WEBVTT - Usher 0:00:15.436 --> 0:00:21.556 Pushkin. Usher is one of the few R and B 0:00:21.676 --> 0:00:23.996 acts from the nineties who's gone on to become a 0:00:24.076 --> 0:00:27.556 global superstar. And if you ask him today how it 0:00:27.596 --> 0:00:30.556 all happened, he'll tell you he manifested it all. As 0:00:30.596 --> 0:00:34.756 a kid back in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Usher and his mom 0:00:34.796 --> 0:00:36.876 moved to Atlanta when he was just twelve years old 0:00:36.916 --> 0:00:39.556 so he could pursue a career in music. His first 0:00:39.596 --> 0:00:41.956 big break came in ninety three when a song called 0:00:41.956 --> 0:00:45.316 Me a Mac was released on the Poetic Justice soundtrack. 0:00:45.876 --> 0:00:48.236 Shortly after, he was signed to the Face Records and 0:00:48.396 --> 0:00:52.116 first found mainstream success with the release of his sophomore album, 0:00:52.556 --> 0:00:56.036 My Way in ninety seven. Since the beginning of his 0:00:56.076 --> 0:01:00.836 thirty year career, Usher sold over sixty five million records worldwide. 0:01:01.516 --> 0:01:04.316 He's also started on the Broadway Musical Chicago, been a 0:01:04.436 --> 0:01:07.956 coach on The Voice, and recently added a Las Vegas 0:01:08.036 --> 0:01:12.676 residency to his long list of career achievements. The Vegas Show, 0:01:12.676 --> 0:01:15.036 which sold out all of its twenty twenty two dates, 0:01:15.236 --> 0:01:18.316 was just extended to include fifteen more shows in June 0:01:18.356 --> 0:01:22.316 and October. As you can probably imagine, Usher is a 0:01:22.356 --> 0:01:24.756 busy man. I caught up with him on Zoom for 0:01:24.756 --> 0:01:28.356 today's episode, between a vocal lesson meetings with his team 0:01:28.556 --> 0:01:32.756 and his beautiful kids pressing for his attention. During our chat, 0:01:32.836 --> 0:01:35.836 Usher explained why conflict has always been a big inspiration 0:01:35.876 --> 0:01:39.236 for a songwriting, especially when working with producer Jermaine dupri 0:01:39.516 --> 0:01:42.956 Jd on his two thousand and four classic album Confessions. 0:01:44.116 --> 0:01:46.836 Usher also talks about how elder statesmen like Quincy Jones 0:01:46.836 --> 0:01:50.956 have helped him maintain a level of sophistication throughout his career. 0:01:53.916 --> 0:01:57.156 This is broken record liner notes for the digital Age. 0:01:57.356 --> 0:02:02.516 I'm justin Mitchman. Here's my interview with Usher. Hey, Hey, 0:02:02.996 --> 0:02:06.196 what's going on? How you guys doing good? How are 0:02:06.236 --> 0:02:08.796 you doing? You know? I really, I really do. Wish 0:02:08.836 --> 0:02:11.756 I could complaint, but I would sound like a damn 0:02:11.876 --> 0:02:17.516 fool one because I don't think anybody would care to 0:02:17.596 --> 0:02:21.236 care that two. It's a waste of time when you 0:02:21.316 --> 0:02:25.316 always have such precious moments, right, that's right, man. You 0:02:25.316 --> 0:02:28.116 can either use it to complain or you can use 0:02:28.116 --> 0:02:30.636 it to compel, right, and to propel. Man, you got 0:02:30.676 --> 0:02:33.476 a lot going man, a lot going on, that's right. 0:02:33.876 --> 0:02:38.236 Since fourteen I remember you busting out killing it and now. Man, 0:02:38.236 --> 0:02:40.876 we're about twenty five years later, and it's as if 0:02:40.876 --> 0:02:42.516 you're as busy as you've ever been. Man, tell me 0:02:42.516 --> 0:02:45.476 about what's going on. It's crazy, man, considering I'm only 0:02:45.556 --> 0:02:47.836 thirty years old. I mean, I've been doing it since 0:02:47.876 --> 0:02:52.436 I was five. Man, it's been a lot going on, actually, 0:02:52.436 --> 0:02:55.356 a lot of really great things. A career obviously that's 0:02:55.356 --> 0:02:58.276 been you know, constructed over all of this time, in 0:02:58.316 --> 0:03:00.756 all of these years, but more than anything, a celebration 0:03:00.796 --> 0:03:03.636 over the last few years in Las Vegas for my 0:03:03.676 --> 0:03:06.396 biggest residency is I go back night after night listening 0:03:06.396 --> 0:03:08.956 to the songs and kind of reliving some of the emotions. 