I have to get around to posting things besides mixes on here lol, but in the meantime here’s another one. A few weeks back I saw Kingdom, Nguzunguzu and others play to a packed club in SoHo and it was one of the livest, most fun parties I’ve been to… so this mix is inspired by that party. It has a bit of everything, from R&B, to bass music, to “post-dubstep,” to rap, to ghetto/juke house to beatz… It’s probably my fave mix that I’ve made so far so check it out…
Tracklist after the jump…
A few months back I had the opportunity to speak with super-producer Shondrae “Bangladesh” Crawford (Lil’ Wayne “A Milli,” Ludacris “What’s Your Fantasy,” Kelis “Bossy,” 8 Ball & MJG “U Don’t Want No Drama,” etc.). He was pretty candid with regards to his relationship with Lil’ Wayne and Birdman, his thoughts on producers who use pre-sets, etc. It’s a lengthy interview, but definitely one worth reading.
On the off chance that someone reading this isn’t familiar with your work, could you briefly introduce yourself?
I’m Mr. Bangladesh, music producer. I first produced “What’s Your Fantasy” for Ludacris, half of the second album that he put out. 8 Ball & MJG, the album when they were on Bad Boy. Also Kelis, Ciara, Missy, Beyonce, Lil’ Wayne, Gucci Mane, Ke$ha, Nelly, Mario “Break Up.”
Let’s talk about “6’7′”, Lil’ Wayne’s first single off Tha Carter IV, produced by you. Everyone is talking about this record right now – how did it come about, given the issues you’ve had dealing with Wayne/Cash Money in the past (not getting paid for “A Milli,” etc.)?
Well, the placement was easy, because the connection was already there from “A Milli,” and prior to that it’s just getting the connection man – it’s basically easy, it was just a phonecall away. It was just deciding on when to take it or when to make the phone call. Those are things that you work to get and build those relationships and making yourself important, so after a while those things are in arms reach. So it wasn’t nothing to get the beat to Wayne.
What made you send it to him?
Basically, before this I’m on Nicki Minaj’s album [produced "Did It On'em], that’s Cash Money too. It’s just really knowing that progression is being made as far as any future business. Everything is being handled, and we can move on and continue to work. Everything isn’t 100 percent, but it’s enough to move on and continue to make music and give the consumers some good material. It’s not a poltical decision where the consumer is not able to hear the greatness that we do because of business.
So, did you sit with Birdman and talk it out or was it more legal stuff?
No, I never talked to Birdman ever. He never reached out to me ever. It’s really like – Wayne, he just rapped on my tracks man. [laughs] Regardless of what has been done or what I’ve said about them or whatever, he still continues to rap on the tracks. My side of it is, as long as everything is being taken care of, everything from here on out is gonna be cool – I’m gonna get paid, then everything is cool. And we’ll be reimbursed back for what was owed. So the understanding is there, so that allows me to continue to work. This wasn’t a situation where I was trying to get this beat to him, it just kind of happened. Everything happens for a reason, this is a great thing for me – I’m the biggest thing out right now. If I never gave him the beat I’d just have a hot beat. We wouldn’t be doing this interview, we wouldn’t be hot all over the internet just because the business isn’t right. The thing is, I could’ve easily said no and moved on, or I could work it out. Stuff like this happens, this is the biggest thing in hip-hop right now, and it could’ve easily not been. Sometimes you just gotta work it out.
When you’re in the studio and you have a beat like 6’7′ or “A Milli” or “Did It On’Em” do you know from the get-go that it is going to be a hit?
Yeah, from the very first sound that makes me add everything else to it. Whatever that first sound is, you can really get the energy from that first sound. And I knew, those beats that you just named were really big tracks before the artist got on it.
Does the success of songs like “A Milli” and “Bossy” give you more leverage to say “I need this to be a first single?”
