R and Beats Money.
We are.
Thank Valati. We are the authority on all R and B ladies and gentlemen.
My name is Tank Ja.
Valentine, and this, yeah, is the R and B Money podcast on the authority on all things R and B.
It just got legendary.
What I wore his Beatle shirt for a reason. It just got his Tell me, why is the man we have here tonight?
Huh? He beat the Beatles and knocked off the Beatles. So that's why I wore this shirt because I knew my partner was coming knocked off the Beatles. Yeah we know this, Nick.
Well with this Well grew up with this, Nick yay, one of the callsts, one of the greatest of all times, saying your full name, Brian Mico.
Yeah yeah, yeah, So we the fuck up. We've been talking about this for a minute. I'm so glad matter we are in the building.
We're here.
We brother, we cannot be the authority unless you come.
Here, Tank man. I appreciate you, Jake, my people's man. We we go about to see how far back we go for real real, This is this is real family, tad, this is royal fam talk right here. Listen back, you know back in the noontime buildings. It was nine five seven, nine five seven West may Hada Bad on the railroad track.
Yes, when we was all right behind the building, he was just trying hold on, let the train pass and we get we get the next vocals for absolutely, we was all just trying.
Just coming up, kids, trying to come up, man of it. It was me, you, Donny Scans, the Twins, Eric Robertson, John Tay. It was just it was a it was a house full Jazzy Faye, Teddy, Bishop Shade ub Dent were just trying. Man were just throwing throwing the ship at the wall man hoping someone mills stick.
Every day, every day.
I mean it worked everybody you just named. Yeah, it's a legendary in this and you didn't even go to the executive side.
I was just about just musicians. Yeah, and we didn't get it to still doing it. Yeah. Yeah, everybody though, which is crazy. Everybody's everybody's yellant, everybody. If we could have seen the future, man like I'm gonna get I tell Chris too, if we at presidence of mind of what was happening, we would have we would have stuck together.
Absolutely absolutely y'all were y'all were monstrous, we would have stuck together like I mean, some of we stuck together in fascets like Jazzy and Nooney did their things and John t people kind of separated, did their own thing. But I think that if we had known for real, for real, it was on the other side of all of this.
You know what I'm saying, because part of your blueprint too is the fabric and the idea of the underdogs for us before way before the dogs, you.
Know, and to and where they got the concept from. Obviously it was Puff hit Man. That's really where they got the concept from. You know what I mean, you no time got the concept. You know, they had JW and Dent and Jada mc denwell were co managed by Puff, and they basically went up there and saw how Puff was running his ship and was like, oh, we're gonna
kind of duplicate that. And then they got Teddy and they got Jazzy k fam and you know, uh, Chris's brother Kevin Hicks who played guitar, and all the records records and then and then I just I came in the mix in the middle of all that. You know, John Tate was a part of it work and with Teddy Bishop, the Twins were working with dub It was just an interesting one. Twelve was coming down there at
the time, I mean, Duran was working down there. It was just a really interesting time in the late nineties with that company. You know, just y'all were really like y'all were really an artist away, one artist away, artists and what's crazy is right? All executives, we say executives. Okay, we talked about the partners, but we talk about the you know, God bless Shaki Stewart, talk about Jahi Johnson, we talk about Jarell Allen. We're talking about the people
who were, you know, instrumental in that situation. Ryan Glover, who was a partner who now owns Greenway Bank, who was popping.
You know.
It's just I wish that, you know, I wish that we had the presence of mind at that time, and of course you never know what on other side. Just kind of just go, what a starting ground? What a what a fucking starting ground?
Bro?
You know, you have people like you know, Block was coming down, freaking t I was coming and you know it.
It was just the interesting Also did many genres of music. That was the other thing. That's what the underdogs. It was very much so R and B and pop. Yeah, and that's really what it was. Everybody from Rick like your daddy.
Yeah, And it was just then ill combination of people Jim Crow and then you know, I mean, it's just it was just then ill you know Jim Crows where we get Polo to don Yeah.
You know what I mean, I was a one stop shot.
It was just then ill combination of of I mean, do you remember when what's my man from hoo the Blowfishers down there? Darius Darius, Darius was there, There's Rucker came you you was there.
People who were there put up on us too. Early underdog days when it was just me, Damon and RV.
There is for that R and B. Yeah, he was doing like R and B Stevie type thing and it was crazy because humph umph Wow, your hump's doing like TV film ship like he's like he's he's killing it. Yeah, so hump. I remember uh uh Daris Rutger had a deal with Bud Wiser.
I heard about that.
And they the fucking eighteen wheeler. But Wiser eighteen will have pulled up the noontime and Niggas was drinking beer for like five months.
Bro.
It was the crazy I was expecting five days, you know much beer got that truck pulled eighteen would have pulled up and he was like, yeah, man, just drop it off.
I was like, what the fuck is happening?
Like I never seen I don't drink beer, No Niggas, I don't know.
Yeah can Niggas was drinking. Can I think it? I think it's got a long shelf like ship, not like my plastic bottles of bright Thanks thanks two years.
Supply sprite expired in six months. Thanks maybe less appreciate that to give it away. Bee Cocks. Man, Man, you're you're ship. You're one of the greatest. Man. I appreciate you.
Guys.
Man, And we gotta we gotta turn back the hands of time and really establish how you got here, Like like when does bea Cox happen? When does when does somebody say you know this kid is special? When do you say to yourself, I found my purpose? Like talk take us back to Houston, man, you know it's back. Ultimately, I've always wanted to be a producer. I never understood what it really meant. But I knew that whatever Quincy Jones did was important, whatever Teddy Rowdy did was important,
Whatever Jimmy Jame Terry Lewis did was important. Whatever La Bay Face Day was important. And these were the names I was saying on the back of my favorite albums and favor you know, you know, I mean we talk about credits off.
I'm a credit reader. I mean, you know, people call me a music inside Wipedia. I know things that I shouldn't know, right, And it's because I studied these records. My mother was an avid record byer. My aunts were everybody that yes, my.
Mom, yes, amazing, I want to say hello, amazing.
So my mom was super just in the music heavy.
My mom loved music, and I give my love of music from her and my my aunts and my uncles, you know what I mean. And they were buy records. I'm saying like specific. Every one of my aunts had different styles, like different things that they liked. Right. So when you're young, right, and you're growing up in a big family and you spend time with all your different family members, you get to get all this experience from different things.
Right.
So like man and Jack who passed away a few years ago, her particular style of music was very eclectic, like she would listen to things like Journey, Asia Haull of Notes, but then Charla Marri was one of their favorite groups or when the Fire was in their favorite so she she had she might have been the most eclectic record collector. You know. Like my first time ever hearing Donald Fagen's My Life record was because she had it and I didn't.