0:03:09.436 --> 0:03:11.956 Obviously the choreography and all the things that come with it. 0:03:11.996 --> 0:03:15.756 But more than that, man, it's fun and excitement that 0:03:16.076 --> 0:03:18.876 I need it, you know. I think all artists need 0:03:18.916 --> 0:03:22.396 a bit of motivation, and rather it's an audience or 0:03:22.436 --> 0:03:24.396 either just the love and passion of what you do. 0:03:24.476 --> 0:03:27.476 But being in front of a live audience really, you know, 0:03:27.556 --> 0:03:31.356 kind of reignited my passion and the energy, which is 0:03:31.396 --> 0:03:33.636 part of the reason that I'm now dropping the music 0:03:34.316 --> 0:03:37.436 and also too in the process of putting out another album, 0:03:37.476 --> 0:03:40.316 working on other products and other ancillary things to what 0:03:40.476 --> 0:03:42.876 I do culturally. You know, if you see the way 0:03:42.876 --> 0:03:45.236 I address or do you see the products I'm using, 0:03:45.316 --> 0:03:48.036 whatever it might be, all of those things are really 0:03:48.036 --> 0:03:50.876 your product of a career man, that has been dealt, 0:03:50.916 --> 0:03:53.036 as you said, over twenty years. It's crazy because I 0:03:53.036 --> 0:03:57.436 don't feel it. It's honestly, you don't realize how older 0:03:57.556 --> 0:04:00.436 you are, I guess until you think about your children. 0:04:00.436 --> 0:04:02.836 I have fourteen and a fifteen year old, so I'm like, okay, 0:04:02.836 --> 0:04:06.076 apparently i must be a bit older. But I'm not 0:04:06.116 --> 0:04:08.716 feeling like I'm losing a beat because rather I'm playing 0:04:08.796 --> 0:04:10.956 you know, football or basketball or any of those things 0:04:10.956 --> 0:04:13.956 with them. I'm keeping up. That's right. Man. The kids 0:04:13.996 --> 0:04:16.116 keep you young and old. It's a little bit of both. 0:04:16.396 --> 0:04:19.036 They keep you wise, That's what I will say. Kids. 0:04:19.076 --> 0:04:22.076 They will challenge you and at the same time they 0:04:22.116 --> 0:04:25.156 will give you purpose and reason. Yeah, you know, you 0:04:25.196 --> 0:04:27.996 think about the things that matter. It's that time that 0:04:28.076 --> 0:04:31.756 you have with them, them finding themselves, that becomes more 0:04:31.756 --> 0:04:35.076 of a priority. You know. Yeah, the new album, what 0:04:35.196 --> 0:04:37.916 did that energy start to come together? The energy of 0:04:37.996 --> 0:04:41.836 working on an album started a few years ago, and 0:04:41.916 --> 0:04:45.236 there's been you know, some hiccups that obviously have caused 0:04:45.756 --> 0:04:47.436 you know, I mean not to just put music out 0:04:47.476 --> 0:04:49.996 one the pandemic kind of sent everybody into like a 0:04:50.316 --> 0:04:55.036 holding pattern. And then just you know, deliberating over you know, 0:04:55.116 --> 0:04:59.876 just the process of analyzing right what expectations are out there. 0:05:00.396 --> 0:05:01.916 Then you just kind of get to a place where 0:05:01.956 --> 0:05:03.916 you're like, you know, what this is? What it is 0:05:03.916 --> 0:05:06.636 that I've been working on. This is a and offering, 0:05:07.076 --> 0:05:09.556 you know, rather I'm talking about things that I I 0:05:09.596 --> 0:05:11.996 obviously can relate to because I went through them, or 0:05:12.036 --> 0:05:15.596 either you can relate to because you're going through them. 0:05:15.636 --> 0:05:18.276 But you know, now I'm ready to share. I'm ready 0:05:18.276 --> 0:05:20.836 to share the music. I'm ready to share the emotion. 0:05:20.916 --> 0:05:23.756 I'm ready to share the creativity some of the things 0:05:23.756 --> 0:05:26.156 that I picked up over the time that I've been 0:05:26.196 --> 0:05:28.876 making this album. Now I'm ready to share it. What 0:05:29.036 --> 0:05:32.516 that is. I made a directorial debut with a song 0:05:32.796 --> 0:05:35.956 that's really only a snippet at this point, goog. But 0:05:36.076 --> 0:05:38.716 I have to say that a lot of it has 0:05:38.756 --> 0:05:41.756 been spun as a result of my Las Vegas residency. 