Yeah, I could say whatever I want, but it’s really up to the train that’s behind whatever artist it is to really believe how you do. The more passionate you are, the more you sell this idea to the people that have the power to move whatever you’re moving, that’s really up to the producer or writer to sell that vision to them. I’m not really a salesperson – I’m not good at it. I kind of let the music speak for it self, so sometimes you get it sometimes you don’t. I know a lot of people that sell their product – even if it’s bad, they’re salesmen. Where I can do this and look in your eyes and next think you know you’re doing it – and you might not feel it. This is not hard to sell because it’s Lil’ Wayne and he just got out of prison – it’s not rocket science.
Have you spoken to him since he’s gotten out of prison, and if so have you noticed any difference in him?
He’s reached out. I haven’t spoken to him directly, but he’s definitely reaching out man. There’s definitely a difference – it’s probably something he wanted to do, but he just never did it. There’s a difference, I think sometimes you go through things in life for a reason. That probably helped this situation – him going through whatever he went through and slowing down from how fast his life is and really analyzing and embedding the important things in his brain really probably helped this situation. He probably marinnated on it like “Man, he gave me the hottest that I ever had, let’s make this right.” Everybody’s human, your conscious kicks in sometimes when you sit down, and it’s out of your control why you’re sitting down. You get to thinking and reasoning and trying to make your mends with everything you might’ve messed up that went wrong. So I think that situation helped this situation to become this.
So recently, besides the Lil’ Wayne record, you’ve been doing a lot of work with Dr. Luke – you did the record “Sleazy” on Ke$ha’s Cannibal EP. This is a bit of a departure for you, so how did you hook up with him, did they reach out to you?
I actually met Dr. Luke through a mutual friend, that’s how I usually get connected with people – in the studio, thorugh reliable sources, etc. When I knew of him the friend reached out to him, told him who I was and all that stuff, so when I went to L.A. I called him and he just welcomed me through to the studio and told me to come through. He was cool off the rip, I think he was trying to feel me out at first, you never know who you got in front of you until you spend time with them. He’s an important dude, so you can’t really just bring anybody into your world, so I think first few times were more of a feeler. I’d do the same thing if the shoe was on the other foot, I don’t really trust too many people like that. You’ve got to feel people out because you don’t really know what their intentions are behind what they’re doing. After the second time kicking it with him he let me have the studio, and I was just kicking it with him and creating. I made this beat – “Move Your Body,” for Nelly w/ T-T-Pain & Akon – the first time that I was in the studio, probably two years ago. We just sold the beat this year. Me making that beat and the way I made it – I use an MPC 2000 and he uses softwork and he has producers under him who also use softwae – so my whole process was kind of amazing to him. He’s just looking at me in amazement – I think that showed him what I could do, since I made that dope beat real quick. After that, we’ll always get up – I’ll go out there, hit him up, come through to kick it or to work, it’s cool. There’s no pressure, nobody trying to sign you, the situation is different. That’s why I adapted to it and that’s why I’m cool with him, because he didn’t one time try to sign me or anything like that. Most people in his shoes, before they do something for you or let you in on their projects, you’ve got to sign with them. That’s why he’s cool, because he just fucks with me – bottom line. The music is more powerful than anything, so he recognizes the music and the musical talent – that’s why we get along and work. Producers don’t really work together like that, and for him to open up his door and let me in on a project that he owns says a lot, because not too many people would do that.
I wanted to talk to you about your sound – what I like most about your beats is how weird and different they are, you can take one little sound and just drive it home. One of my favorite beats by you is Kelis’ “Aww Shit” [from 2006's Kelis Was Here]- what is your process like in the studio?