I didn't even know what Donald think it was.
And I had to find out that he was a member of Steely Dan and she had Steely Dan records. And she was the one telling me all these different things. Yeah, like the whole the whole other thing. Right, she was
the one that told me these different things. Right. My mom was just really into like super like you know, early on, like you know, funk boogie, you know what I mean, So uh that translates from you know, just part of my funkadelic to h when it translates to boogie, that goes to Kashif and goes to what Leon Silvers was doing and things of that nature. And my mother also was really in the fusion, so like Herbie Hancock funk that she was, she wasn't really into Herbie's like
super jazz shit. But it was like when it got to Chameleon and when it got to records like Headhunters and Feet on Film Now and things like that, my mom was running to that shit, you know what I'm saying, and that were really really like I was to my moms. I was with her a lot, so a lot of that music shaped like my mom loved d Train and
loved things like that in the early eighties. I feel like my mom's The most dense era of music for my mom was like nineteen I would say nineteen seventy nine, like nineteen eighty three, right, so you have I was exposed to a lot of music during those years, and I was very young. I was like, you know, between the ages of seventy nine, I might have been one going on two. It's from two to like six, there was a lot of music that was being a lot of information that was being absorbed.
Yeah, just because when did you start playing?
I started playing when I was six, So.
This time you're already hearing it though, Yeah, so.
I've heard it. But then I went to go live with my grand my grandparents, right. My grandparents are from Bahamas in Miami, I went to my went back to Miami. I was born in Miami with my mom. My mom was in the ninety seventy nine, so I was born in Miami in seventy seven. My mom we used to seventy nine. Then I moved back to Miami live with
my grandparents when I was five or six. Right, and my grandparents are you know my grandfather's a Pentecostal minister, said then I have all this I have all this information.
Right.
Then now I go to church. The secularision was already there, right, And now I got to go back, and I got to go to church because my grandfather's not having it. You know what I'm saying, We're not listening to nothing. You know, it's it's you know, it's it's really shock. Yeah, a culture shock. It's Mahelia Jackson and Malaya Jackson. It's it's you know, I mean, I'm talking about old James Cleve. I'm talking about the old time.
But now you go, but now you're getting the root.
Yeah, yeah, And I'm not knowing at the time about all the things that we do exactly exactly like my grandfather, he went in with the new My grandfather went back and we're like, my grandfather's from Akland Island, the Bahamas man that you know he's he was, yeah, you know so, and my grandmother is the same. Right, So now I'm now I'm in church, and you gotta do something, right, So let me tell you what's interesting. Right, there's a guy you y'all may know him. He's a he's an
amazing musician. He's put out a couple of records now but used to play with the roots. His name is Raymond Angry, right, Ray Angry. Okay, So Raymond Angry is one of my guys. Okay, So let me explain something to you about Ray, just so you know, yeah, all right, yeah, Ray, Ray and I grew up in the same church, in the same church atmosphere church got.
A prophecy, right.
His father was was well respected and was like a person who took me in as like a nephew and this, that and the third. And Ray was way older than us, you know what I mean. Ray, While I'm in if I was like six or seven, Ray might have been fifteen or fourteen something that right, and Ray, we y'all call him Ray. But me and Kendrick, who because of Kenrick Dean we call him Sebastian. That's his name, wow,
because he's Ray Angry junior. So at church his dad's big Ray, we called him Sebastian, so I know him at Sebastian and very angry. It is the first person that I ever saw that made me want to play piano, like for real, Like he was like he was no for real. He was one of those people. He was like an anomaly, like.
He was a super snark fourteen though.
At fourteen organ ridiculous, like he was like he was the best already. He was the best already. He's the first person I seen move his hips while playing keyboard two keyboard at the same time at Rankin Chapel at Howard University, and he was not saying all the keyboards like yeah, he's dancing.
No.
The way he was raised rais different. Different. When we were kids, me and Henrick were little, and was just always all of him, and he woul always let us sit by him, you know, he would, he was him and we just, you know what I mean, sit behind him and watch him, you know what I mean, And that always And it's crazy because I hadn't thought about this in a long time. To me, me and my mother was talking about this recently, and I hadn't thought about it in a while. My almost like, SA, like
that's where you that's where it started for you. And I remember my grandmother put me in panel lessons because of him. I did not know we had that income. Yep, I've known him, little gang of stuff. I was a little guy. I was in high school. He was at Howard University killing everything.
He was shy. All of them was up there like.
Yeah, that's that was the era. Yeah, that was the era. Everybody was up there. And we his kids from high school. We were the singing kids from high school. They would come up to Howard University and singing all the church functions and all.
It was like the best group, you know what I'm saying.
We was high school kids, and Raymond Angry was like one of our heroes. Every time he got on the keyboards, it was him and then another guy named Marlon Saunders who would get on. And what's that other guy, Gordon Gordon Chamber of course, of course Gordon Chambers was like Jesus to us.
Of course, Cam and Raymond.
Angry it was like yeah, when they get on, when they get.
Sign I said this, yea, yes man. It was like gods to us, we just watched them in awe and just why did you what did you do?
Like why are your fingers? Is know?
Raymond was I mean, I mean he was one of those people that we just we couldn't wait to be around Sebastian. It was like, you know, and because we spent so much time over their house, you know that they said Big Ray really brought us in. But like we spent a lot of time because Kendric's father, Kendric's grandfather, his grandfather, and my grandfather. They his grandfather was the
pastor of the church. His grandfather was the pastors of My grandfather was one of the associate pastors and like you know, been to being a bishop and basically was like really involved. They were like best friends and you know, just really really an ill connection. And of course Ray's dad was like literally so involved with the church and
they involved all the kids in the church. So these are things that you know, when I was in Miami living with my grandparents, there was a major like a major shift in my life, right and then my mother comes and gets me, you know, go back to Houston. But I would go to Miami every summer, so you go to my vacation Bible school, you go to you know what I mean? He did all like literally, so I was getting a proper like balance, right cause I
would come back, I would go to Houston. I would go back, come back to Uston with my mom and my aunts, and you know, they was outside. You know what I'm saying. You know, my aunties was outside school.
I was.
