Anthony Hamilton

he's here in studio for cut to It. He's your name, Brittany, Yeah he is, and it was It was wonderful to sit down with him, but also um to be able to see you and go through the process of how creative genius, how you could just take something small and making just something huge like that. And he did to cut to an intro song. So I'm really excited to talk about that as well. Yeah, that's what I was

talking about. I don't know, I don't know anything else that you were talking about, Anthony, How you know, how did this go? I was scared to to talk to you and ask you. Um, I was nervous. I was like, man, because we were thinking about music and um, and I was just like, man, I know Anthony, I gotta I

think I got a pretty good relationshipship with him. I'm kind of scared to ask him because I know how how many people ask ask me things, ask things of me, and I'm just like, man, I want to be that dude. And you served it up as a possible because we were just thinking of like just some some just regular leading music and he's like, oh, I got a tie to Anthony. Were like okay, and then it showed the tie when I mentioned it. I think it was like two it was. It was like a month and a half. Damn,

I'm scared, and I just I was. It was scared to be rejected, but I was also scared to for you not to feel used. You know, I was on it, um, and I knew you were coming from a place, not like that cousin who keeps asking for the cash. You know, it was from a different place than the cash I asked or the you know, man, I don't know what I'm gonna do. So it wasn't that you know, you put in a lot of work. I'm a big fan of who you are and what you represent as a

not only a football player, but the fall him. So I knew it was coming from a different place. Um, and then you know, I want to know, what do you have music? Because do I need to get music or do you have music? All those things, you know, made it even easier for me to go, And I said, all right, I was in the studio. I was like,

let me listen to this music. I was like, okay. First, actually, yeah, we had we had a few tracks that my brother in law actually is as a producer, so he made he made some beats, and so we sent him over and we went back in fore phones and which one sounds good? Which ones are are worthy enough for for you to grace is with your presence on him? And so we sent him over to you. Yeah, this this one stood out, Yeah, because it sounded you know, I

had a good energy about it. And so I was like, all right, I can see myself you know, doing something to this one. Yeah. I was like, uh, who was June slap in the middle of a pandemic? Also, yeah, because we kept seeing each each other, we kept seeing each other on walks. They store. Oh. We was in the grocery store, was in the neighborhood taking walks. Man, we was walking all the time, and uh, and I taught us him, Man, this is fire. Yeah. And it was a lot of conversation going on. And then I

was like, he's like, man, I haven't see you. I was like, well, we also moved. It was like what yeah, and so it was and so he said it to me and I still have it so June and then that's when we did. Uh. That's when he's Anthony sent it back to me. I want you to hear and he was like, yo, I can't tell you all all of the other parts of it too. So he gave he gave you a preview. So yeah, yeah, I wanted it to have that old R and B like yeah,

I kind of all right cool that. Yeah, it gave me a feeling like the old good R and B. I don't want it to sound good. I want people to be like, what is this. I listened to it so missing my kids. My kids was finally like all right, dad, that's enough. Yeah. So but I love it. The fact that we have it on the podcast. You can download it just the intro, like it's just it's you know, like it ain't like, oh this is something we did know, this is this is Anthony. I'm just shoo. I'm just

a good look at that handsome guys. Subjectives. We had people I want to download the song, like is there more to it? Wow? Yeah? People hit this up. I'm happy to Yeah, we cash out that. Yeah. So who track? Who produced that people? Yeah, Alex Johnson. So it's my brother in law's he's a producer. He lives up in d C. Okay, about to bless it with the whole thing. Okay, yeah, we'll link it up. We'll link it up. Whoa, whoa, whoa whoa. Steve you your this this this is a

Grammy winner, he said. He want to he want to link something up. You know, I understand, but I own it. We ain't got four gram in the budget. I'm gonna be way more than four. Ain't talking like oh my my, my business in contracts. You just said it up all I said. All I said, like he's like we hooked U up. I'm like this hooking up. I got to write the check just to see where I would go creatively. You know, I'll be like, let me see what you want to background. Oh that's like a temptate. Yeah, we

gotta come up with a routine. Routine. You gotta wash the hamstring with that movie. Now they're still good. I know I'm running it. I took off running the other day. My boys didn't know I ran track. Yeah, ran the hurdles. The first one tine tin hurdles and another fellow mention and yeah, yeah hurdles long jump. Now I say fellow mention because he will tell you generally the high hurdlers are not five nine and below. They usually six ten and above. Yeah. Yeah, now you just murder that did

you play us play football? That played football? Is tail back in the safety? How long? When did you discover you no longer? We're good in football? When I broke my legs back, broke my leg makeing a tack, let me let me let me guess tall sweet ye making a tackle? You always it's just like you know why because that running to the side. Yeah, safety blew up, that d gap tackle got tripped up. Yeah that's what it was. I'm like, I'm make a pile, but I'm coming up like ah, you said, I'm done. I'm done.