That [one sound] kind of starts the energy. I like to get that one sound, like I was saying, that one sound and then I build on it. That one sound kind of creates the vision, but to get that one sound it’s not something I’m seeing, its just something where I have to play with things to hear – like “oh shit!” So, my process is basically recording straight into pro-tools, so I could be playing the keyboard or something, I don’t know WHAT I’m playing, I’m just playing with it. Then, as a producer, my ear will hear something. You might not hear what I hear so you might not know what’s going on – a lot of people that are around when I’m making beats they don’t have a clue what I’m doing. So I could just be playing with something, I could have 20 minutes worth of instrument, and I’ll just listen back and find something that I like that I can loop out. When I did “Aww Shit,” that sound in there I just really played it, looped it out, and just build on there and added the drums to it. Part of the process is just making mistakes and perfecting the mistake. Hearing that one sound and knowing what beat should be under it, and just knowing how it feels and the energy – is it fast, is it slow, is it double-time, is it bouncy- you could do different things. You could slow the sound down, you could speed it up. A lof manipulation goes into it before you hear the final product. That’s why producers produce, because it’s something that they hear. It’s really not explainable, so when people say “what are you thinking” – I don’t be thinking! I don’t know! I just know what sounds good, but it takes me a minute to get it to where I could hear it sounding good.
I read an interview with Dr. Dre where he said that the last beat that blew him away was Diddy’s “All About The Benjamins”. What was the last beat you heard that blew you away?
“Grindin” [by Clipse, produced by the Neptunes]. When that came out, I didn’t like it at first, but those beats that I don’t like at first they become the biggest thing. That beat was the dopest to me, because everybody that has a keyboard has ran across those sounds, but you never thought about swaggin’ it like Pharrell did it. That’s what makes producers dope. You could have the same shit in front of you for years and never touched it.
It’s interesting that you say that, because a lot of people have complained about producers like Polow Da Don using pre-sets from Garage Band to make hit records, but it’s been there all that time and they’re the first ones to make it a big record. So…
Yeah. I mean, I feel what they’re saying, but at the same time – there’s a difference in producers. You’ve got hustlers, and you’ve got producers. Sometimes a genuine producer stays away from the pre-set shit and everything that’s there, producers they want it to be organic. They want it to be raw. That’s the creative side of it! You came up with that loop! People are like “you played that?” That’s the good shit! So when you have pre-sets in there it kind of dumbs it down, because it’s already there. But, see, Polow is a hustler. That’s why you can’t really knock him, because he’s a hustler first. When people know this they can digest it more, he’s a hustler first producer second. He mingles with the right people, he got into the right situation for his own good. When you’re a hustler, you don’t have to have as much talent. You just solicit situations, it’s like supply and demand. So if you’re mingling with some people that need something that you can get your hands on, you’re a hustler! The same thing Puffy did when he started, he was the connect from the industry to the street. So all the industry guys wanted this urban sound, but they never left their office! So you have this guy [Puffy], he can talk their language and the language of the streets. So when you’re soliciting what they need and you’re also giving them some money, you can be the middle man. So you’re coming into the industry saying “I produced this!” – which you kind of did. You kind of produced it, you kind of made it happen. A producer is like a contractor, somebody that built a house. He’s not going to build all of the houses, he’s not going to be hammering the wood. He’s just going to get the contract and he’s going to get the budget, and he’s going to have everybody else do what he draws up. That’s a producer. There’s a difference between a hustler and a producer, and there’s even differences within the word producer. There’s a lot of ways you can break it down.
So you make a distinction between a producer and a beatmaker?
Yeah. It’s similar. Producers love beat makers. Every major producer in the game right now has a beatmaker under them. I don’t, but every major producer has somebody that makes beats under them. And it just kills time. When you get important you can’t get to everything, so you give the beatmaker direction, you give them inspiration, you put them in a better situation than where they were when they were just in their mama’s house, and they inspires them. And with inspiration you can make dope shit. So you can produce that in a sense. You created that, your energy created that, so you produced it. You take the beat that he made and you produce it – you add to it, you take away from it, you sequence, you put the lyrics here, you say “I want this person to write to it, I don’t like that part, let me put this here, etc.” That’s how you produce it. The beatmaker just made the beat from the energy and the inspiration that the producer gave them. When you’re hungry and you want it bad and you’re around Timbaland, you’re around The Neptunes, these people will inspire you to do better. It’s like if you could hoop for real and you were playing against Lebron James, you’re gonna want to try and dunk on him just because. But if it wasn’t Lebron James you wouldn’t really be going that hard. So inspiration is everything.
