I’ve been asked quite a few times which I prefer more, being an artist or being a producer. I always reply that I love both equally and I especially enjoy when I can add value in both capacities to a record for someone else. In this case it’s remarkable to note that this record was conceived backstage at a show six months before I was able to actualize the concept in-studio:
Looking at the tracklisting for Rick Ross’ album, you’ll see that this record is missing. Our schedules were such that we were only able to facilitate the collaboration once that album had already been closed. Look for this to appear on his next one (or on mine)!
Fabolous has always looked out. When my very first official single “Used 2 Be” was released, he lent his talent to a then unknown artist looking for a break. More recently, he featured on “Addiction” and showed up for both videos. When I heard his album was almost finished, I made it a priority to get him into the studio so that I could reciprocate his good will:
I picked up the talkbox the night before my SOB’s concerts. I’m still learning how to get the sound I want from it, so I’m always practicing with it in sessions. The riff I’m playing was just for fun and is only recorded in the video footage. Keri Hilson happened to be in an adjacent room and stopped in to hear what I was working on. Glad she was inspired to touch the record. Her talent is clearly evident. Shout out to Funk Flex, DJ Clue, Duro and Lenny S for appearing in this post and continuing to support me & NextSelection.
There are only a few big studios left in New York. Sony and the Hit Factory closed a while ago, and Right Track on 38th just closed as well. Though I have my home studio, there’s a certain magic in knowing that there are other creative people in the same building in different rooms making records. “Precious” happened exactly that way. I ran into Jim Jones in the lobby of Chung King one night and minutes later he had ordered some keyboards and a guitar for me to the room in which he was working. We did this over two days. The second day, I came in fresh off the red carpet of a Valentino fashion week event. I believe one of the best aspects of music is its ability to bring people together. Shout out to Damon Dash and Jim Jones for valuing my creativity. You can get the single from iTunes now by clicking here.
When you make music, it’s rewarding when an artist is excited enough about what you’ve created that they want to make an investment in exposure. This includes spending on radio promotion and in the best case, a music video. I introduced my friend Armen to Dame and Jim and I believe he brought a great sensibility to this clip. We shot this as an outro to Jim’s current single “Blow The Bank”. His album drops Tuesday. Special thanks to my girl DW for coming through in the clutch even though her agency restricts her from appearing in music videos. Enjoy:
Songwriters sometimes sing unintelligible syllables to lay down a guide melody during the creative process. Here’s an amusing example of this with my voice running through a very strict pitch correction processor. Originally posted on YouTube.
Based on the feedback, this one’s a favorite – even without the words! Shout out to Rafik Raphaël Mhoumadi who bought my album in France and was wondering whether I really care about my audience – please forgive me for concentrating on making music and rehearsing and running my business and making general updates for everyone instead of personally commenting on your facebook profile! I appreciate you all very much – individually and collectively.
After many of my songs began to leak into the blogosphere, I decided to go back into the studio and add a few elements to make the album versions of the records special. This clip opens with me playing back an extended instrumental arrangement of I-R-I-N-A with some overdubs by my boys Jermaine Parrish on drums and Al Carty on bass.
Inspired, I decided to re-visit one of my favorite songs called ‘Just Right’. Here’s a look at that session. I had to rebuild it from scratch as one of my hard drives had crashed and many sessions had been lost. I love the new elements, and here’s to you loving them too…
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