I'm to where's the mike. Where's the microphone? The microphone? Yeah? Yeah, all right, well Anthony. Our first segments called get ice stuck just icebreaker questions. They're randomly select super random ahead, give the first You're ready? Would you rather lose the ability to read or lose the ability to speak the ability to read? At fourth singer, I already know what I'm sact tired of it. I don't want no more. I got to read that to do? Uh, I go with losibility to speak. I need to be able to

read some contracts I can. I can deal with that. I don't want to. I don't want to lose. I don't want to lose my literacy. You gotta have a really good threat when you like if this eventually, I don't, eventually I find out that this ain't what it is all. You gotta have a real one of them and make good on one or two. Uh, they have you don't have to read? Have your money that James had a pistol? Which one would you choose? I'm gonna just say what

some of these folks taking. Hell, if you look on the back of some of the containers and the ingredients of food ship, I can't read anywhere. Yeah, you gotta look at the word, then look it up to see what it is. So I'm gonna speak because I do agree with you, and this is people listening would understand. All you gotta do is molly whapp a few people and then when you throw it out there that it's a possibility you're gonna molly whapp them. Man, your track

record shows that you are mopper. Yeah, then you start you just like you ever seen you ever seen a you ever seen a mute? Molly whopper? Don't go too well, it's probably a hard lick, all right. What long shot have you taken that really paid off? Long shot have taken? Yeah? Your version of long shot? Because they're all there, um betting on this music thing. Yeah yeah, betting on this and and going through with it and and taking all the steps, just putting all my all this betting on

it hard. Yeah, and it's paying off. That's cool. Yeah. What food do you love that a lot of people might find a little odd? What food? I love that most people will find a little odd? M as you're thinking about I can tell you Mineu's I don't know what it is, bro, but I really enjoy sometimes just make it some some fruity pebble rice, crispy trees. I don't know why, Like I like, it's some people for two year old man. Some people say, no, you're still eating Cereal. I mean I love Cereal, do too, but

I still look at the box. They got Whole Cereal bars. Now you can just go in there and whatever. It's sugar some of that stuff on there. Molly's the backup looks like what's wrong with Anthony? You know some of them. I'm gonna say, um, Vegan beat loaf that some people would say like Vegan Lona, like go beyond is what's the what's the us beyond? And this one called something life. Yeah, you're talking about butters got him. That tickled him to that South met right even like, man, I tell you,

I used that. I'm telling I don't care how old is, I don't care where are you from? What you think? When I was when I was in Baltimore, at least once a week, in the middle of either team meetings or or offensive meets, I would say it and I don't know, I don't care how old you all you mate, it's always a tickler. Yeah, So I'll continue with your and you said being a meat loaf. Yeah, some people feel I guess they feel like, um, if it's not meat,

has it meat loaf? Yeah? They don't understand, Like why would you not either perfectly good turkey meat loaf or or beef meat loaf? And you want to play around pretend like you eating meat loaf, but it's it's it's pretty good. You cook it. Because I heard pretty I cook it. I got a question in so that just makes oxtails sometime and beef ribs. Oh, so you're vegan now. I wasn't for two and a half years. I'm still

back on seafood now. And believe it or not, there was a moment once I had COVID really bad and decent. You know, we'll probably get into it. But after that, I was like, you know what, almost die. I won't wings. I must have bought the biggest bag from Giant Penny on Friday, every last one on the back porch until I didn't want it no more. Man, I hate so many. Yeah, I was gonna You're gonna die big God, Ha's gotta

be born on the way hole. You had a whole conversation with self yea, oh yeah, you was right there, you're about to the white light in your mind. It was, Yeah, it was kind of cruel. So I got a question, man, is a hot dog considered a sandwich? Hot dog is a hot dog. It's kind of a sundward but it ain't really. I don't I don't want to call a hot dog a sandwich. It's kind of it's in the way of all the other a lot of other great sandwiches that that's like, you keep pushing. The hot dog

is here, so it's gonna put sandwich back. What there's a hierarchy. Yeah, yeah, that's see turkey sound. Yeah, that's the sandwich sound. You know ham soundwich. You know you got all these great sandwiches blog blonely sounded sound. And I ain't gone to you fried bologney, that Webber's bread that got us through a lot when I was a kid. Now some smack the salting crackers. First listen. Listen when you were broke and that's all we had on a Friday buying the soft I was, I was broke. But

I don't know what potted meat is. Can it's a can of just scrambled brains. I don't know where it's from. It's stuff. It's pink. It's usually right beside where the spam look. But it's it's it's a can of something. Yeah. I don't know how to explain because I take myself out of the game. I wrote both ankles colts. I don't know. I don't know where it's from. I don't know, but it's it's just in a can. It was beside of spam away and it had like jelly, and I

am like spam had spam. And I've ate Vienna sausage. I've never needed meat tunas I eat tuna. That's not pot. But I'm just saying all that was on the same as all that was on the same broke out broke. I'm just making sure where I ate a sausage and tuna chicken. But I never I never browsed the pot of meat. So okay, last one, then last one, And this is damn it. This is the most important. Yeah, sugar, salt in your grits, man, Salt and pepper and butter. Yeah, yeah,

you like sugar. You come on, man, I've been speaking to you all these years. What what what? What complex? Your emma know that we are not the same, don't salt and co host King. That's that's that's that's fine. But hey, listen, I'm not you can't. You can't speak for all light skin the committee, your your your your status is in question. You drive like you like salt and pepper, butter and your grips man, you laying to the you laying with it, sugar, sugar for the West

Coast to sugar drive. Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead and get his ass up today if you have, to go ahead and get him back hand just a little, a little up on them, you know, on the steering wheels. Stern roll, roll it all the way up there, Alex and small guy. That's that's what y'all going. That's what that's what's left in your bag. I got a hold.