What new music have you been listening to?
That’s a tough one, because really I haven’t bought any albums. And if I did buy them I don’t remember them. [laughs] I would say, and this is just because the standards are lower, Rick Ross makes good music. Hip-hop music. If we’re talking about music, the music is good. I didn’t buy the album, but the songs that I hear, I can tell that he’s going hard, he’s real passionate in what he’s putting out there. That’s what I’m looking for in an arist, passion. And the work ethic. I actually have a really good emcee under my label right now, named Tom Foolery. The content is street, but it’s not like Jeezy street - it’s like combination of Jeezy, Jay-Z, Ludacris. He’s got personality, wittiness like Jigga, but he’s street though. You know you have those street dudes that just talk that street shit, but they don’t really rap well, they aren’t lyrical – he makes you look at things differently. He’s a dope emcee with substance, he belongs in the game, as far as brining real emcees back.
What is your label called, and who else is signed to it?
My label is called Bangladesh records. It’s just me and Tom Foolery right now, I’m looking other artists, producers, writers. As far as producers, I’m trying to find people that are consistent. Play their own stuff, or creatively come up with their own stuff, not using pre-sets and loops. Through the way your beat sounds I can tell how you think, I can tell your outlook on things. I’m trying to find the cleverness on your tracks, the passion in it, and the consistency. You can’t get signed off of two or three beats that are just good. As far as an artist, preferably somebody that writes their own stuff, has their own direction and is working already. Someone that can bring me sounds that are already done, that is on their grind already. There are too many artists that want to be discovered and put on a pedestal because J.D. put them out there, or “take me to Puff” or “give me a beat Bang!” That’s not enough, you’ve got to be something more imporant to you than asking for a handout. I can give you a beat, but what are you going to do with it? You’ve got to bring something to the table. Just know who you are and love it – don’t just do it because you think it’s a quick come up, because you’ll be disappointed.
What are you working on now?
Right now I’m working on my album. I rap, I’ve got a mixtape out called Passport Music. It’s dope, but the thing is, that’s not what I love. It’s good – when I do it I do it – but I love producing. Being in the light and being a superstar figure, that’s not really what I thirst for, it’s not my passion, it’s not where I’m at. But I know I need to brand my own thing, and to make it bigger you have to become an artist-figure. As far as swag, I could sell that all day – I’ve got what it takes. It’s just about really being what I want to do, so I take my time with it. I put out a mixtape in ’08, I’ve about 3 or 4 videos with it online. This album that I’m making is not going to be me just rapping, though. It’s not going to be like a Kanye album, producer-rapper type thing. It’s going to be a lot of features, a lot of people that I grew up loving that inspired me to do music, and a lot of current artists that I’m working with. It’s going to sound how I want it to sound, and my style. My style is kind of strange compared to other artists, when I typically work with artists there might be a dope song that doesn’t make the album because it’s too different. That’s how I’m trying to make my album sound – like something they wouldn’t do typically.
When can we expect that?
That should be out by the 3rd Quarter of 2011.
http://twitter.com/#!/mrbangladesh
- Tyrone Palmer (YngBlkSocrates)
Just threw together this mix of some of my favorite R&B joints of the year so far (and one song that’s like 3 years old lol). This has been a pretty good year R&B-wise, so check it out!
tracklist after the jump….
Okay, so one of my goals for 2011 is to play my first DJ Gig somewhere, so I’ve been practicing – making mixes in my spare time. Going to try to post a new mix here every one in a while. Here’s the first! It’s pretty dance/house & pop oriented, a little reggae & disco/R&b thrown in there.. mostly newer stuff.