0:05:41.996 --> 0:05:44.996 When I did that, it's just again, it's just reignited, 0:05:45.596 --> 0:05:49.116 you know, my passion and my connection to my audience 0:05:49.156 --> 0:05:52.636 and also to my connection to my music. Were you 0:05:53.076 --> 0:05:57.556 as backwards looking before you started the Vegas residency. Were 0:05:57.556 --> 0:06:00.476 you kind of typically in a mode of looking back 0:06:00.476 --> 0:06:04.116 at your career and thinking about different albums and eras, 0:06:04.236 --> 0:06:07.356 or did this kind of help you to that Las 0:06:07.476 --> 0:06:12.556 Vegas specifically has always been about celebrating the songs that 0:06:12.596 --> 0:06:15.276 you've had from the past. For me, it was a 0:06:15.276 --> 0:06:16.956 little bit of that, but it was the celebration of 0:06:16.996 --> 0:06:20.636 a genre, celebration of music because R and B in 0:06:20.636 --> 0:06:23.476 that capacity hadn't really been there. You've had a few 0:06:23.556 --> 0:06:26.916 artists you've had, you know, Marian Kerry and also to 0:06:27.036 --> 0:06:29.876 a few you know, more new recent artists that were 0:06:29.876 --> 0:06:33.476 working in Las Vegas, like Buno Mars and then it's impact. 0:06:33.876 --> 0:06:37.236 But that culture of R and B music and live 0:06:37.276 --> 0:06:40.236 performance in the way that I do it, it wasn't there. 0:06:40.796 --> 0:06:42.316 So I don't know if I ever looked at it 0:06:42.316 --> 0:06:44.396 as looking back. I looked at it as let me 0:06:44.436 --> 0:06:47.156 go back for a second to remind you of what 0:06:47.556 --> 0:06:51.156 this level of performance and entertainment is ultimately about, and 0:06:51.196 --> 0:06:54.116 the fact that this culture doesn't exist here. Things that 0:06:54.156 --> 0:06:57.356 I shared on stage you know. I mean, I don't 0:06:57.356 --> 0:06:58.676 know if you've ever been to my show, but I 0:06:58.756 --> 0:07:03.476 take you on a complete ride through Atlanta, through black culture. 0:07:03.956 --> 0:07:08.076 There's you know, certain views of like you know, jazz 0:07:08.596 --> 0:07:12.436 and I live music, and the idea of like being 0:07:12.556 --> 0:07:16.276 in this impromptu moment or improv that happens. You know, 0:07:16.356 --> 0:07:19.436 these unexpected things and unexpected guests that might come out 0:07:19.476 --> 0:07:21.436 on the stage. All of those things are part of 0:07:21.476 --> 0:07:24.636 what an R and B show has always offered in time. 0:07:24.996 --> 0:07:26.836 So it gave me the opportunity to do that and 0:07:26.836 --> 0:07:29.716 then experimenting with other things like skating on stage, and 0:07:29.756 --> 0:07:32.876 I just really I had fun. So again, I didn't 0:07:32.916 --> 0:07:35.596 look at it as looking back. The music from the 0:07:35.596 --> 0:07:37.916 soundtrack of My life, which is the songs that are hits, 0:07:38.116 --> 0:07:41.076 they take you back. But I'm moving forward in terms 0:07:41.076 --> 0:07:44.396 of how introduced this to you and how immersed you 0:07:44.436 --> 0:07:46.796 are in this experience. You don't feel like you're going 0:07:46.836 --> 0:07:48.996 to a show. You feel like you're having an experience. 0:07:49.236 --> 0:07:52.396 You don't feel like you're watching a live experience. You 0:07:52.436 --> 0:07:55.996 know that it's just singing and lights. No, you were 0:07:56.036 --> 0:07:58.756 completely immersed from the moment you walk into the theater 0:07:59.116 --> 0:08:02.356 to the moment that you leave the nightclub, you're completely 0:08:02.996 --> 0:08:05.436 in my passion. You're in the passion of what it 0:08:05.516 --> 0:08:09.836 is that I created, both musically and also too as 0:08:09.876 --> 0:08:14.036 an experience. I love that it's such a send up 0:08:14.236 --> 0:08:16.876 to like R and B, such a celebration of the genre, man, 