*Funny how dreams can fall into place even after taking the long way around: 10 years before this interview took place, I was working in a music store and stocking CDs from artists like Faith Evans on the sales floor: I’d met her the same year her debut dropped when she was signing CDs for fans at a Dallas nightclub. Although I’m ‘one of those fishes'( AKA a Pisces) and have imagination for days, I NEVER saw myself stepping to Ms. Evans in journalist mode.

But now that I was, the minute I learned that one of my FAVORITE songstresses was about to tour and drop a new CD, I blew up the phone lines at her then music label and was eventually connected to Faith. Anyone who knows me can testify to this: I’m a champion for life’s underdogs, and in my opinion, Faith Evans is one of THE most underrated songwriters and performers in music. I wanted to give her the spotlight she deserved and it was a fun chat to have. BTW: if you’re into R&B and don’t have this joint, GET IT—easily one of her catalog’s best, and that ex-label practically had sleep apnea when it came time to promote her music, but I feel good knowing that the following story helped the cause…..*

The nation’s funkiest “first lady,” Faith Evans, may be interviewing to promote her latest CD, but she’s also a mother of three trying to round up the kids after school.

“It’s crazy around here; hold on one second, let me say ‘hi’ to my son’s teacher,” she sighs, speaking by cellphone from Los Angeles. “I’m sorry; a mother’s job is never done.”

Ms. Evans, 31, isn’t likely to slow down soon; her fourth album, The First Lady, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop chart and No. 2 on the Top 200 Album chart. It also ended her tenure on Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment label.

Although she’d started as the label’s first female artist in 1995, Ms. Evans felt that her last project, 2001’s Faithfully, was poorly promoted as Bad Boy changed distributors, and she had no qualms about joining Capitol.

Mr. Combs “wasn’t really focused on the music aspect of his conglomerate at that time,” Ms. Evans says, adding that she and her husband, manager and former Motown executive Todd Russaw, “knew that we needed to make a change, and with Capitol, it was wide open; there was no other artist on their roster doing R&B and soul, so it was a no-brainer.”

Ms. Evans has not only created some of her best work in her decade-long solo career, but has established herself as more than the widow of slain hip-hop icon Notorious B.I.G., whom she met after he was signed to Bad Boy in 1995 and married weeks later. Although they were estranged shortly before the birth of their son and at the time of the rapper’s death, she understands the enduring curiosity. But she says her career’s longevity is the result of her music, not just their union or the drama surrounding it.

“When I’m out and about, I’ve always had my fans embrace me and talk just about my music,” she says. “I know for a fact I wouldn’t still be a valuable component in this thing if it wasn’t for my talent. I mean, you wouldn’t be sitting here talking to me right now just because I was married to him.”

Talent aside, Ms. Evans garnered more press than she ever wanted in January 2004, when officers pulled her and her husband over in Hapeville, Ga., and reported finding drugs in the vehicle. Jailed overnight and charged with possession, Mr. Russaw and Ms. Evans agreed to a 13-week pretrial drug-abuse program, and charges were dropped upon its completion last May.

After confronting the predicament in her cathartic single, “Again,” Ms. Evans stressed that there was only half a marijuana joint found and that she’s not a drug fiend.

“Not to have a nonchalant approach or anything, but everybody got drama. Just because I had weed in my car doesn’t mean that I’m some type of crazy person. I’m not the first one who’s been through something like that; just because I’m a celebrity and because I’m black, unfortunately, it opens me up to more of that, but I’m not a drug addict, crackhead or Pablo Escobar,” she says, laughing. “It’s not that serious.”

What does remain serious to the Florida native is her music. Her favorite song from The First Lady, “Mesmerized,” is the second single, and in addition to the tour, she’s working on her first Christmas album. She feels that her hard-won success can inspire as well as entertain those who listen.

“I’m still here for a reason,” she says. “I want my fans to feel encouraged and to keep the faith, no pun intended. Everybody’s gonna have some ups and downs, but it’s all about trying to get past it and make it better, whether it’s your job, your family, love or whatever.”