“Yeah Yeah You Would,” the first track on Diddy‘s latest album Last Train to Paris, starts off with Swizz Beatz announcing, “This is a brand new sound. This will change your life, all you gotta do is turn the shit up,” before launching into a blistering Danja-produced track. This sort of fun braggadocio is what we’ve come to expect from Diddy, yet Last Train To Paris lives up to that opening statement. It is without question one of the year’s best albums, and the greatest testament yet to Diddy’s artistic vision. It sounds like the album Diddy has always wanted to make. It takes the best parts of his supersized, mass-mediated personality and distills them into an epic album, one for which Diddy,Dawn & Kalenna (Dirty Money), Rick Ross, Usher, Lil’ Wayne, and all of his other guest stars should be applauded.
At this point, LTTP’s backstory —the multiple pushbacks and release dates, the 60+ tracks recorded during the sessions, Diddy’s unconventional requests of producers—is well known. Generally when a record is delayed to the extent that this one has been (it was originally slated for release this time last year), it is a messy, “difficult” album. One listen to Last Train makes it clear that was not the case in this instance. One can easily envision Diddy in the studio, hours before the album went to press, fixing and altering sounds. The attention paid to the most minute of details is apparent – these songs are full of unexpected sonic flourishes and beat switches. Take for example “I Hate That You Love Me,” one of the album’s standout tracks. It starts off with a hypnotic, cascading house piano line that, as the song goes on, switches up subtly and is joined by 808 claps, tambourines, etc. The intergalatic funk of “Shades” bubbles and bubbles, as layers of synthesizers and vocal overdubs are piled up and then pulled back. The gritty knock of “Angels,” is counterpointed by haunting, spare, minimal synths.
Last Train to Paris presents a fully realized version of the new “Diddy Aesthetic” that was beginning to take shape on 2006′s Press Play with songs like “Last Night” and “Through The Pain (She Told Me).” It is wordly – pulling from 80s R&B, deep house, electro, B-More house, and other strains of club music expertly with the kind of grace that only someone of Diddy’s stature could pull off. He gets a lot of credit for being a smart business man, as he should, but this album further proves Diddy’s strengths as a curator and musical auteur, and his impeccable taste in that regard. Just look at the production & songwriting credits. Diddy called on people making forward-thinking moves in an R&B/pop context, like Danja, 7 Auerelius, J. Lack, James Fauntleroy, Bilal, etc. , and Unlike most albums with a guest list and production lineup as large as this one’s, Last Train boasts a totally cohesive sound, which points to Diddy as the connecting thread. It is clear he called on people who he felt could best capture his vision, and made use of their talents for that purpose. Another plus on Diddy’s side is the sequencing – the first 8 tracks in particular flow into eachother seamlessly.
Thematically, the album touches on very familiar subject matters – heartbreak, celebrity, loneliness, etc. – but what sets it apart is how he deals with these subject matters. These odes to heartbreak and desolation are intensely personal yet utterly relatble, in the same manner that most great songs are. “Ass On The Floor,” in particular, takes a sentiment that has been expressed time and time again—dancing the hurt away—and presents it in a unique way. Swizz’s call to “Get your ass on the floor,” amidst lines like “I left my heart in Paris…Feels like I’m dying slowly” create sharp poignancy. As it turns out, a broken heart is much more fun to sing about your heart being broken over a sample of Major Lazer‘s “Pon De Floor” (which Swizz uses perfectly). Even a song like “Someone To Love Me,” which is explicitly about his own life and celebrity, speaks to the listener, because its concepts are fundamental. One common point of comparison for this album among critics is Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It makes sense to compare the two, given Diddy and Yeezy’s similar stature in pop culture. The albums touch on very similar subject matter but the core difference is in how they engage that subject matter. Where Kanye internalizes his heartbreak and neuroses (e.g. “Blame Game” ), creating an album in which the listener is an observer in the world of Mr. West rather than an active participant, Diddy makes his personal struggles universal.
