and articles.
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