I went to the elementary school for two years in Miami, but then for the rest of my time it was in Houston. So when I would come back to when I would go to Houston for school, my mom and them outside bro Thursday night, I stay at the club. Maybe they was outside. And my mom every week would go to the records so it's the record store and he used to call sound waves. She go to recorster every week get new records. If would get you know, all the new ship. So she was up on a
new ship. My aunts all up on a new ship. And I was the person that was like in the middle of it all, Like that was my interest, Like none of my cousins were interested in. That was my interest, Like what new records you're getting this week? You know what I mean. And then at this point, so I would say, I mean, it's happening at a very young age. I remember specifically, this is crazy. I remember specifically. I have a really wild memory, and I have to be
at this point. I couldn't have been I might have been six, right, And my mother came home with a stack of records. Yo, I'll never forget it. It was because She's first album, Prince nineteen ninety nine, Freaking Spiral Gyra, Yellowjacket's second album. It was like a bunch of just different styles of records, right, and this got it like eighty three eighty four, and my mom was just were just going through the records and that was like it's like Gap Band five, jamming the record with Party Train
and then listening to these records. I was always entrance with how these records were made. And there's a record on Gap Band five specifically called I'm Ready that's like this record to this day is like one of the most amazing records to me, is like I don't know if you guys even notice record, but it's a super
album company, It's a smash. It's like a record that really should have been a single, right, it's like, yeah, to this day, is that one of the records, Like you're out there, You're gonna be like, why wasn't this song or single? Like it was one of them kind
of things. And for me, I always proud of myself at finding those, like listening to whole albums and finding records that it was kind of like that nobody listened to that I liked, you know what I mean, and that and I would attach myself too, you know what I mean, and like I want to learn this song, I want to play this song, sing this song, you know what I mean. So there was a record like an earth Wind and Fire's Power Light album and the
shill used to make me sing all the time. It's record calls Straight from the Heart that was written by Philip Eddie del Barrio. I know that record and it was like the last song on Saturday, and it was like, you know, such a random ass. It's like almost like there's a record on earth Wind Fire seventy seven album call All in All called I Write a Song for You. Straight from the Heart is like part two of that song.
Right if if you listen to books songs, it's like this is a continuation of that song, right, And music was such a major part.
Of obviously like right now, yeah you're going.
There, Like music was such a major part of like everything in my life, you know what I'm saying. And I remember I always tell people, like the first birthday gift I ever got when I turned six and eighty three, the first birthday I got was James Album's Cold Blooded. My mom bought me Cold Blooded. Still I still have that album.
I knew I liked this.
So literally that was the first album I ever got in my life. She bought me for my six six years old.
Yeah, I know, my son, I was just outside, was outside, there was outside this.
Yeah, that's that's what it was. But she bought me the James Cold Blooded album and never forget it. You know, I remember, I remember opening the album. I remember, you know, her writing my name on the album, opening album, pulling the credits out and it was black and the Gordy label. I remember everything about it, you know what I'm saying. I remember dropping the kneel on certain records and you know, like Ebony Eyes and you know Mary had a pimp and records like that, you know what I mean.
I'm six years old by Mary.
Had a b I p you know what I'm saying, you know, but I remember I remember being in amber with the sound of Cold Blood, like why those those drums sound like that? Like what is that? What is the what is that? What is about that record that makes it? You know what I mean? And my mom was a huge Prince fan also, so she had every Prince album and I remember, you know, I said night time. I remember she bought nineteen and I remember opening an album and the eye on the album, and I remember
everything about the process of it. And I remember they went to the concert was Triple Threat concert. I remember them like we're going to come her Aunt, just getting ready. I remember this shit vividly, you know what I'm saying. It's like as a kid, like why why do I remember this? Yeah? You know what I mean. There was something that was out. This was something I was supposed
to do. When the music is in you, it's going to like when you have those moments where the music is tapping into so I don't even know what to call it, but when the music is calling you in a certain way or trying to get your attention, there's always a moment in time that you can connect to that no matter how small you are. I have so many of those moments. I have moments like a moment
where I'm sitting there watching my uncle get dressed. He getting ready to go out on the date, and he's just every time he goes from his room to the bathroom, he giving me some more game, you know what I'm saying.
So you got to make sure you shave. You know what I'm saying, A shave for me? Like yeah, he really talking to himself.
Yeah for you that give it to you.
I'm a kid kid, and he's got magic shad you know.
Yeah, yeah, that's the eighties. Get that off your face for your face burn up around. He doing that, and then he got the smell. The smell good. And then you gotta make sure you smell good. You know what I'm saying That for you got to make sure. But all I hear in the background is not the side show. Can ye he got that's I can see it.
I can see me sitting at my grandmother's kitchen table and watching him walk back.
And forth, and he's but he's said in the tone he said, in the mood for the night gonna be for him. So he got the music going. He's like, yeah, nigg I'm about to get you know, he's about to go that I'm not used to make these keyboards that were like consumer keyboards called portasound keyboards, right and so, so okay, granted, equipment was super expensive right forever and never there back in the day, you know what I mean. You know, you couldn't send clavi here. It was like
fifty thousand dollars, you know what I mean. Like, so what companies started doing when they started making consumer based like instruments, you know what I mean? Versions, Yeah, yeah, And Yamaha was one of the first to make a consumer you know some you could buy several merchandise or you know random you know, like at a department store. They want the first to do it and PSR five.
But I think my I think my keyboard was like it might have been seven hundred bucks, like six hundred bucks some of that, you know what I mean, a lot of For my mom to dropped six hundred, seven hundreds on the keyboard, It's like, okay, nigga, you better right, So so I couldn't have been on more than at the time when I got the keyboup it might have been eleven right keyboard, and I remember just breaking down this keyboard, breaking it down like reading the reading the
man or breaking it down, breaking it down to what happens is that they had four I'm sorry, there are four pre set beats and the keyboards like basically showing you the sounds it would give you, like whatever. So in these four presets, I figured out a way where you can erase the presets and make your own sequences.
And you wasn't supposed to do that because this was just kind of like a demo demo.
It was you know, you get a keyboard as a demo, it's a demo. But I was like, nah, let's figure out. And it was a way you could erased the demo and you couldn't save it. You couldn't save your practic.
But what I would do is I would just make tracks because I had to share hooked up to a little tape deck, make test paredess on the track, on order on the tape, make four tracks the race, make four new tracks race and if something, if something stuck right, something that was like oh this is okay, this is really good, right, then I would say okay, if I had to make it again, I would make it again to see if I could do it again or do it better. Right, you don't even know that you're actually
fine tuning. I didn't even know. I was plying to you, you know what I mean. I'm just like, Okay, can I make this track again? You know what I'm saying. And what happened was in the short term, I would you know, when you're young and you want you know, at this point, it might have been maybe thirteen or fourteen when this happened, thirteen, and we'll start going to sing in groups. You know. Well, I've been in church
and all everybody want to start doing groups. Was popping, shy, was out boys, some men's everybody, you know what I mean. So everybody want to start having groups. So I was in a group, you know what I mean, and I was like the you know, the music guy in the group, you know what I mean. I was at a divinete or the Teddy right, and and in the midst of that,
there was a there was a friend of ours. So I was in a group with my best friends at the time, uh Scooby, Troy Clark and his brother Trevor, and we uh they were they knew this guy right, who was in a group called groove View. I don't know if you guys mayor I don't know, you may remember this group. They were signed to Atlantic Records. Group called groove View. Troy Taylor wrote and produced their first single song called Old Becomes the New. They were from Houston, right.