One thing is apparent when listening to this album – it isn’t a rap record and it isn’t trying to be one. It is post-rap, taking on a host of influences from house to electronica to reggae, and blending them seamlessly. In Last Train to Paris, Diddy & Dirty Money have crafted a dazzling album that we will be revisiting for years to come.
- Tyrone Palmer
To start off, for those that aren’t familiar with your work could you introduce yourself?
Sure, I’m Kevin Cossom. I got my start as a songwriter – I did this joint with the Runners called “Go Getta” [which later became Young Jeezy & R. Kelly's "Go Getta"], then after that I did “Speedin” for Rick Ross, “Cash Flow” for Ace Hood, “The Usual Suspects” for Rick Ross & Nas, “Knock You Down” for Keri Hilson. I’ve been writing for a bit, now I’ve got an artist deal with Jive. Put a mixtape out not too long ago called Hook vs. Bridge – that got a little bit of attention.
You grew up singing in the church, is that right?
Yeah, definitely. My mom had me in church in the beginning, singing since I was 3 years old.
At what point did you decide that music was a real career option?
Around the age of 15, I got into a little group in my neighborhood, and that was my first opportunity to try to get a deal and do it professionally – we were doing shows everywhere. Around 14 or 15, that’s when I decided I want to do it for real. I noticed the attention we were getting and it was my first time really recording in the studio, it was fun.
As you’ve said, you have written for a lot of artists – R. Kelly, Keri Hilson, etc. Is there a difference in terms of your process when writing for yourself vs. writing for others?
When I’m writing for other people, yeah. When I did the hooks back in the day that was just my style, but when I’m doing R&B or something like that I definitely have to think about the artist and where they want to go. Sometimes it’s challenging because you don’t get to hear what other records they’re doing, or what direction they’re going in, so you’ve got to just use your imagination and research – so yeah it’s different. I definitely try a lot of the same principles and use my own style with whoever it is that I’m writing for. So it’s different -when I’m writing for me, it’s free so I can do whatever I feel, or whatever I am in the mood for. A lot of the times, for other people you’ve got to know where their head is and what they’re in the mood for, so you’ve got to keep that in mind.
How would you describe your style?
Melodic, fun. Conceptually, I just try to do things that everyone can relate to, and not really think about it too much. It has just been one of those things where people have found the stuff I’ve been writing really relatable. I think a lot of the music out now doesn’t go beneath the surface – it’s just “let’s make it catchy so it can be on the radio.” I try to do something new conceptually every time. I think I have my own style of melodies, just my own way of putting things. As a songwriter I think it is important to have your own lane, to be original. I try to do it my way and develop my own style. It’s hard to say “My style is this” or “My style is that,” but melody is important to me. I try to match the right lyric with the right melody at the right time, and capture the right feeling. If it doesn’t feel good to me, then I won’t do it. It could be a song where all I need is a bridge, If I’m not feeling it I won’t force it. The main thing is the feeling, the vibe, melody, lyric.
Is there one artist that you would say had the biggest influence on your songwriting approach?
I would say Michael Jackson. Just his ability to capture a certain energy in the mood of a track, and his melodies were so great and you always felt him – even if you didn’t know what he was saying, the melody stuck with you. I would say Michael, that was actually one of the first tapes that I got, my grandma bought it for me. I used to visit my grandma in Philly every summer and she bought me my first tapes, which were Michael Jackson Dangerous, and that Onxy CD with “Slam” [laughs]. That was the shit back in the day!
It’s interesting you say Michael Jackson, because when most people think of MJ they think of his work with Quincy Jones. That producer-artist relationship is really important, and you have a very strong working relationship with Danja – you’re signed to his label N.A.R.S.. What is it about Danja’s sound that appeals to you?