0:08:16.956 --> 0:08:19.876 because you know, it's funny. I was having a conversation 0:08:20.196 --> 0:08:22.676 for the podcast with baby Face a couple weeks ago, 0:08:23.436 --> 0:08:26.396 and it dawned on me through talking to him that 0:08:26.516 --> 0:08:29.636 the era that you came up in the nineties really 0:08:29.916 --> 0:08:32.676 was the era of like R and B just being 0:08:33.076 --> 0:08:36.116 the mainstream popular music of the day, man, you know, 0:08:36.196 --> 0:08:39.476 whereas at some point it was race music at some 0:08:39.516 --> 0:08:42.196 point it was segregated to black charts. By the nineties, man, 0:08:42.236 --> 0:08:43.756 when you guys were what you guys were doing with 0:08:43.796 --> 0:08:48.316 the face, it became like a driver of the culture. Yeah. Well, 0:08:48.356 --> 0:08:51.436 I'll say this was it more relevant because it became 0:08:51.876 --> 0:08:55.796 defiant and things and genres that were established, like hip 0:08:55.836 --> 0:08:58.076 hop became more relevant. And then the mixing of R 0:08:58.156 --> 0:09:01.676 and B and hip hop together made it feel dangerous. 0:09:01.916 --> 0:09:04.836 I'd say that, but it was dangerous way before, and 0:09:04.876 --> 0:09:07.996 it was those other cultures of music, our genres of music. 0:09:08.276 --> 0:09:13.636 If you want to than that that were bastardizing in ways. 0:09:13.676 --> 0:09:16.396 You know, this credible thing called jazz. Jazz is the 0:09:16.436 --> 0:09:19.476 creation of all things man, all things that musical rather 0:09:19.516 --> 0:09:24.196 it's rock rather ideas of classical things. Right, you think 0:09:24.196 --> 0:09:28.156 about how R and B was established, it was jazz, 0:09:28.596 --> 0:09:31.596 and then from that all other things come. In my opinion, 0:09:31.636 --> 0:09:33.356 I think that there was a formal way of listening 0:09:33.356 --> 0:09:36.876 to music, which is orchestrated, and that's a different practice. 0:09:37.196 --> 0:09:40.596 But the things that you feel, the emotion, the storytelling, 0:09:41.476 --> 0:09:45.876 that's jazz, and rather through the thirties forties, you know, 0:09:45.916 --> 0:09:48.236 and then making your way up until the fifties, sixties 0:09:48.276 --> 0:09:50.956 and seventies, R and B was kind of on the 0:09:50.956 --> 0:09:53.596 back burning, but it was always supplying. Jazz was always 0:09:53.636 --> 0:09:57.356 supplying to all of those other genres. Yeah, So in 0:09:57.396 --> 0:10:00.116 my mind, I take ownership of that for those people. 0:10:00.196 --> 0:10:03.476 Even though we were racially segregated and maybe black, you know, 0:10:03.556 --> 0:10:07.756 performers were not celebrated. They couldn't even walk through the 0:10:07.836 --> 0:10:11.676 very places that they would perform in. So yeah, I 0:10:11.716 --> 0:10:14.356 think you're right. You know, through the nineties, R and 0:10:14.396 --> 0:10:17.476 B had a moment where it was more relevant than 0:10:17.556 --> 0:10:20.676 others and it felt dangerous. Rock and roll for it 0:10:20.796 --> 0:10:23.836 felt dangerous. If you look at DM and all of 0:10:23.876 --> 0:10:26.836 those are the things hip hop, it felt dangerous. So 0:10:27.716 --> 0:10:31.556 there's a sophistication that R and B had and has 0:10:31.676 --> 0:10:36.956 always had, that popular music or popular genre has been 0:10:36.956 --> 0:10:39.916 able to adopt. But it ain't ever went away. I 0:10:39.916 --> 0:10:42.236 think that it's always been there. And so long as 0:10:42.276 --> 0:10:46.636 you hear those those hues of what is jazz, those 0:10:46.756 --> 0:10:49.516 hues of what is blue, those hues of what is 0:10:49.996 --> 0:10:53.316 soul music, then that shit is R and B. That 0:10:53.396 --> 0:10:56.756 ain't what you think it is. It's it's not the 0:10:56.836 --> 0:11:00.596 genre that was claimed, it's the inspiration that was provided, 0:11:00.716 --> 0:11:03.916 you know what I'm saying. We'll be back after a 0:11:03.956 --> 0:11:11.316 quick break with more of my conversation with