Laurel Ladson won the inaugural Charlotte Music Awards Songwriting Contest with her song titled “True to the Game.” The theme of the contest was to submit a song that would be a fit for the world-renown Spinners for possible inclusion on their new album, which will be recorded in the Carolinas and distributed by Charlotte-based Succession Records label.

Ladson, who is from Georgetown, S.C., says that “True to the Game” addresses a love borne of honesty and respect out of a love that was once lost but rediscovered. “Writing has become a tool,” says Ladson, “to express myself and release the negativity that the mind feeds off of from the hurt and pain brought to the heart.” She has learned to share those moments in poetry and music.

The Spinners, one of the most popular R&B groups of the 1970s, are best known for a string of hits that included “I’ll Be Around,” “Could It Be I’m Fallin’ in Love,” “The Rubberband Man” and “Working My Way Back To You.”