Danja is just versatile – he’s always trying to do something different, he’s never content to fit in a box. He can always change up his style. He’s legendary, he’s done things from “We Takin’ Over” for DJ Khaled all the way to “Gimme More” for Britney Spears. Simple Plan, Duran Duran, T.I. “Hurt,” – the versatility is there, and that was one of the main things, I felt like we could do whatever we wanted to do, the possibilities were endless. He’s an excellent musician, dope on the keys and the drums, both of us deciede to star picking up the guitar. That’s another thing, we just push eachother musically. We try to keep a really dope, open musical atmosphere in the studio, that’s a very important thing. When we first started working with eachother we’d just noticed that we had good chemistry in the studio, and it kind of matched as soon as we started working.
Let’s talk about your current single “Baby I Like It,” featuring Fabolous and Diddy. How did they get involved on the record?
Danja was in Miami, I was in L.A. He sent me the beat, and I went in on it, sent it back, we liked it but felt it could be better. I ended up switching the chorus a little bit, he changed a little bit on the track. Then, after we completed our parts, we felt like it still needed some extra energy, from a rapper or someone. We had some conversation beforehand about who we would want on it, we reached out to Fabolous and Diddy and they jumped on it, which was a good look. With Danja doing business with Diddy – he produced “Hello, Good Morning,” – and me doing some work with Diddy for Last Train to Paris and some work with Fabolous in the past, a song called “My Time,” the connections were already there. So we just reached out and they helped us make it happen. It’s dope to have two of the biggest names in hip-hop on the first single. It’s one of those things that is just showcasing our relationships and the fact that we’ve been in the game for a minute, it’s not this new guy – you know what I mean? Because a lot of people are like “How’d you get DIDDY and FAB?!?”. Definitely it was all about the relationships that we’ve made througout our careers.
Is the song representative of what the album sounds like?
Yeah, you could say that – it’s definitely the energy that we captured in a few other songs. Nothing on the album is going to sound exactly the same, though. It’s going to have the same principles, you’re going to be able to identify the sound, but it won’t sound exactly the same. The album, I feel like you’ve got to take them on a journey, kind of a rollercoaster ride. It’s not going to be monotone at all – there are going to be some ups and downs. You can definitely expect “Baby, I Like it” and a lot more.
One thing I’ve noticed about you from listening to your mixtape Hook vs. Bridge and other songs you’ve written is that you do different types of R&B very well. You can go from a song like “My Ex” with Rick Ross to “Late Night” and it’s all great. What is your favorite type of song to write? And what is your favorite song that you’ve written so far?
Yeah, that’s the thing. With the mixtape I was just trying to showcase the versatlity and that I can do the slow jams, the midtempos, and now with “Baby I Like It” the uptempo club joints. I like doing them all, but I think the midtempos and the slow jams are my favorites, because, at the end of the day, it’s for the ladies [laughs] and we know what they like. I’m a big fan of “Withdrawals,” that’s one of my favorite songs I’ve written. “Late Night” is one of the first joints that I put out, and I’m still getting people hitting me up about it. “She Got A Boyfriend” is a great example of Me and Danja’s sound. Because it includes a lot of big times drums, and the drums are hitting, but the melody is really smooth and pretty. We try to do that a lot, even with “Knock You Down” , if you notice – the beat is really hard-hitting but the melody is pretty and catchy. But yeah, I would have to say slow jams are my favorite.
What are your thoughts on the state of R&B right now? It seems to be in a weird place in that there are no real superstars right now, R&B singles aren’t crossing over to pop radio the way they used to. What do you think is going on?