That was the one that kept this podcasting stiff. So you know, let's jump into it because I think it's gonna be fun, and I and I want to ask we want to ask you some things and really just get your fans opportunity. And then also, you know, you know how it is man so much the podcast or media, there's so much information out there. You sometimes are lazy

enough not to really just dive into it. And so I found myself just down if it's just go on your Wikipedia, and then I just saw all the things and all that stuff, and it just made me think about all these questions. And we've had some of these dialogues and talks, but I think some people really don't know how intriguing, discouraging, tough it is too. I want to have a career and what it and really what it goes through. So um, so I thought I was

is it would be really cool. So we always asked, you know, where are you from in the place you call your hometown. I'm from Charlotte, North Carolina, born and raised here, and I called this home. Um, I went away to New York. I lived in Harlem for about eight years, in New Jersey, Inglewood and Teenack, New Jersey. So it's going about fourteen fifteen years, and uh, but I came back home because this this is just home now.

Not to aid you, but being born in the seventies living in North Carolina, I know in my nineteen years, I'm amazed at how how it changed. I'm interested to here. How was North Carolina? Charlotte, North Carolina. You went to South Mack High School, Yeah, and finished up at Harden right, and I'm imagining and in in assuming here in the South late seventies, early eighties, it was different here, yeah, definitely. You know, coming up, I didn't have an experience with

a lot of outside of my neighborhood encounters. Um. But you know, you hear the stories and you you see the news and everything. As you get older, you started to pay attention to what's going on and just um, you know my side of town and different side of towns, which was what side of town west Boulevard, the western side, south side, and I grew up there, but they look

different than deal Worth, you know. So my grandmother would she used to clean houses and she would get us, put us on the city bus, me and my sister, and drive us through the real nice neighborhoods and let us see which were were neighborhoods at that deal Worth Um bound time didn't exist. No, it was just a dairy farm deal Worth yeah, right right where you lived. You know, that neighborhood was a dairy farm. That's crazy.

And then Male Graham and some of his people, for the Graham's and nephew, they brought it up and turned it, you know, developed it into what it is now. Um, but yeah, a lot of that was fiels. So we should go out there rave and raise hell can you say hell? Yeah said, I mean not everything you want to but not everything I was internalize it if they don't get therapy, you know, makes me better. Um. But yeah, you see a lot a lot of there's a lot of opportunities that came, um, you know, with a with

a lot of hard work. Um. But then there's some still some similarities as in you know, being able to to have the better jobs and certain things being you know of color. Um, it's a little different, um, but I see some growth in different areas. Would you call your career in music business an industry or another word? It's an industry. Um that's operated you know with business. And it's also a place for me to to really

um exhale. So it's kind of therapeutic for me and in so many ways, UM, I get to take the chance to to to handle business in this industry, to put my thoughts out there and to to you know, ad out some laundry. So I use it for a little bit of everything. Yeah, how were you first introduced to music man from the womb? It it goes back that deep. My mother and father both love music, and you know, we heard it a lot. My grandmother it was just gospel. She was so saved and uh, you

know that's pretty. That's pretty, that's that's a unique, that's a pretty. What kind of gospel? Though? Who are we talking? Don't feel New Easter? James Cleveland all that kind of Oh James Cleveland. Now, James Cleveland, his church I grew up. His church was like four blocks from my house. James Cleveland, Los Angeles. James Cleveland had died and they realized he was doing at that James Cleveland, Yeah, yeah, I was.

They churched that church into a at one point of picking safe yeah, and no respect when you're taking things in the Lord's name. That was such a churchy response. Hey, you know in the regular world, you take stuff like that, you go to jail. We have to take a break and the morning thing, we gotta pay some bills. You got checks. I love cut to It, and I love it even more when you download us and subscribe and you can follow us on social media too. Smithie, where

where at that's at? Cut to It on Instagram? What about Twitter? At? Cut to It? Facebook? Cut to It featuring Steve Smith singr what about online and you can follow us at cut to It podcast dot com where you can buy merch and you can subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. I got all my answers questions. Uh yeah, I got all my questions answered. That's what I'm here for, a brother, cut to a podcast dot com.