The guy in the group, his name was Tron Mitchell, and I went to school with his sister, right, Laurie and my friends they knew him, they were in a group before that. He was kind of like developing. So they told him about me the host, this kid, this guy we're working with, you know, Brian or whatever. And Laurie told him about me. Laurie's in a group of my cousin Talia. So it was like interesting. Houston was an interesting space, that interesting place that at that time,
because it was like all these groups popping up. You know, girls time was pop was popping. This is pre Desate, so girl's time was popping. All these groups are popping up, you know what I mean.
And all y'all, all y'all going to school together too.
We all know each other in an interesting way because there was this thing that kind of brought us together called the People's workshop. So the People's Workshop was like, well, all these kids will come and compete, and and like you know, between People's Workshop and a SOO and things of that nature, kids started knowing each other through these competitions. That's actually how I met Robert glasper okay, through the People's Through through the People's Workshop. That's a whole nother
story that too. So so t Tryn Mitchell. He hears some of the songs or some of the tracks that was making. He was like, this, you make a track, some come on to your house. Tea had like an a SR ten all kind of shit at this house, you know what I mean. He was cooking with grease right, here's my tracks. He's like, yo, man, what you're working on? So I got this little keyboard, you know. He's like, you're making all that on that ship.
You know.
It's like to come to my house, you know. So go to his house and he shows me it's as R ten and shows me all. I'm like, oh shit, this is some that was like that shit blew my mind next level, you know what I mean, I completely blew my mind right, And he kind of took us under his wing and was like yo, boom, you know.
They would They were SCIENTI Atlantic at the time. So he would go to New York they make their records this then and the third, and he would come back and he would play us these records, you know, and like and I don't think that he even knew or maybe he knew, maybe he knew that he was what kind of energy he was putting into me personally, because I would hear these records, I'm like, damn, I records something like that. How can I remember a reconsiand like that,
you know what I mean. So he was working with people like Troy Taylor. They was working with Gordon had done a bunch of stuff on him. They had a real budget. Yeah, they had a budget. They had a budget. Craig was spending money on him, you know what I'm saying. They at the time they went in with like uh, Kenny Smooth and all these They were making some records, you know what I mean. Then they they made some records with a young Donelle Jones. This is before Donelle
was Donelle was just a producer at Untouchables. And he would come back. T would come back with these demos like Yo, Donald wrote us another one playing some this shit is crazy, you know, I mean, you know what I mean. And I'd be like, yo, I gotta get my records to sound like this, you know what I mean. In the midst of this, I meet who would end up becoming like my main mentor for many years, Greg Curtis.
In the midst of Greg Curtis. So in the midst of all this happening with me, T in my group and this, that and the third T was managed by this guy named abd Lamar. And abid Lamar was kim Olajawana's cousin. He was the one that made the dealer at Atlantic, but he was also managing Greg Curtis. So T text me to Abby's office or my keyboard, my keyboard that speakers in this. So I just bring my keyboard to the to the fucking office. T was like, Yo, man,
press play on Abbey. So press play on Abby. Is like there's African Oh shit, oh shit, oh this coming out of the keyboard. Oh, I'm gonna called Greg. Now he calls Greg. He's like, Greg, you gotta come up here, nigga, you gotta come up here. This little nigga comes. He got a little keyboard with speakers on his niggas playing. He's going crazy, right, So that Greg pulls up. Greg actually comes to the now for us, now you understand for me, I was going to HSPVA at the time
I was at I was in high school. I was going to HSPVA, which is the same school Greg graduated from years before. Secondly, for us, Greg Curtis was already a legend in the city from a gospel perspective, Rochester Prailway feel on Adams. He literally had been, you know, on tour with everybody from Keith Sweat to Black Street to Tony Tony two. He was like the guy you
know what I'm saying. He was just like so he's like, Greg is coming to the office on my bugging, like, oh shit, Greg is coming to the office.
You know what I mean.
Greg comes to the office and I pressed play on me, like you that's coming out of that. He's like, Okay, get in the car with me right now. So I take my keyboard and get a car in go to his house. Greg has this like Wold studio in his crib and he's like, Yo, I'm gonna show you. I'm gonna literally show you how to really do this. He literally showed me how to produce it. Like from that day. For it was, I was at his house down there every day, you know what I mean, Like literally.
What was what was he? What was his setup?
He had the Oh no he was he was the ship Greg had. Back in those days, everybody was using drum machines like NBC. He he was different. He had the fucking Mac. He had a Mac. This is in the mid nineties. He had a Mac with performing. I didn't even performed this before. It was regular performer with the mo too, you know, interface, the whole like the bridge. He had two D eighty eights. He had like you know, some outboard, some outboard reverb delay, the delayed stuff you know,
going on. But he had eight eighty to ten eighty the se one you know I mean. But what was ill was that he had the ship. Like here, everything programm is his computer. The patches were in his computer. So if I wanted to go to like a No. Lone guitar, I could just go to the computer and do it. And this is about now. The ship sounds like regular, but in like nineteen ninety four, that shit
was like the most and most incredible shit ever. Put a patch on you know what I mean, on the computer and actually make an eight part sequence and do double like it was ill, you know what I mean? And he basically at that point it was like yo, you with me, you know, took him in his wing and taught me everything that I needed to know before I came to Atlanta. Right, so check right in the midst of this, of all of this, my senior year high school happens ninety five coming see high school. Who
fucking walks in orientation? Fucking Beyonce in LaToya walking orientation? Right, because they're freshmen at our high school. Okay, somebody to talk has been talk about them, like we knew where they were from people's workshop, but now it's been talking about them because they you know, God there got signed.
They was about to get suned to Columbia, and it was like a big It was like talk about them, right, but I hadn't seen them stay It was like, you know, ten or eleven at this point that girls, yeah, like thirteen, fourteen at this point I'm seventeen. You know what I'm saying. They walked. Beyonce is a grown ass woman. Niggas at the school is going crazy. Niggas at the school, going like, yo, I know, you don't know them.
I was, I do know them freshmen.
It just.
Niggas at the school of.
I could do two more years, Nigga that school lose.
