Posted October 2, 200717 yr Growing up in the music industry was a tough ride for 20-year-old English soul singer Joss Stone. She won a Grammy, sure, had a bit part in a major motion picture ("Eragon") and sang at the Super Bowl in Detroit last year. But Stone says it's been an uphill climb. "You can't be a baby in this industry. If you're a baby, people aren't gonna be like, 'Awww. Let's look after her.' Oh no, no, no, no, no. They're gonna be like, 'Ha ha. Let's (bleep) her over,'" she said in a recent telephone interview. "They don't have hearts. It doesn't exist. When money is involved, hearts are not. That's what I learned," she said. Hmm. Sounds like a much wiser, much older singer. Obviously, she's got some bitterness, but has come to terms with it. "It is the way it is," she added philosophically. "It's a shame that it had to be learned in such a small period of time. It's very condensed for me. In a way I've very blessed. I didn't have to wait until I was 30 to find out." Stone began singing in school in Devon, England, and eventually caught the ear of R&B veteran Betty Wright, who produced Stone's debut album, "The Soul Sessions," a collection of covers, including the White Stripes' "Fell In Love With a Girl," which was released when she was but 16. Now Stone, who plays the Fillmore Detroit on Tuesday, is touring in support of her third album, "Introducing Joss Stone," released last March. She thinks it's the first one of her albums that truly expresses who Stone is, thus the title. The lanky singer, who likes to perform barefoot, says her young recording career has been a "continuing education." "The first one I pretty much sat there, I did what I wanted but I had to sit back, watch, listen and learn. I was lucky to learn from such great people," she explained. "I did the second one (2004's 'Mind, Body & Soul'), while I was able to write my own lyrics and things like that. (With) the third one, I feel like it's my graduation. This is where I left school, and I actually made something of myself. I actually created something for myself, and that was really nice. She worked with Raphael Saadiq (formerly of Tony Toni Tone, who has produced the Roots, Macy Gray and D'Angelo) on "Introducing Joss Stone," praising his ability to listen to what she wanted to do. "I was shocked. It was really refreshing. It was like, 'OK, what do you want?' If he didn't get it, I would let him know and he would change it. He really tried to understand me. Now we have an understanding that's so easy. We have a language that sometimes you don't even need words," she said. Stone said she learned a few things about independence from Saadiq (who was known by his real name of Charlie Ray Wiggins in Tony Toni Tone). He's the one who encouraged her to take control. "I think the most important thing I learned from him was really the business side of it. I know what I wanted musically. I had already been thinking about that for five years. So I knew," she said. "But businesswise and the way I run my business, I had no idea. I didn't care for it." Stone said she's emerged from the experience a smarter and happier artist. She's also managing herself these days. "I find it's easier for managers to keep you in the dark," she said. "Now I know if I'm going to do something, I've approved it. Nobody else has the right to do so. There's things that come to me and I can say yes or no, it's as simple as that. Life is a lot quicker now. You don't have to go to five people. You just come to me."