Describe your journey from from your perspective of getting into the business world and the industry of music, but also you're saying it's your therapy and you get the air your dirty laundry and are your good laundry as well, and it is a career because early on I knew, okay, this is what I want to do. You know, you dream about being a musician, singer, songwriter, and every all of my steps were toward anything musical, from school, from church first being on the choir, to school choir singing

or just in the chord. I led a few songs. You know when you when you're young, you don't want all that attention at the time, and then you start getting older, I said, I started singing out more twelve thirteen, girls start saying you oh the sing sing for me? She will absolutely look at that game. Yeah, you start getting more are comfortable with your gifts, and you start trying to find um ways to ticket to the next level.

So I to get into talent shows, form little groups around town, um, start harmonizing and before YouTube, before the Yeah, it was just you know at school, when you know, lunch time. But you you go back though, you said, confident in your gift and when did you know it was a gift when you when you dream about it and you feel so connected to something like that is almost magical feeling, and you can't you can't stop doing

it or thinking about it. And you know something birth than you that that's special and those things that gifts um, because you didn't ask for it, you didn't train for it, so it's kind of given to you. UM. So I knew then to continue with it because if I hadn't, you know, taking it that serious that early on, and got swayed away from it, I would be miserable, probably on trucks somewhere or something, just miserable because that's who I am, truly. So I made I made every step

to to get to the next level of it. I started performing in talent shows, and want a few got booed a few times. Yeah, right here in Charlotte. What's that do for you? Um? The booing and and and the winning. You know, winning is good. It's always good to win. But sometimes you when you get booed, if you're smart, you'll you'll try to see why, try to look back and say, Okay, maybe I was doing too

much vocally. Maybe I was trying to be something that I wasn't and I was trying to do some job to your runs or some r Kelly runs or some you know, different runs, and that's not my voice. So it made me pay attention to how can I present this the next song in a way that I'm doing truly me, at least try it different and see what the outcome would be. And so I started doing that. It's you know, one man was like, quit bullshit, and

this same big dude. It was actually at a little I don't even know how I got to go down there by myself. It was across the street. What's Boulevard was a busy, busy street, and I crossed from my neighborhood over the busy street. I used to have to go to the store all the time for my mother and grandmother anyway, So maybe I was just that good at crossing the street and I could run fast track. But I would go down there sitting. It was like a look at house, a bar. They sold hot dogs

and just and tires. Is this place on what's Bulevard And I will go down there and they had to live music, not live music, but they had the speakers out and they had a microphone. And I go down there, just start singing and I chord to Yeah. Definitely, that long black cord can go from house speaker to concert many concert speaker. I don't know where they got him from. It was a lot of illegal something got at the local barber shop, probably because it was three or four

of them. Yeah, but yeah, I'd go down and sing and he was like quick bullshot and San, you got a nice voice, sang and that was the last time I tried that wiggle voice. What wiggle voice a wig voice? Yeah, they were like stopped putting on stop lamber lambder lamb in the horse. And so I started singing a different way. I was like, okay, this has been told to me. And when I started doing that, I developed developed my voice into something my old school where they sang Teddy

Pentagrass would just sing tell the story. Luther Vandross was singing so Luthor, Yeah you perked up? Now I love you know who I don't like? Damn you don't like? My mom used to play that every shurterday that you know what that meant? Clean it up? You got to give us a second chance every time I hear shot just grabbed my broom stick, his hands and the toilet.

Who else? Who are some of your other musical influence You talked about Teddy Luke Man, Steve, Bill Withers, Steved Wander up for us, Um, Curtis blow heck yeah big. I wasn't expecting Curtis wrap his music to me. Yeah, Man, Fat Boys is one of my favorite groups. Yeah yeah, you had the Beast two Boys. You had a lot of great talent back in the day. Ep M D

Cool Mo D's. There's a lot of these, like there's a lot of the babies, little baby baby baby babies, or slide slide the family stones, sliding the family stone. You know what I do? Love though, man, I was one to fire and I was gonna say Osley Brothers that that versus the other school brothers. So I kind of throche every time you went to school with one of the one of the one of the one of the brothers, to say, you know you nowhere near that age. No,

it's you went to school with Rodley. No, absolutely, no, I'm not one of the Oley brothers. Several times one of the Oley brothers Benjamin Button Button fly button fly point five. Yeah, man, I just old school music is so old scoo music. You go back to it and you knew what they were singing about. Ship. Now you mess right, unrelatable. You messed around a single song, you

go to jail. It's not. And the older I get, the more I have appreciation for the earth winding fires, the Osley brothers like all that stuff just because busy down the street. So I got way more appreciated for that stuff now, the older I get just for real music because it was real back then. I'm not saying it's nothing now, but you just felt it. Now it's different. I mean, like one of the songs I loved that

by Luther and Ro's Danced with my Father. He talks about his relationship with his dad that got cut short through his mom and even now me and my son, my oldest we will like that same song came on I I shared it with him, said, man, just made me think about you. I teared up just having that fun and father and son connection. There are so many old school songs that you can actually sing along with it and you really know what they're saying. There's no

subliminal messages. You know exactly what they're talking about, and you remember that point in time that you like. Yeah, because even I mean I'll even use Anthony some some of his music, like point of It All that that came out right when I believe me and my wife were dating and we were right about two, I was about the proposal, so like that's that's our song, right, like we uh that song was that all with? Right?

