Syleena Johnson has always been one of our favorite soul sistas. That favor was bolstered even more at the top of last year when she dropped her eighth studio album Woman. Of course, the pandemic has made the traditional routes of promotion for the set difficult, but Syleena is a resourceful one. She's now readying a deluxe edition of the set — which she's retitled as The Making Of A Woman — which features two new songs, one of which is her new single "Never Been Better."
"Never Been Better" finds Syleena stripping things back to the basics, with just a church-y piano (and occasional organ) and her voice serving as the basis for the song. The song is a kiss-off to an ex who the singer is more than happy to have out of her life. "I'm looking so much stronger / I stand a little taller," she sings on the song. "'Cause 200 pounds of weight I've put down." She continues to thank him for the stress he's put her through because it's allowed her to come out better for it. It's the kind of message that she preached on the initial release of Woman and fits right in with the album's sound.
In addition to the upcoming reissue, Syleena Johnson will be featured in her very own episode of TV One's Unsung set to air on April 25th. She was also the subject of a docuseries about the album on Fox Soul (where she co-hosts Cocktails With The Queens), which culminated in a concert featuring tracks from the release. You can peep both her new single and that concert below. As well, you can pre-order The Making Of A Woman before its release on April 23rd here.