Unrequited Love Gets Due Credit

In the credits of Johnny Gill’s new album, underneath all the thanks to creators, producers, friends and family, you’ll find a “Low Key Dedication” to: “A special person, hopefully one day I can show you how special you are to me.”

Gill isn’t just being clever or sentimental. Liner notes have long been treated as if they were trees in which to carve initials, but this dedication has a story behind it. “Oh boy, we’re going to start something here,” Gill said with a nervous laugh during an interview at Motown’s Manhattan offices.

“It’s so weird, to like someone for such a long time and it never goes away. You think that it’s a crush, but when you find it lingering for years, six, seven, eight years, then you know maybe there is something there.

“I had met her a few times, but the New Edition tour two years ago is when I really got to know her,” said Gill, naming no names.

“We talk off and on. You can always feel that vibe that’s there. I think even without getting to know her, I’ve always had something in my heart. It’s been that way for a long time.

“It’s so funny, you always feel that way and you really get to talk to the person and know them and they are exactly as you expect them to be. That’s what freaks you out.”

“The success of the album makes me really happy,” Gill said of the album’s platinum status. “I don’t do drugs or anything. I’m just a happy-go-lucky person all the way around. Everything’s going great for me.

“There’s one thing missing in my life, that special someone. I’m kind of in a situation where there’s someone who I do like but I’m not one of those into breaking up a happy home. I do know this person feels the same way.”