So just those you remember songs that take you to that point in time because it has substance and is substantial for you. Yeah, And you know, I try to write and create music that that has that timeless um connection to people and it's it's it's something that's kind

of easy for me because I can identify. I mean, I can remember life and things that I've been through and moments that made me feel good, the moments that didn't feel so good or things I have experienced through my parents and aunts and uncles and just being in school and being a young love and all these things that you feel. When it's time to write and the music is playing. I was like, man, I remember this reminded me of because everything comes from what's been here before.

This is all recycled. A lot of stuff is recycled. Um. Wow, that court reminds me of this. Let me tell my version of this story, and that's what it is like. You know, if you can connect to it and tell your version of the story, people pretty much can identify what you're saying and they'll start listening to different So when you're talking about the recycling of things, how walk us through this? This industry of music? How you know

you hear different versions, different stories. You know, some people say, no, this is how money is made, this is how it's not. But is country music how they make their music? How tours are successful? Even just as simple as what does it mean to be signed to a record label? What does that? What does that mean today? And even what did it mean back when you signed with what Uptown

back in the in the day. Yeah, I mean you've signed You've been with a number of record labels, not necessarily by choice or something you did wrong, but just how the business has morphed and changed. But yet the common Denominator's music still needs to be made. Yeah, it

definitely has to be made. UM being signed to a label, it's like having Harvard or or or going to one of these these amazing colleges like Johnson C. Smith, having them backing you up and and just going to uh Rudy's Academy where nobody really knows who they are and what they stand for. It's almost like you get co signed by the greats people who've who've been signed to those labels, like the James Browns or the Jodices, and

you're still You're You're signed to these labels. So it said something about who you are and what you have UM as a talent, you looked at in a different in a different light. It's like I made it from just the streets and the talent shows. Here I am

now amongst the greatest UM. You know, you go to the office, you see Andre Horrell, you see Russell Simmons, and then Puppy walking through the hallway and Mary J. Blide is coming in and out, and I'm like, wow, I really really made a big step, um, you know, leaving Charlotte and going to the to the big league. So it's it's different. You can put music out now independently, but you still want them majors too, sport, you know,

just to allogic. Um. I think we're all trained to think that these big corporations they they they are the ones who dictate what's what's really popular and what's really successful because they have the relationship with radio and all these people. So you want to get there almost like getting their blessings or you know, getting me Okay, that's

that's when you know you're doing something. When you can get the attention of those majors, whether it's independent or signed to one of them, you have to getting signed obviously, that should mountaintop. It can be. I was signed, and I was signed for ten years before the first album came out, So you can be signed and years I was signing ninety three to Uptown. The first album didn't

come out to two thousand and three. Yeah. I have worked on a few of them in between there, but it was always the record labels falling out saying falling out hometown. Uptown was distributed through m c A. So they had a falling Now, so I was on. I was in there, you know, I was about to come out. So when they separate time, it's just kind of like, well, what we're gonna do with him? They're not letting Andre

take me. He wanted to, but m c A didn't have anything invested in me a little, you know, just money, but nobody wanted to adopt the project to be their own. So I sat around and sat around, and it happened a few times with Andrew Herrell again to Sony Um and then Soul Life through Atlantic Records. They had a falling out and here I am again. This happened three major times on now and you still sit and you were sitting on that album. Yeah, I sat on a few. I just have a lot of music. Um, Soul Life

came out afterwards. One of the investors put it out. UM, Southern Comfort came out. The first album, Ecstasy from Uptown. It hadn't come out yet, UM, but some people have they got their hands on it. I'm gonna reredo, re release it because I own the masters now now now as in well after in my contract I had it set to after so many years, it reverts back to me, you gotta be smart about it. You gotta, you gotta if you don't know that, you don't know that to

ask for it. Um. But if it had come out back then, I would have been robbed up because the contract, it wasn't the best contract. I ate a little bit, but they would ate a lot, some of the people involved. Um, but you learned from that. That's what keeps you, what keeps you motivated in those in those ten years to where you don't just decide, you know what, I'm done with that business and I don't and I don't I

want to do this anymore. Yeah, I had that moment uh once or twice and it's almost like something would happen good Like I wrote that. Doniel Jones co wrote doniel Jones same, what's what? Yeah? Um, we was playing actually I was. I was looking at that and me and and you were playing that though last night I just kind of just grow into it because it's it's one of those it's really cool, as I believe two

thousand and six, two thousand six, that came out Donielle Jones. However, the guy who's saying it my freaking neighbor, right, and you're not. You know. I think that's one of the interesting things as well, is as as as little boys man, we inspire to be something so much and we see the pine the sky or like for me, it's always wanted to play in the NFL, but I never thought

about college. And so hearing you just be on one a album and then I go back and I see that you were part of Thugs Mansion of the remix on Tupac, you know, just hearing all this, all this music on what Nappy roots, all of just all of those little bitty in the grand scheme of things, little bitty songs, however, you know, and you're sitting down and