Usher. We're 0:11:11.316 --> 0:11:14.796 back with more from Ushure. You're right about like R 0:11:14.876 --> 0:11:16.996 and B having this sort of dangerous feel to it 0:11:17.036 --> 0:11:19.716 too in the nineties. And it was almost an accident 0:11:19.916 --> 0:11:22.676 because you get discovered by La Reid and get signed 0:11:22.676 --> 0:11:26.116 to the face, but because La didn't exactly know what 0:11:26.116 --> 0:11:27.956 to do with you in the beginning, you get sent 0:11:28.036 --> 0:11:30.756 to go work with Puff and it's like you kind 0:11:30.756 --> 0:11:32.916 of get immersed in a kind of have this dual 0:11:32.916 --> 0:11:35.756 world happening, man, between the R and B that you 0:11:36.036 --> 0:11:39.836 aspire to do and now you're hanging with Puff and 0:11:39.836 --> 0:11:41.676 and even kind of more dangerous R and B cats 0:11:41.676 --> 0:11:44.396 like Davante Swing, kind of more edgy cats. You know, 0:11:45.076 --> 0:11:46.916 how was that moment for you? Man? It seems like real, 0:11:47.316 --> 0:11:50.716 like the stars aligned to have that moment happened for you. Man. Yeah, 0:11:50.756 --> 0:11:53.556 before you get to like Davante Swing in New York's 0:11:53.676 --> 0:11:55.556 contribution to R and B and hip hop, you got 0:11:55.996 --> 0:11:59.316 the Parliament you gotta go, you know, those guys you 0:11:59.396 --> 0:12:01.796 gotta go to. You know, R and B was was 0:12:01.876 --> 0:12:07.236 dangerous much earlier than that, and mine working with Puff 0:12:08.156 --> 0:12:11.836 was you know, a matter of La Reid's vision to 0:12:11.836 --> 0:12:15.156 see that the entrepreneur that Puff was was going to grow. 0:12:15.716 --> 0:12:18.916 You know, until La Reid introduced with the world to 0:12:19.556 --> 0:12:22.356 Sean Buffy Combs, you didn't know nothing about bad Boy. 0:12:22.556 --> 0:12:24.476 You didn't even understand what it had to offer it, 0:12:24.596 --> 0:12:27.356 which meant, you know, you might have even glassed over, 0:12:27.956 --> 0:12:30.316 you know what he did with Joe to see and 0:12:30.756 --> 0:12:34.996 Uptown records. So I think it was really the sophistication 0:12:35.036 --> 0:12:39.516 between La Reid's helping people like Puff to be able 0:12:39.556 --> 0:12:42.356 to find his light, or Dallas Austin or Jermaine Duprie 0:12:42.476 --> 0:12:44.316 or any of the guys that he had hit records with, 0:12:44.436 --> 0:12:48.636 or Rico Wade with organized noise, all of those things. 0:12:48.676 --> 0:12:51.756 That was a matter of sophistication and La Reid's blending 0:12:51.796 --> 0:12:54.756 of the two worlds to make it dangerous. Yeah, Joe, 0:12:54.796 --> 0:12:56.276 to see was hip hop. It almost looked like a 0:12:56.356 --> 0:12:58.436 rock band that was R and B. You know, Mary 0:12:58.556 --> 0:13:02.316 James was and has always been, you know, this incredible 0:13:02.556 --> 0:13:05.396 soul singer that was just pulling her heart out. You know, 0:13:05.436 --> 0:13:08.116 I'll be sure you know heavy d all of those 0:13:08.156 --> 0:13:10.236 guys from that time that was setting a standard. There 0:13:10.236 --> 0:13:12.676 would be no Shaggy and all of those guys if 0:13:12.676 --> 0:13:15.436 you didn't have a heavy deed. So when I think 0:13:15.476 --> 0:13:19.876 about what I gained from working with Puffy and being 0:13:19.916 --> 0:13:22.516 in New York City and spending an entire year with 0:13:22.596 --> 0:13:24.876 him making my first album, it gave me all the 0:13:24.876 --> 0:13:28.236 fuel that I need to be not only the creative 0:13:28.316 --> 0:13:31.556 but also to the innovator that discovers talent and knows 0:13:31.596 --> 0:13:34.596 how to develop it as well using it for myself 0:13:34.716 --> 0:13:37.756 or either helping them find their way. There was something 0:13:37.876 --> 0:13:42.356 so fundamental about his creation and this idea of branding. 