R&B Divas Lil' Mo x Keke Wyatt Live at The Howard Theatre [RECAP] • TheBobbyPen.com™

TV One‘s R&B Divas Lil’ Mo and Keke Wyatt slayed The Howard Theatre stage last night before a packed house.

Each singing their hits, the vocalists took attendees from the club house, to the church house and back again. Many powerhouses in R&B get their start in church choirs and these divas have clearly not forgotten where it all began.

Lil’ Mo, who’s currently starring in the new series R&B Divas Los Angeles kicked off the show with 3 female backup singers and male band singing smashes like “Superwoman Pt. II” from her first album “Based on a True Story,” her features on Missy Elliot‘s “Hot Boyz,” Ja Rule‘s “Put It On Me” and “I Cry,” and ended her set with her hit single and second duet with rapper Fabolous “4Ever” from her second album “Meet the Girl Next Door.”

Her performance was riveting and engaging, as she not only entertained us, but ministered to our souls. Her set preached self-love and remembering that God is always in control and can change even the most bleak situations around for good. She bellowed gospel song, “Jesus Loves Me,” and even praised danced as The Spirit took her over. For a moment I forgot I was an R&B concert and thought I was at Wednesday Night Revival.

Watch Keke Wyatt deliver a soulful tribute of “His Eye is on The Sparrow” to the parents of slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.

After a brief intermission, colorful Keke Wyatt graced the stage belting out her current single with Avant “You & I,” apparently diverting from the set list.

Wyatt engaged the audience by being very open about sometimes forgetting lyrics and singing the songs she feels whether the band is ready or not. (LOL) She made a lot of funny faces and was comfortable showing her goofy side by slow winding and dropping it like a burlesque dancer, then switch back to performer mode.

On a serious note, her vocal range is barnun allowing her to reach high upper register notes like that of classic R&B singer Minnie Ripperton to lower register notes to rival her bass guitarist. She had an all female band who was able to follow her riffs and play along seamlessly– Wyatt even took over the drums at one point shredding to a jazz pattern.

I most enjoyed how she catered to one fan in the crowd who had her name etched in his scalp. She allowed him to sing along with her to her hit duet “Nothing in this World,” and threw her towel to him while exiting the stage.

All participants in the show wore TV One R&B Divas Los Angeles t-shirts and between sets TV One aired on the large monitors to entice audience members to tune into the smash hit reality series. The spin-off’s debut was rated as the network’s most watched program to date this year according to theJasmineBRAND. Both artists were extremely gracious and humble obliging fans and taking pictures with them. I had a very nice time and was blown away by their vocal abilities. R&B is not dead as long as these divas continue to blow life into it as only they can. Much success to you. R&B Divas Los Angeles airs on TV One Wednesday’s at 10pm.

Follow them on Twitter

@TheLilMoShow

@KekeWyattSings

#RBDivasLA

Special thank you to The Howard Theatre and Bonita Star for granting me access and providing these amazing photographs!