In their mind, right, But I already knew them the whole nine. So we get the talking and you know, of course there's always a common thread. We all we came up together and in that people's workshop, Vive. So she tells me like, yo, hey man, you know we we you know, we're going to Sacramento. Were working with Dwayne, Dwayne Wiggins, you know. So basically that that period when they were going doing those records with Dwayne, I would I was running my mom's phone, Villa. Basically I was
calling them, like yo, play some over the phone. I was just trying to get any little bit of inspirational information that I could get. And I mean I knew them. Beyonce, Kelly, LaTavia Latoy, I knew him well. So they were they were you know, we have a caller like Brian. But listen to this song they played, you know, you know, human Nature, they played on second Nature. They played those regular regular they plays songs, and I'm just like, oh, man,
I gotta fucking figure this out. You know, It's like a thing like it became a mad dash, almost like a race to figure it out.
Because you keep hearing these new levels of music and you're like, but that are people that are connected to them.
Know directly, you know what I mean?
Same friend groups, age group. I'm like, I gotta that. We've all been there where.
It's like you think you're doing something and then you hear the next level and you're like, you know what they're about to ask me to play these records.
I'm gonna say, I got it. You know, I ain't bring thathing. Man, I just came to hang out, be skipping. It's been skipping time.
You know when you're not on the level or you should you should know because where somebody didn't know and they still wanted to play it because they got excited.
And I always looked at them for those records always. That's very tough.
That was the That's where I learned the biggest lesson when I would hear the records like I'm not ready yet, and I was saying to myself, like you're not ready right. See what happened was I had a crazy breakthrough right one day Beyonce calls me, or that one of the girls, either Beyonce or LaToya, one of them called me like, hey, we told Matthew about the song that I would pestered them like yo, hey, come in the room, practice room.
I got a song, another song. I'm playing songs for them because I was run of the one people that really knew that the deal, that their deal was done.
It was like a rumor they still going to school.
They was in school. But I was like one of the only people that knew that the deal was actually finished, right, And they let me know that.
So I would always hand them like I got another song, you know.
And one day I got a call like, hey, we want to come do that song whatever song you was singing, that they will come do that song. I was like okay, So I'm calling Greg and call the tea and like, hey, they want to come do songs, you know whatever. So they came and they did. We did two songs together. We did a song called Sweety Pine and we did a song called hey DJ right. And I think Greg
actually still has actually has the song still. I believe it's still as them because if it does, I'm pretty sure he does I'm pretty sure it does because Greg is good.
We're keeping ship. I'm pretty sure he does.
So we made the songs and I will never forget this because this was the day that I knew. I was like, Okay, I'm fun being in the group. Fuck being you know what I'm saying, Like, that's not what I want to do. This is what I want to do. I remember, I remember it vividly. It was like, okay, you know when you have a basically like Okay, I'm in a group and we're trying to figure it out, but I want to write for this person. But it was like when I had this session, it was like, yeah, nah,
this is this is it? This is it? Like I don't I don't want to be performed. I don't want to do that.
What was it about the session? Was it? Was it the way that the music turned out? Was it?
It was the way it turned out, but also the way that they were like the should do something out at them, the way they was giving it back. I never experienced that. It was beyond saying Kelly in the studio and I had. I never experienced giving giving somebody something like a line or giving them something and they give it back to me in a way. It was like, oh that shit was perfect, you know what I mean.
Like it was like I never produced, like you you're pucing in the group and you're producing yourselves, and you know you don't really you know, I don't.
I thought I knew what I was doing, you know what I mean.
But you know, just we just try and shit, you know what I mean, to give instruction and to hear it back the way that it was coming back to me, you know what I mean. And I'm like everything they was doing, I'm like, wait a second, and was ill, as I would tell me all the time, Like these girls were way advanced, Like they were so advanced. It was just I never experienced anything like that. I was like, okay, all right. First of all, these girls are going to
be superstars. That was the first thing. Second thing, I was like, this is exactly what I want to do, because if I'm able to throw something out of somebody and then give it back to me the way that these people are giving it back to me, then I don't need to be singing because they got it, you know what I mean. It was kind of like that, like Kelly got it, like I ain't got it.
But being able to identify that as a gift in itself.
So fast forward when I started to come to Atlanta. I remember coming to Atlanta. What made you come to Atlanta?
Man, was college just to come tolt?
No, it was it was a girl. Yeah, it was a lady real R and.
B R and B. I mean, I'm sure you're not with her anymore, but you know.
Yeah, but she's still a great friend. Was still she still get no, but no, she it's crazy.
Recently we we had a reconnection.
Recently. She came to the Usher Show and we talked about this and I was like, I had to give her a props, like, hey, you know, like I wouldn't have came down to have one for you. I came because of you, because I was going to New York.
She lived in Atlanta, and you know she no, she was in Houston.
So his deal. I graduate high school and I stayed in Houston for her stay in Houston. I didn't go I didn't go to the college house. I went to University of Houston. All that woman to stay with my woman because she was a year behind me. You know what I'm saying. She she's about to graduate and she gets set to all these schools and she's like, I'm going to Atlanta. And I'm like, well, we're going to Atlanta. You going me? We got accepted, were going to Atlanta.
I did everything I could to get to give that. I got I got you. Oh yeah, got out of there. Were right to Clark. I was I was trying to go to the New School, driving Glassboro. I got graduated. He was going to the new School, and he introduced me to the dean and everything, and I was talking to her and I was going to try to go to the new school.
What is the new school?
What is that? Uh? The school in Manhattan is a jazz school in Manhattan.
Okay, you gonna go about to fully be immersed in music.
Yeah. I was going to go to the I was trying to and he had already, like I said, I already talked to the dean a few times. We were trying to figure it out. And when she told me she was going to Atlanta, I was like.
Well, I want to go to New York.
I'll see you, Robert, I see to Atlanta. And ultimately I remember rationalizing it because I was like, well, I mean Atlanta's where At the time, this is ninety seven. Atlanta was cracking, cracky.
I'm like, it's really a it makes sense.