0:13:42.476 --> 0:13:44.876 It wasn't just about being a singer. You could be 0:13:44.876 --> 0:13:47.396 a great fucking singer. That don't matter. If I don't 0:13:47.396 --> 0:13:50.316 feel like I'm getting it's dangerous dealing with you and 0:13:50.356 --> 0:13:52.676 it's like, then why am I looking at you? Why 0:13:52.676 --> 0:13:54.556 do I care about you? I learned all of that 0:13:54.636 --> 0:13:58.076 from the School of Puff, and then from there it 0:13:58.116 --> 0:14:03.036 became relationship, and it became the life story and understanding 0:14:03.076 --> 0:14:05.156 where the person was, what their views were of what, 0:14:05.676 --> 0:14:08.636 you know, choices they made, how they dressed, you know, 0:14:08.636 --> 0:14:11.556 what type of shit they got into it. It became 0:14:11.676 --> 0:14:14.236 something far more than just listening to the music. You 0:14:14.476 --> 0:14:17.716 fell in love with the artist, so I wanted that. 0:14:17.876 --> 0:14:21.396 I'm like, okay, great. So then we didn't make a 0:14:21.476 --> 0:14:25.276 hit Altum together, but we had a hit record on 0:14:25.316 --> 0:14:28.956 it working with Davante Swim you know man, believe it, 0:14:29.036 --> 0:14:31.796 or not being around Biggie earlier in the days when 0:14:31.796 --> 0:14:35.596 he was being introduced Craig mag total being in New 0:14:35.676 --> 0:14:38.476 York City, like going to Mount Vernon, being you know, 0:14:38.476 --> 0:14:41.796 and being under the wing of Heady d and being 0:14:41.836 --> 0:14:44.276 able to see how you move and work with these 0:14:44.636 --> 0:14:47.156 work like hip hop and R and B together all 0:14:47.196 --> 0:14:49.316 of those things I could, I gained all of that now. 0:14:49.316 --> 0:14:52.156 I left and after that made my Way, came back 0:14:52.156 --> 0:14:55.316 to Atlanta and worked with JD and we made incredible music, 0:14:55.356 --> 0:14:58.996 incredible music together that now serviced all of what I 0:14:59.036 --> 0:15:01.676 know about being an artist. But yeah, a lot of 0:15:01.716 --> 0:15:03.836 hit records came out of that My Way, eighty seven 0:15:03.876 --> 0:15:06.316 oh one Confessions, and we kept going and we are 0:15:06.356 --> 0:15:10.436 still going. But yeah, I think that the one thing 0:15:10.436 --> 0:15:12.996 you might be overlooking is the danger and also to 0:15:13.676 --> 0:15:18.396 the sophistication that La Read had to create a blend right, Yeah, 0:15:18.876 --> 0:15:21.436 because that man had insight. That man had the ability 0:15:21.476 --> 0:15:24.876 to see for real before everybody else soft real. That 0:15:24.916 --> 0:15:27.596 man had the ability to see you know, jay Z 0:15:27.756 --> 0:15:30.196 and make him an executive that now we respect as 0:15:30.196 --> 0:15:34.676 a businessman because he saw something more us. The sophistication 0:15:34.756 --> 0:15:38.636 of understanding how to grow black entrepreneurs and black creatives 0:15:38.676 --> 0:15:40.916 to a place and lift them up is what I 0:15:40.956 --> 0:15:46.036 think happened with La and really made what we celebrate 0:15:46.076 --> 0:15:48.356 as a culture in music. Where do you think your 0:15:48.356 --> 0:15:50.956 sophistication came from? Because it just feels like you had 0:15:50.956 --> 0:15:53.076 it so early, like from the beginning like even though 0:15:53.116 --> 0:15:55.556 the first record wasn't hit record, it's like you came 0:15:55.716 --> 0:15:57.916 just ready made. What ready made is in the work, 0:15:58.116 --> 0:16:00.636 my work ethic is where that's what makes a difference. 0:16:00.676 --> 0:16:03.276 I learned the skill of being in the environment of people. 0:16:03.316 --> 0:16:05.276 If you want to be great, that surround yourself around 0:16:05.276 --> 0:16:09.636 great people. La Read Sean, Puffy Cones, Man do Pre 0:16:10.196 --> 0:16:13.596 Dallas Austin, you know, working with the greats you know, 0:16:13.676 --> 0:16:17.156 and then creating really incredible, amazing one offs, like you know, 0:16:17.436 --> 0:16:19.276 we did records with for real for the first time. 0:16:19.316 --> 0:16:22.476 But being able to have access to these guys, and 0:16:22.596 --> 0:16:25.116 I look at my you know, all of the records 0:16:25.036 --> 0:16:27.116 and the things that I've been able to create. Fact, 0:16:27.236 --> 0:16:30.036 I really really don't click of people who have been 0:16:30.076 --> 0:16:32.436 a part of my legacy. It ain't just one person. 