those are the the barbecue classics songs. You're sitting down, when you're playing spades, where you're playing tonk, were you playing dominoes, and when you're cooking, and those are the songs. And when you they come on, everybody becomes inner jib. Everybody's sitting there. You you know, you got old You got that old uncle, start to be that old uncle. Joe backstage, got the old uncle. He got that same

moved right. They call you, they call your g now, Yeah, they tell him, all you just got that when you're gonna change up the move and I look at hey, I'm getting that to the age where I'll be able to tell the niece and nephew, your auntie ain't got a problem with that. You know. It's just those songs and those hooks and just you writing that. You take us through the process of writing writing a song that does that's melodies and music to people's ears, but they

don't really know how much goes into it. You know, sometimes we're going in to write a song for somebody else's a little harder than writing for yourself. Um, because you have to get into this person's into their mind and too. You know, it's good to kind of know a little bit about them their life. Or you can take previous songs that they they've done and try to mimic something about it. Um. For me, the music speaks

and then the lyrics, you know, lyrics will come. Um. I like to find something that's okay, this is this song. It needs to say this. This beat that Donielle Jones beat was up like this has to be up song. Um. So when they send you to I was in the studio with producers, Um, Chris Lity, Um Darren and Chris

Litty and uh dude named Blawa. We were actually in New Jersey and this is something I needed at the time because I was down, you know, about to give up, and I got this opportunity and so um, this gave me a little bit more hope. When I heard the song, there's a train, short train and then again it's calm trained there. Um was that the midnight train to Georgia in the daytime, it was like confused, you know, you can do what you want now, like you know, you

can do what you want. That train in the daytime, it's well in Charlotte, so it's going to Georgea. You know what I'm saying. You got you uh but yeah, you just try to write something that you feel melodically people could they want to repeat um and you wanted to be catchy, but you want to be saying something that they feel like, Okay, I can identify. Just this feels good. I think it's about that time. Just take a little breatherd do it. Let's get down to do it. Hey, Gerard,

why did you get that T shirts? You mean this thing? Oh? Yes, I got it from cut to a podcast dot com where we have exclusive merchandise. Shout out to our guys at seven or four shot. But yeah, you can go on, buy you a T shirt, subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. What do you mean you were down? All my record deals seem like they kept falling apart.

You just need something to make you feel good. Um, a placement, doing backgrounds or something to let you know, like, okay, sounds like a lot of the well was starting to dry up a little bit. A little ask you around, little ask you around. Top your bricks care need a little lotion, Yeah, they need a little We got egg getting a litttle eggs to me, you know, and uh yeah, and you know you don't have a lot of money so to do backgrounds or saying for you know, same backgrounds,

or get a writing gig. You know that you could you can turn that into money. Um, the backgrounds you go through a union, they pay you, you could pay you get paid pretty good doing backgrounds. So if I do four notes, if I do if I do four those and put so those are four different tracks. If I put three different voices under those, stack them and that's like you know, that's twelve notes you get. That's about four dollars when you're going through the union. So

I'll learned that game, you know. So I got it, I got I got robbed up. Somebody paid me like four hundred dollars to do all those notes. Yeah, he knows who he is. You know, I can go collect for you. How much do you need na, because I'll get you your need the extra. Don't worry about none of that. Look, he's I just I like seeing him. I like seeing him trying to put that ponytail together. Now I get my payback watching them trying to slick that hair into a ponytail. So you you brought up

something really important that I wanted to hit on. Why you were a background singer, whether it's for D'Angelo, I know you opened up for joy to see as well. Another another sharlot that but what did that teach you about the industry? When you were doing the background stuff?

What that teach you about the industry? You get a chance to see how how the lead man is moving and what it takes to get him from point A to point B. All the the team players that it takes too, you know, to facilitate success and then make it move a certain way. Um. The tour manager, actually my tour manager now was the lighting director for D'Angelo. But I knew he knew how to move on the road, so I went to hire him to be my tour manager. Has been wow, twenty years. I know we hit you

with a lot. But what's the state of R and B music? Right? You know? They're still some R and B. I think her straddles. She doesn't in a way that does. You know, the new and the old pretty good. Daniel Cesar had some really good songs. Um Collead he kind of R and BSh but kind of more on the newer side. Jasmine Sullivan definitely is R and B and

so um she does it. Well. There's a few, you know, like Tank R. Kelly was really I know people mad about you know, but he was just stay away from I was listening to James Brown, you know, you know, just hearing it and how and what it what it meant. It's so different now you can't now everybody's singing that you got. They gotta have their little signature start right, it's just out yeah you know, yeah you got all

these starters man or yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true. Take just like all this stuff now, it's but man, it's just sometimes just sitting down and I think, especially with COVID and you're sitting around you know, we I don't know. I just I look at how COVID has made our young men and women where they they're stuck in the house, sitting in there. And I remember I used to I used to sit at home, turn on the radio and

think about playing football listening to music. Now, that music triggers me to remember back when I was a young man. How did that music exists right now? So much? So much repetitive, you know. I mean it's melody, but it's just like you get trapped in up like a mental zone. And it affects the kids, man, And a lot of it has some I don't know, like not suicidal, but like some dog undertones to it if you're not careful.

