Optimistic

Sounds of Blackness recorded 'Optimistic' for their debut album The Evolution of Gospel, produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis at Flyte Tyme Productions in Minneapolis, with the group's large choir ensemble and live band forming the core of the recording. Released in 1991 on Perspective Records, a label distributed by A&M Records and run by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, 'Optimistic' became the group's signature song, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Gospel chart and crossing over onto R&B radio, bringing the Minneapolis funk and gospel fusion to a mainstream audience. 'Optimistic' endured as an inspirational anthem in American popular culture, licensed extensively for television, film, and advertising, and it remains the most recognised recording in Sounds of Blackness's catalogue, frequently cited as one of the defining gospel-crossover records of the 1990s.