0:16:32.876 --> 0:16:37.236 It's an entire world of people who who have all 0:16:37.236 --> 0:16:39.516 of these different views of R and B and hip hop, 0:16:39.836 --> 0:16:41.556 and then the way they play with it and the 0:16:41.596 --> 0:16:44.876 way they man make things. It's like it's like nothing 0:16:44.956 --> 0:16:48.556 else that I can't you can't compare it to anything else. Man, 0:16:48.596 --> 0:16:51.436 you really have multiple worlds of music colliding all through 0:16:51.556 --> 0:16:54.836 your catalog. Really and cats like early and cats and 0:16:54.956 --> 0:16:57.076 interesting points in the career, like when you're working with 0:16:57.196 --> 0:16:59.236 Jimmy jam and Terry Lewis, Like you got them at 0:16:59.316 --> 0:17:01.516 a kind of like a real interesting point in my view, 0:17:01.516 --> 0:17:05.316 and it's just Catalog's crazy. You asked where the sophistication 0:17:05.396 --> 0:17:10.516 comes from. The sophistication comes from, you know the gurus Jimmy, Jamy, Taylorwis, 0:17:10.636 --> 0:17:13.796 like La Reid maybe face you know, those are the 0:17:13.796 --> 0:17:17.116 guys who were like they were like the oracles man 0:17:17.156 --> 0:17:20.356 they would have did They're like the Jedis. They they 0:17:20.436 --> 0:17:22.796 made you understand what it was to be an artist 0:17:22.916 --> 0:17:26.716 and how to make things last, being able to have 0:17:26.996 --> 0:17:31.316 ships like Quincy Jones. And then you know the young 0:17:31.436 --> 0:17:35.316 Jedis like you know, like Jermaine Dupree, He's advoicate, you 0:17:35.316 --> 0:17:38.716 know what I'm saying, Like, just yeah, when did you 0:17:38.756 --> 0:17:42.316 first meet Quincy Jones? Man? I first met Quincy. I 0:17:42.396 --> 0:17:44.956 walked in a Tummy Hill figure. It was a Tummy 0:17:45.036 --> 0:17:48.356 Hill Figure show in New York City. It was me 0:17:48.436 --> 0:17:51.116 Aliyah I think it was. It was a ton of 0:17:51.316 --> 0:17:53.236 relevant artists at that time. He had us walk in 0:17:53.276 --> 0:17:55.556 the show and that was the first time that Q 0:17:56.316 --> 0:17:58.956 kind of put his crew together so we were his 0:17:58.996 --> 0:18:02.436 crew for the night, and from that's found a really 0:18:02.436 --> 0:18:06.156 great relationship, a friendship. He's been a godfather to me 0:18:06.596 --> 0:18:10.236 ever since that day, you know, and my conversations with him, 0:18:10.276 --> 0:18:13.076 believe it or not, were not about music as much 0:18:13.116 --> 0:18:15.676 as it was what is your contribution to life? He 0:18:15.836 --> 0:18:18.636 turned me into a philanthropist. He began to help me 0:18:18.716 --> 0:18:23.196 understand that there's much more of a responsibility to kind 0:18:23.236 --> 0:18:25.836 of lay groundwork and remind people that it's not just 0:18:25.876 --> 0:18:29.636 about music. It's also too about opening your eyes or 0:18:29.636 --> 0:18:31.836 the world's eyes to things that need to be addressed, 0:18:32.276 --> 0:18:34.796 you know, advocating for things that you think, you know 0:18:34.916 --> 0:18:39.196 do matter and will matter for generations to come and 0:18:39.356 --> 0:18:42.836 even for the current time. But yeah, a great relationship. 0:18:42.876 --> 0:18:46.876 So that sophistication, you know, it comes from those relationships, 0:18:46.916 --> 0:18:50.036 relationships with the guys who've been here before, the elders, 0:18:50.076 --> 0:18:53.316 the guys who understand, you know, it's idd and this 0:18:53.476 --> 0:18:57.236 time because everything so young, right, and everything so vibrant, 0:18:57.236 --> 0:19:00.676 and everything so defiant. But really, man, our elders are 0:19:00.676 --> 0:19:03.156 the ones that matter. They got something to teach us, 0:19:03.156 --> 0:19:06.036 and we really do learn from listening to them. So 0:19:06.516 --> 0:19:08.996 you got to listen to the ogs. You know, they 0:19:09.156 --> 0:19:12.196 are the gatekeepers and they make the difference. Yes, there 0:19:12.236 --> 0:19:14.916 is a new frontier of people who are just speaking 0:19:14.956 --> 0:19:18.076 out for how they feel and being loud about it. 0:19:18.116 --> 0:19:22.836 But sophistication, man, longevity comes from listening to your elders. 