It is kind of weird, I think people just want to win and they want to be on the radio, I can’t really tell you where the cycle starts, but definitely more and more people are going for a pop sound. Then you have people that aren’t, but it’s harder to break that on the radio. R&B, you think slow jams automatically, and it’s harder to break it because you can’t really play them in a mix show, you can’t really play it in the club, so it’s got to develop it’s own legs and it has to be that good. The funny thing about it is, once it gets on the radio it’s going to be there for a while becasue there is a shortage of contemporary R&B songs. Even with me, I kind of got bored with R&B, because I felt like it was just one thing – slow jams, or R&B has to sound like this. That’s why I like the fact that we went with this “Baby I Like It Record,” because it is R&B and it’s unpredictable, but it still gets your attention – it’s jamming. You should have just as much fun with R&B as people do with hip-hop. With hip-hop, people had to be creative to win, with R&B it was easy – like, “Ok, we’re gonna get this midtempo joint, talk about love or sex, and that’s it.” I wanted to take a different approach, and not go all the way pop but not so Adult-Contemporary that the young kids couldn’t get with it. I want to develop that balance, where everyone can relate. You’ve kind of got to do that with the album, you can’t really do it with one song. Hopefully you get that song that everybody loves – Urban, Rhythmic, and Pop. With the whole album my goal is to do something for everybody. That’s something that I do, growing up in Orlando it’s like a melting pot, and I’m an only child so I made friends with a lot of different people, hung out with people from different cultures, people that listened to different music. I was definitely into R&B, but growing up in Orlando the Pop scene was heavy back in the day with NSYNC, Britney, etc. so I kind of developed a sound where it’s something for everybody – I want to be in all lanes at the same time.
Do you have a title for the album you’re working on? Will Danja be handling majority of the production?
Yeah, right now it’s Danja, The Runners, Boi-1da, Chase N. Cashe. I’m still working on it, though, I want to get some more stuff from Chase N. Cashe & Hit Boy, as well as Polow Da Don. The majority is produced by Danja, though. Right now the tentative title is Levels Of Various Emotions [L.O.V.E.], which is an acronym for love.
Why did you go with that title?
I think Levels Of Various Emotions sums up the whole album. A lot of the songs are about love or different situations. Not necessarily love in the sense that you’re “in love” – falling out of love, just the emotions that we go through in search of finding that person to love. Some days they make you mad, some days they make you the happiest person on earth. It can be not just a love for your girlfriend, but a love for anything – even music. Just levels of various emotions, where anything that you fall in love with is going to take you on an emotional rollercoaster. At first I was thinking of calling it Mentality, that one word – for someone my age, you like somebody, you want to be with them so you change your mentality and stop going to the club, but then you break up and change your mentality again, back to the club, back on these broads [laughs]. The whole album is pretty much, boy meets girl, we in the club having fun to we in the house role playing. Just different levels of various emotions.
Besides your album, what else are you working on?
I just did a joint with Keri Hilson. Was in the studio recently with Mary J. Blige, Justin Bieber. I was in the studio with Joe Jonas a few weeks ago, with Danja. Other than that, I’ve been focusing on me, hitting the road trying to get my single out there. The transition from songwriter to song-writer artist is definitely hard.
Yeah, becasue the only people to make that transition successfuly recentely have been The-Dream and Ne-Yo, on the male side. Do you ever get discouraged when you see how others haven’t made that transition successfully?
No, I don’t get discouraged – no matter what, I’m still going to write. As a songwriter I think I’ve made some relationships with people enough to continue just as a songwriter. If I wanted to just be a songwriter I could do that, but I still want to do the artist thing – that was one of the reasons why I put the mixape, Hook vs. Bridge, out. I wanted to give the people a taste of me. When you come in as a songwriter, you’ve got to be able to perform and deliver the records that you write, and I think sometimes that is the downfall of people. Or, just get people to believe in you as a songwriter enough to sign you as an artist – people aren’t just signing anybody these days. It was important for us to not lean on the label – it’s really just about hard work. We put out a 14 song mixtape for free, and went around the country to promote it – that helped to put me in the position I’m in. It’s one of those things where I don’t have to continue to do it, but I love it. And I feel like a lot of the songs I write, no one can do them like I do them. You know like you hear a record by The-Dream and you know it’s him, nobody can do that better than him – he can give it to somebody, but nobody can do it better than him. I want to express myself too, being an artist was always primary to me, it was never about being just a songwriter.
- Tyrone Palmer (YngBlkSocrates)