It makes us me to go ahead because I'll be able to really follow what I'm trying to follow, you know what I mean. And the only way I get that support from my mom is if I go to school. So I was able to get a Scott Scholarship at Clark, and I was able to get grants and a kind of different things whatever I could grade, so it wasn't a problem. And ended up going to Clark and I came to Atlanta and I remember the first thing that
I did was I opened up the white Pages. This is something you know, if you guys may not notice, you know, young age, I don't know about the white pages. Y'all could Google. You know, back in the day, we ain't have Google. We had the White Pages. You know what I'm saying. And be me being an avid credit reader. I knew all the studios and a new doppler. I knew Licco, I knew Purple Drag, and I knew all
the like, all the names of the studios. I just opened up and highlighted all the studios and we just call try to get internships, you know what I'm saying, And this is why I was going to school and still doing what I was doing. But I was like, man, I got to get on and I didn't realize how hard it was getting internship, you know what I mean. It was like they had all these stipulations. I'm like, I'm like, I'm trying to work for free. Y'all got work for free, you know, But it was a lot
of stipulations to get internships. And I remember, you know, I'm I called every place I could call. And then I remember on campus one day, you know, on campus they have like all of them. Yeah, so they have all of the like street promo back in the day, it was like street promotions was big, you know what I mean, all to post it was like, yeah, so it was there was it was. It was you know, trip Bunch was a big deal back then. And I
remember seeing a flyer man. It was a flyer that was like you know, noontime you know music hit Man, this, that and the third Boom Boom and it was like Jake up Dan Teddy Bishop on the fly the flyer k Fan Boom. We named all the producers and it was like, yeah, we got we're doing hits for it was a puff Daddy, Brandy, all these different people and it was like looking for banging beats called this number and it was that was on a flyer. It was like on a random ass flyer. And I was like,
what unless you kind of google my money? Early on, early on, I was kind of like I didn't cause I didn't know what to do. I didn't know. I was like I don't know what the fuck to do? You know what I'm saying, Like, you know, I had, you know, I had a girlfriend. I was like I was spending money on her. But I wasn't like I didn't know what the fuck to do. It didn't I didn't really go crazy manute till like later later I went crazy, you've purchased? Oh man, I went, I bought
a Bentley Cash. I bought, I bought, I bought a flying spread cash. I just went right to the spot. Was like yo, I called my, my, my my. I did a new publishing deal and I was on on on the you know you wait on the phone. I went on the line for the for the clearance, like I signed a contract and my mom and Chris we all worked it out. I signed a contract and I was at the Lermitage. I never forget it. I was a Rmitage hotel, just kind of in the hotel waiting for the call.
It's not happening fast enough.
I'm just happened just how I signed the contry this morning. I faxed it over on. They got my banking information, like.
I can't afford it.
I'm just sitting there waiting, waiting, and then my mom calls. She's like, Okay, you can go check that camp. And I was like she was, I said, you checked. I checked there, but you need to go check it. I'm not gonna tell you what's in there. You go check it. And I remember I wanted to go. I called the bank. I was like, hey, what's you know? They gave me the what I got, They gave me the balance. Yeah, you know what I'm saying, nigga. I called Beverly Hills Bentley.
I caught a phone with them, picked the phone up, called Beverly Hills Bentley. Immediately. It wasn't even two seconds. It was like, cause that's there, and I knew the deal was hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. I knew the deal was coming right, so we are kind of been prepping me. Christ and Jahad kind of being they kind of prepping me for the money, like yo Christ Joh, like yo cocks. All right, when the
money head, you gotta chill out. And they were already kind of prepping me, and I was just like, okay, cool, you know cause I've been in LA for a few weeks working and I'm like cool, all right cause I'm like the money a day on my tripping, you know what I'm saying. So I remember JAHI it took me a few days before took me to like go test drive some cars. I just like, go test drive this Porsch'm gonna test drive this, asked him, mark, this bank, this,
this band. Let me go test. I was test driving everything, right. I remember my test rode the Flying Spur and I was like, yeah, I'm gonna get this motherfucker.
You don't want to show you what it's like?
Man? You sure you don't want to just go get just get a nine eleven man, And just you know, I was like, i' might clean. I'm I'm to the nine eleven. I'm not telling him and my mom, I like, no, nigga, I'm about to drive three hundred and twenty five. That motherfucker cleared. I called Bentley Beverly me, Hey, hey, y'all got just that. Got that call over there. I'm on, I'm on, I'm on the way right now. I went to the bank. I went right over that nigga.
Are you trying to stop you at the bank?
Now, He's like, your little cash his check? Yeah, yeah. I was like, let me get a cash his checked that out. Yeah, let me get a cash in his check. And that was like to Bentley Motors, Bentley Hills, and I went right down there and gave him that ship. And they was like, which color do you want, mister Coss, you mister Cox, Misscotta, what's the champagne?
Listen? And everything? Oh my god, the ground was out back then.
Please, it was like on the car, put bow and everything. Now I was just one of them, and I remember being like, you know, I never did anything, And then I remember I did that, and then I flew to Houston and by my mama house immediately. You know when I just I you know, when you make it, when you make so many songs, you stand at that point. By the time I made that deal, I made so many songs right, the pipeline was crazy. I only I was taking I didn't take a whole lot of money
every time. So like let's say that by the time uh, you got it, bad becomes a thing. Right, Like my deal, my my publishing deal was like we did like a small deal, Like we went to Warner and did like they did the joint venture. Warner and I did a deal. You know, it was a small deal. So by the time ig that deal, so because you got a bad it was huge that these records, these records were coming out.
They were huge records.
So by the time I was signing these deals, I would doing I would get half a million here, four hundred. I would sign off soon as I signed the deal ived, you know what I'm saying. So I was making money, but I had never did like a deal that was like, oh here is so and so on so on millions, you know what I mean. I was doing five hundred recouping. I would make my money, and I was doing well. I was you know, I was doing great, you know
what I mean. But it wasn't like I got a whole like a month that was like yo, here you go, buddy.
So you you went into that he said he said it, You said it, So we going there.
Yeah, confessions, So confessions right, you got to badness eighty seven on one, oh.
Ship, Yes I'm jumping. I'm jumping.
Yes, it is seven on one and you got to yeah, you got it.
Bad I immediately thought burned, but yes, okay, on.
The ones you gotta back. You gotta back this one one. And what's ill is that I tell people this all the time. Out of all the artists I wanted to work with like he was, Usher was the only artist I was like, yo, I have to work with him.
You know what I'm saying. You need everybody else. It was cool, it was great, you know what I mean, And I mean working with all my people, all the people you know enjoyed, you know, growing up listening to I've got a chance to work with a lea Tony brats like you know, the people who phenomenal people, right, and it was just like damn, I felt like, Okay, I'm in the business. I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. You know what I mean, I'm working with all these
people that are great. I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. When I'm i'm you know, I'm pushing.
For are locked in at this point.
Yes, I'm locking with Jamaine, but I'm also locked in with Noon Time Heavy, so that Tony Braxton Aaliyah Time. You know what I mean. I'm locked in with your man Heavy you do. Yeah, I'm locking with your man on Jagged Edge. You know, everything's so so bad. I'm locked in with him. We're doing shinting. What are we doing? You know, Mariah, We're going to have different things. And the only artist that I was like, Yo, man, I
really want to write that. I want that. That's the call I want, like because he would call me for this different artist. I'm gona get cool. I'm coming down. Diana called me to Yo, can you coming do so? And so I'm coming down studio and I was like, man, I hope this thing will call me for Usher Man. You know what I'm saying. I was just you know, and he called me. I was like, Yo, man, come down, you go. We're we started Usher today. I was like shit.