You know, my younger three they really love music, and uh you know they know, okay, well that can you play such and such the clean version because they know that the other version is not welcomed, you know, amongst family and and things like that. So you bet with a new single, you made a fool of me. Tell us about that and you got an album coming up? Yeah. In August, I got in with j D Jamaine dupri

Um and we were working on a project. Actually, we started working on a music for this new album, and then everybody on the internet, um, Facebook and I G were like, man, so good to see y'all back together. When is this project coming out? He was like, he said, you think what I'm thinking? I said, nah, but what you know? What are you? What are you thinking? He said,

we should do a project together. You and I be on the same you know the album cover bet you and I and put out this music for the people who are chiming in every night watching us to create this music. And that's how it started. But this particular song, you Made a Fool of Me was one of those songs. But I'm working on the album for my fans, my true fans, um who just want to hear Anthony Hamilton's so Our Bar, that song from the Jamatic pre project, because it was I felt like being gone so long.

I wanted to come back with something real, real, R and B, not straddling the fence, not halfway doing it, but this and I wanted to bring back that Charlene an emotion that the connection that people had to Charlene and so j D produced this music and he had never produced He said, I never made a record like this. It's so old school. But the fans of you know, Rady Goo starting to eat it up. Um, you know,

meet him and Eddie came. We went in and we did it, and uh, I'll go back in later on this week to finish recording some some new stuff for the for the new album. You know, talk us through how how COVID in fact, that the music industry people were feeling like they lost craft and they were gonna lose their lives too. In their livelihood. Well, you know, like you said, people think that money is gonna keep rolling and rolling and rolling and nothing nobody, nobody foreseen

foresaw this coming. This is happening, COVID, And you out there spending tricking off thirty thou dollars, twenty thou dollars, buying all these cars and doing all these things that take money. If you're not saved up, then you're go into a state of panic and you start to try to figure it out. I saved you know, I drive one car at the time, you know, and uh, just just being smart and saving my money. Some people felt that it was never gonna end like you said, and

they didn't. They didn't put nothing aside. So doing COVID, you're trying to figure it out. If you didn't, if you weren't savvy enough to go to the internet and start doing live absent creating streams of income for yourself, then he was shout, um, and you know, some people turn the drugs, some people turn to alcohol. Some people just like you know, I'll ride it out. Um And uh, you know you couldn't do concerts now that she did

it on on live. And it's a difference when people come to your certain certain artists can still have an audience doing yeah, doing COVID, you know, like d Nice did, Greg Tabitha Brown who was online cooking, she did amazing. I did great My first show. Uh during COVID had like eighty tho people chimed in, Wow, you know you have to pay for that? Did I have to say no, no, this is I gave that one for free live. Yeah. I did it on i G live and uh streamed

it from my actually in my living room and eight people. Um. So when you have true music and you connected to the people. They'll they'll come, Yeah, because they needed that outlet, absolutely, But if you've been feeding them garbage and they've been following your hype, then that's nothing for them. Like right now, they don't need hype. It's like, you know, it's hard. We can't breathe, you know what I mean, we can't go outside. I've been they have with a more chiming.

You know, I'm not about to chime in too. I'm not about to. I'm not about to chime in too. You know. Now you have to be selective. Well, I spend my money on this, this is a necessity, and this is just as bull and so you started weaving out what was really real and people, you know, some people panicked. Do you think it's gonna have a long term effect on the music business. I think people are so ready to go out and do something, but they're

gonna be selective. Um you hope or is they gonna fall into the trap or start buying the same I hope hopefully they you know, continue to to pouring the stuff that's really real and invest in and this stuff that's really real. What were you going through? You said you got COVID and obvious and getting COVID and you have some you have some deep conversations with yourself. Yeah, I had COVID in December. How did you get it?

Do you know? In Atlanta? I went to Atlanta. Actually, when I was down there working with j D. It wasn't from the studio. I did a video although they were taking everybody's temperature and doing things like that and keeping people distant. That was a scene where the main league girl person, yeah, person, she was in close proximity of we were there close, and I'm pretty sure it was probably from that, you know, although she didn't have

a temperatre, she probably had symptoms. Yeah, something you know, underlying waiting on and it jumped on me. So I was in the hospital two weeks. You're in hospital? Yeah, two weeks? Yeah, in in the hospital and uh on oxygen and so you know, when you lay in there, it's like, damn, I ain't ready, Like what am I young boys gonna do? What am I gonna do? Is it gonna affect my voice? And there were nights when I was like, damn, I'm in tears, Like man, I

gotta get out of here. So I would do all I could do that was a breathing a little plastic look like a little piece of junk, A little breathing thing. Did she how you volumes? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, So I do it. I do it a couple of times a day, like around on every hour, and I get up and moving around, move around. I was really weak. Um. I lost a lot of weight, probably like fifteen pounds. Um. And you know, you just started rethink things. And so I sang Charlene landing in the bed, and I san

