Ch. 1, Vs. 1

It likely is surprising to some that an Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award-winner wants to start from scratch, that someone with two Oscar nominations to their name wants to shed, or further expand upon, that which audiences have come to know about them. After all, society puts so much stock into these accolades as tangible proof of a person’s talent and excellence, and the manifestation of a creative’s wildest dreams coming true.

But a new dawn, a reintroduction, is exactly what Cynthia Erivo wants. Her chosen medium? A debut solo album aptly titled Ch. 1, Vs. 1.

“In storytelling, chapter one and verse one is the way you always begin, and because I believe I'm a storyteller, that's what I wanted to do with my music,” she says. “That's what this is about, just starting [and revealing] the human parts of me that you don't often get to see.”