And literally was the first day that he opened that studio. So it's the first day from the South Side. I went the South Side when they were building it, and then we were still working at the house and then one day he called me. It was like, hey, man, can you come down to the new studio. We know it was finished, we're gonna start today. And I was like, we're working on it was working on USh. I was like, shit, first day, new studio, first song, you got it bad?
No bullshit? Hang up, no bullshit, new studio, first day, first song, no bullshit?
What's first? What's first? The keys of the drums?
Keys. So it's an incredible story about this, right, It's an incredible story. We're talking and he's like Jamaine is very specific and strategic about how he approaches things. He's like, yo, man, like we needed to do a song. It's kind of like, what what could Nice and Slow be bigger and more pop?
Like?
He was just like, what can how can we?
Because I Slow was so niggorish and dope, but it was very very black, you know what I mean, even though ended up being a pop record, but his approach was very He was like, man, from the progressions, how can we make it be still black? You know what I mean? And churchy? But you know, how can we take it up a notch? And we were just kind of going back and forth, and I started playing some things He's like.
Okay, you're going that direction whatever.
So he's like, yeah, man, I'm you know, Jamaine goes in once he has an idea in his head, he'll go and he'll play video games or whatever's going to that. So it's crazy, is we were having a conversation before that, me and him and Jermaine, I mean, him and Usher having a conversation before that. And Usher's going through this thing with this girl, you know. I mean, I don't know if I called this girl's name out, but he's going he's going through this thing with this girl at
the time. She's a she's a disaster. It's a disaster. And y'all you definitely know this woman is she's a disaster and we have to ban her from the studio. It's like she's like she's just out of control, you know what I mean. And jamn Is we're talking about it, and Jamain's like, man, you know, man, nigga, Yeah, she got you, man, she got you dog man. You got it bad, bro, you got it bad. He just says, he keeps saying it, and you got a bad dog like that girl ain't no good. You got it bad.
And he just said keep saying, keep saying it over and over again, and then literally that's how and whatever happened with it, whatever that phrase was in his head, he was like, I'm going to stick with that. I'm going to stick to this phrase because we have to write a song about this. And when I came with the progression, he was like, So I came with the progression.
I mind you, I'm coming from the school noontime the way my productions are at noon time, and very elaborate, a lot of transitions and strings and bridges and all kinds of ship, you know what I'm saying. So I'm approaching this ballot that way initially. So I'm I got all kinds of strings and lead lines and all kinds of shit going on, and I got a bridge, part changed part, when all kinds of shit going on?
When all that right?
All right? I got all this ship right, And so I tell ja, mane, I'm ready, man, come, come listen to what I got so far. So it comes in. He press pantal drummerchine. He's just listen to all this all this ship, you know, And he's listening. He's like, all right. So when he goes to the next sequence, He's like, we're not gonna use the next sex. I'm gonna use that bridge goes back and he's like allright, and he goes to the board and he just starts
muting ship. I'm telling it's the best. It's the greatest lesson I've learned in songwriting and producing ever. I was starts muting ship, right, he's everything, and I'm like, what the fuck is he doing? Like he mean all a good ship in my mind, I was, I was, I'm in there getting my ship. Yeah, he mute all me and everything right. The only thing we have left is the ny line and the wind. He liked the wind. Keep the wind in there, but everything else right, keeping
gonna start here, and I'm like, okay, goes on. He goes starts loading up sounds. Is when your man is using floppy. So you had a NI starts loading up sounds or whatever. He loads up a kick a snare I have, and he makes a drum track with that, right, and that's it, And I add a bassline, So you got the baddest kick snare, high hat now line, guitar bassline. Don't forget the win and the wind. Don't forget to win six instruments. We write the song. Okay, there's no harmonies,
so you got it bad. It's only to late line the only time here harmonies in the second verse when he does I truly adore you. That's the only part of it is. It's the only problem. This is no harmonies. It's literally just vocal and I'm sitting there when we finish the song like wow, look, it was only like when we finished the song, you understand, Like, and Jamain wasn't demo and songs at this point, he has stopped
demo and songs. We were writing the songs. I didn't with the song, and then Usher came and sang it. And after us just sang the song. It was kind of like Nigga, like, did we just write the best song of life?
It was like you know what.
It was like one of those like like it was like a moment where then La comes. Listen to the songs before the guitar solo we had. We didn't have a guitar song on that recog. Initially La comes and you listen to the song Elie, It's like, Yo, this song smash right, and Jamaine's I got a vision for it. I put a guitar solo on We're gonna get Bill oldon so Billy Old and puts guitar solo on it kills and we mix it right. Send the song in to uh le face and Arista Clive that don't like
the guitar solo. He wants to take the guitar solo out, and Jermaine has to fight for the guitar solo, which obviously is the moment. Actually, the video is the moment, and the video is the moment. You didn't hear it at the time. Clyde fought song. You should have known better too. We had a guitar song and should better and you wanted to do like he just didn't fuck with us on the guitar solos on the R and
B sh. I don't know why, but I just remember being like, oh man, simplicity, Like I don't have to do all of that ship to get my point across. You know what I'm saying.
The average person can't do anything even don't even truly understand all of it.
Yeah, I was like, damn, I got to do all that to get my shit across. Like he was like, yo, man, take all that ship out of there. Man, you gotta leave room. And literally that's when he was like, okay, right now, you know, it was like, oh, this.
Is too much, too much.
We've all had beats in front of us where we're just like you can listen to it one hundred thousand times, just like I can't figure nothing out of this ship because it's just too much going on. It's too busy for me. So you need someone like Jermaine to say hey.
He's like, no, nigga, you're doing too.
Much, damn. And literally that's another technique that I took with me. I took from that moment. It's like, Okay, I'm taking this woman, but it's time for me to do you know whatever. I'm taking this woman.
Whose idea was it to go bone thugs in harmony the bit of it inc.
Body just can't keep it real, not bom bone, boom bone.
We were, We.
Just are huge fans of bone with that harmony. I'm gonna keep it real, you canderstand. We're coming off from Mariah we did. We did a song with Mariah right this is before the big ones, like before like shake
it Off and we had them charm Bracelet. We had done a record before sung with Rainbow and Mariah is a full on like she's a Bone Dogs, a harmony fanatic, Like that's how she's full on, like full on, like no, no doubt, right, So for us, it's just an extension of that relation, this relationship, you know what I'm saying. And we we I mean bone Thugs by far as one of my one of my favorite rap groups and one of my favorite period you know what I mean.
And melodically, I just.
Always felt like and Jamaine look like we just always felt like nobody ever explored it properly.
Yeah, you know what I mean.
Like so it's like who can explore and make it.
Global?
But yeah, you.
Know what I mean, Like that's the thing.
It's like, you know, and and and I think also it's an extension of you know, think about Jermaine with uh but pop Pimp you know U s h g rr A. Like I think that that's just an extension of.