0:19:23.316 --> 0:19:25.636 You want to make it last forever, and you gotta 0:19:25.676 --> 0:19:28.596 listen to your elders, Listen to the ones that have 0:19:28.636 --> 0:19:30.756 been here. Even if you think what they're telling you 0:19:30.836 --> 0:19:33.916 ain't relevant to what you think or what you feel 0:19:33.996 --> 0:19:36.436 right now, they got something to share with you, and 0:19:36.596 --> 0:19:42.076 that sophistication and longevity comes from there, their will of knowledge. Man. 0:19:42.716 --> 0:19:46.036 It's beautiful that you already at such a young tender 0:19:46.116 --> 0:19:48.876 age man, just to accept that wisdom man and listen 0:19:48.876 --> 0:19:51.476 because you know, and then also not to take what 0:19:51.556 --> 0:19:54.116 they tell you, incorporate it and also find your own 0:19:54.116 --> 0:19:57.196 way and implemented your own way, man, because certainly looking 0:19:57.236 --> 0:20:00.516 at your catalog, looking out your career, it's a totally 0:20:00.596 --> 0:20:04.196 unique path that you took. Their commitment and their dedication 0:20:04.276 --> 0:20:07.916 is what I saw, and I become them in time. 0:20:08.476 --> 0:20:10.356 I don't know, Like I said, I'm only a thirteen 0:20:10.436 --> 0:20:14.596 years old, you know what I'm saying. So over time, 0:20:15.436 --> 0:20:19.516 hopefully I'll be able to share, you know, that information 0:20:19.596 --> 0:20:22.436 that ends that wisdom with the artists that are coming. 0:20:22.836 --> 0:20:25.556 Speaking of Quincy, is there any truth to the idea 0:20:25.676 --> 0:20:28.916 that Tevin Campbell's second record, I'm ready some of those 0:20:28.916 --> 0:20:32.316 songs supposed to be written for you. Now many people 0:20:32.316 --> 0:20:35.236 have said that no, Tevin Campbell songs were Tevin Campbell songs, 0:20:35.556 --> 0:20:38.516 and my songs were my songs. The reality is, I 0:20:38.556 --> 0:20:41.316 think La Reid and Baby Facebook kind of going through 0:20:41.316 --> 0:20:44.276 a transition when they worked together and when I first 0:20:44.396 --> 0:20:47.636 signed as an artist, so I probably didn't get a 0:20:47.716 --> 0:20:54.196 chance to receive, you know, the love and the benefit 0:20:54.356 --> 0:20:57.996 of what Baby Face offered my first album. But I 0:20:58.156 --> 0:21:00.156 later on became great friends with him. I just seen 0:21:00.196 --> 0:21:02.396 him in Atlanta. You know, he's still the o G. 0:21:02.556 --> 0:21:05.116 I love him, and rather he was writing songs for me. 0:21:05.116 --> 0:21:07.236 He still was a motivation. I still looked at whip 0:21:07.316 --> 0:21:10.116 appeal and was in was by that a matter of fact, 0:21:10.116 --> 0:21:12.196 The song that actually, you know, spun it all and 0:21:12.236 --> 0:21:14.636 started it off for me was a song that he wrote. 0:21:14.876 --> 0:21:17.036 He and La Read together wrote that record End of 0:21:17.076 --> 0:21:20.196 the Road, End of the Road. Yeah, boys a minute, 0:21:20.516 --> 0:21:24.956 but I'm ready those songs. They belonged to Tavin Kimpbell. 0:21:25.476 --> 0:21:28.956 What I did with Puff and my first album, it 0:21:28.996 --> 0:21:31.556 was what it was. I did not get that record 0:21:31.596 --> 0:21:34.636 that I wanted my first album. When I listened to 0:21:35.556 --> 0:21:38.476 Can We Talk, I felt slighted because I was like, damn, 0:21:38.476 --> 0:21:40.636 I wanted that record. I wanted to record that. I 0:21:40.676 --> 0:21:43.516 wonder if that song was for me. Noah, it wasn't. 0:21:43.556 --> 0:21:46.636