Charlene and it sounded pretty good. But but you weren't saying it to sound good. Now. I was saying if I had it still, why did it? Because that mattered, Like like sometimes you're like, I know I'm somebody without the music. I know, I'm you know, still a father and still a man and and all these great you know, other qualities I have. But I've invested so much in being Anthony Hamilton's the singer for that to be scripted

away without a warning could be devastating. You were singing a little bit to see if you still had it, but you but you also singing it for for at that time, laying on the bed for hope. Yeah, let me ask you if you at some point didn't feel like you can still sing? What? What? What? What were you thinking? Where you feel man? Because you're so weak. And he was like, man, this thing is you know,

I don't feel like myself. Um. And I just when I hadn't even tried it up until that moment that I did for the fear of it not being that um. So I just tried and nobody was around. I just kind of just sunk it and it came out. But when I got out of the hospital and I tried to sing it a little full, I can tell my lungs that being compromised, and it just was not a

good thing. So that was that was another, uh, another you know, moment of slight depression for just a little while until I worked my lungs out and uh, you know could sing out. I was laying there like they give you anti viral stuff and give you all, you know, stuff to try to help your body fight this this virus. UM, It's like, am I gonna be able to get off oxygen today? So it started going down a little bit, work my way down and then I was off of

it for the last two or three days. It's like, I hope you know it stays up so I can get out of here and turned into be you know, turned out uh to be two weeks you said you started thinking about your your eating and all that stuff. You just sound like you were sitting in that bad and you started almost literally going like a budget of your life line item reconciling. Yeah, like what's important? Like like you've been wasting time doing this. This right here

is not that important. I'm definitely not. I don't have any energy for this or any energy energy for this. Certain things became really apparent that they were bs. But you know I could have died. Did I want to go to heaven and beg when they have all that good fried chicken? But must be weeks before that? You cry? Yeah,

I definitely cry. Yeah, I cry. Yeah, just trying to get your voice by trying to get that back and just want to be alive for my younger three boys, who I was like, so what have you done and what do you continue to do for your mental health? You know, just you wake up and you breathe, and you realize what you have access to and what you don't, and that you know you have you have an option. What I don't have access to and I am I capable of you know, getting access and you make the

steps toward it. Just do the work each day to kind of get to where you need to be. Um. You know, I take time out. I ride my bike. We did, We did a lot of bike riding before we had COVID. My younger three boys had it as well,

and they did pretty good. Um, but you rod you you don't wrap my bike and make sure I take time out to to just decompress, stay off on the internet as much as you can with you know, you can take into a lot of the political stuff and a lot of the racial stuff that happened, but you have to balance even that. So going through all that with COVID, what's your outlook now on life and with your career? Um, you know, be as healthy as you

can mentally, spiritually and physically. UM, enjoy it. Enjoy every day. UM, and love on the people like you know it sounds cliche, love on you know, love on the loved ones and family, and really do it from a sincere place. And the people that you don't have with, don't if with them. I have no energy for X, Y and Z. And you know I'm not explaining it anymore, So you just kind of move on from with garbage. Would you want your kids for following your footsteps? I want them to

be the best version of who they are with this music. Yeah, with this with this music, because you know, you've been through a lot. Yeah, you know, but I think they have an advantage now that I'm I'm in it. So it's like, all right, I went through all that for you, So don't don't do it the dumb with you. You know, they ain't gonna you know, you don't know nothing. Yeah, because uh, you don't know nothing about music. Yeah, I've been told I don't know. You don't know. My older

they're they're starting to listen now it's going for yelper. Yeah, because they think it's a new school. Yeah, we want to kind of do it this way. I can just you know, do it through the internet. I said, well, don't put music out there until you have some people listening, because if not, it's just out there for nothing. You know how much stuff is out there, you know, it's a lot. Don't do it like wake, make sure they're

listening and then put it out. You know, so they tried it once or twice, how do they work for crickets, you know, and how did you handle when they came back to you? This t is good. This is a good tea. This is a real good tea to Wilma woman. And it is just you know, it's been honored, but just has it's just been cool to talk to you. Laugh Yeah, man joking, this is fat. You are a unique person. You are well worth it, You are competent

and most of all your lovable. I'm Steve Smith, Singer, I'm Gerard Little John and this is cut to It. Cut to It with Steve Smith singor That Is Me is a production of Cut to It, LLC ball Told Creative Media, The Black Effect and I Heart Radio. For more podcast from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio Apple Apple Podcast or wherever you listen to your

favorite shows from Cut to It. Executive producer Steve Smith, singr co host Gerard Little John, talent in booking manager Joe Fusci, Social media team Wesley Robinson and John Show from Balto Creative Media. Cut to It is produced by Brian Falka Chevic and Meredith Carter, with production assistance by Alex Labrek. Production coordinator Taylor Robinson. Theme music by Alex Johnson, Lyrics and vocals by Anthony Hamilton. You ain't heard about it, then we're about to let you know. It's all