It.
You know, it's the same kind of concept, you know what I'm saying.
So let's get to confessions confessions.
We we we we got there. We got man, great story, confession confessions. It's time to do life changing ship. Oh yeah, at this point, it's time to do game changing.
The pressures on. Yes, we didn't feel it thought within the industry though.
Within the industry, like every everybody felt the pressure of.
What's going on with Usher? What's doing next?
Because of the sputter in between?
Yeah, and I remember too, I was working with like a couple of artists, like you know, like younger artists in between, and a couple of antars would say things that I thought were like extremely disrespectful, like at and are telling me something? They brought me this artist and uh, they were describing him to me like yeah, you know, he's not much of a vocalist, you know what I'm saying. And he was like usher man, you know, like he
ain't really much of a vocalist, you know. And I remember being like.
Wait, that's a wow? Was that?
What what did you say? Because I'm like, you know that I work with him, you know, I you know, I do his vocals, Like what are you talking about? He's like, yeah, you know what's like he got sing he can't sing sing. I'm like what you know what i mean? I'm like, hold on, hold on, what.
Listen chair man, swivel chair. If you're watching this, you're a goddamn fool, your motherfucking mind.
I just remember, Yeah, I don't care who you are, you could be the biggest executive too, saying Usher is not much of a vocalist, You're a god damn.
Fun I remember that vividly. So I remember going into making Confessions, Like I said, we didn't feel we didn't feel the pressure because we knew. We just went into it the way we would do any of any other things.
Just automatic.
So like that Burn was the first song we did for Confessions, Like it was the first song, the first one.
Secure Steward played it for me.
Hey, co, Yeah, that was the first, and I thought it was your first single, and I was like, this is out of here.
This nigga's back, He's all the way back.
It was the first time we wrote. So it's like let it Burn is another thing which your man is, Like, he's a person that will have like multiple conversations with people, let say, who have concled with me, with you and with you and not let us know that he had conversations with us, Right, So we think that what we're talking about is the first time we're talking about it,
and that we're coming up with it right here. But really, he's already had a conversation with you and you said the same thing to him, and he's just saying to you or man, shit, let it burn, right. But literally he had the same exact conversation with Usher Nigga.
So the niggas laying out of DiCaprio in inception.
Like so, so everybody has different perspectives on how you know what I'm saying, Scientists, everybody's So. My perspective is I was going through something. I never played video games. I was in the room playing video games. Like, man, you're in there playing video games? What the fuck is wrong with you?
You know what I mean?
And I'm telling them what's going on, my lady is just bullshit going on, like man, shead Cox, Man, you let that ship burn? Man? Right? He says it right, And I'm like, Nigga, that's a song. He was like, I'm neig go write it. And I was like, what, you know what I'm saying. He was like, nigg go write it. You think it's a song, go write it? So o care cool. So going, I started making the progression to what ended up ends up becoming burned, and I say, yeah, I think I got the progression. So
he comes in and I played the progression. He's like yeah, and then I literally was like it's gonna burn for me to say this coming from I started to start spewing the lyric to him. He's like, that's it, and then he just I said, I made the first four lines. Then he picks up the next like four or five lines, and then it's like, this is the first time me and him were writing songs writing a song this way, because normally it's like I make, I make the progression.
I may give him a melody he made, you know what I mean. I may chime in, but he usually does the heavy lifting of the lyric, you know what I mean. With this particular time, me and him are just going like back and forth, you know what I'm saying. I'm like trying to do my best babyface ship with it, you know, all set all with telling me why I'm stay in this place that it is like they said, when I'm going back and forth, like I'm like, this ship is like somebody to be filming this ship, you
know what I mean, like in real life. So we do, we finish the song and we're like, oh, this this is the first song for the album that we're making for. You know, we don't know Confessions is coming at this point. We're just writing. We're months away from writing Confessions at this point. This is the first song. So we started writing other songs, trying to just get to the to the next song.
And we go to La. We go to La.
And I mind even burn is finished, the most finished Moe. We go to La. We work at bay Faber that brains way, and we kind of got writer's block, like, well we can't you know, we're not really getting it's not really coming right. I gotta I gotta go to the Dnnist. I'm gonna go to Dannist, can whatever whatever.
Jaman's like, yeah, I'm gonna ride around whatever whatever. So Jermaine's riding around l A and he fucking sees the big ass Beverly Beverly Center sign, you know what I'm saying, And for him, you know, uh, that was the first thing that came to his mind, like, oh shit, you know I'm in the bed List Center, like man, not giving a damn, Like that's what you know what I mean? Those things, these things start coming to him, you know what I'm saying, And we would you know, I come back.
I got my teeth pulled, I'm full of Viking and I come back, you know what I mean. It's like we're gonna come up with we start coming up with this idea. Ironically, what was the predecessor of this idea was Ignition. The cognition is kind of why confessions even exist in real life.
How so?
Okay, so we do Confessions one, which is originally called all Bad, Right, All Bad. We do the song boom whatever this is before Ignition. All Right. Time goes by. They sleeping on the song. They're sleeping on All Bad. The label ain't really fucking with it, you know what I mean. Ignition comes out right the first version Efgnition comes out. It didn't really blow up, you know. It was kind of like some some random ship. Niggas got the single in the mail, like we got the you know,
we were really super random. But its like, but we thought this ship was incredible.
Right.
But at the end of the song, the end of the original version, he.
Gives you the previews of the remix, right, it gives you so right, like yo, so we kept like, yo, this this I can't wait to hear what this nigga do with this song. And then next thing, you know, it comes out with part two and we're like, nigga, here bro right. So cool Ignition comes out. It's going crazy, and then Jamaine comes to me like, yo, I know how how we can save this song. We can save all bad. I was like, well, we gotta do part two. We gotta just fucking do. We gotta do a part
two of the song. We gotta make it. So take some elements of whatever the first part of the song is and let's just make it. Let's make part two. Fuck it. You know what I'm saying.
Okay, Cool I said, what's part two about?
You know what I'm saying.
He was like, Nigga, I got it.
The nigga gets the bitch pregnant and this that and the thing. He's going on and on. He's going on and on, and it's going about something like, oh no, nigga, this is personal.
You can't fool me.
It made a lot of records, broke a lot of records, broke a lot of records. You've done some people's favorite records. But now we want to know your okay.
Top fave, saying your top five.
Right top fa.
Right now, your top five Okay, R and B.
Singer R and B song like.
You Got Too New, You got to shoe gots you and.
He's gonna tell us he's top fire.
Yeah.
Ring on.
To your top five five? Yeah yeah, top five R and B singers.
Yea, yeah, we're gonna start there.
Ship that's a good one. Let's cook. Let's cook of all time?
Yours?
Oh, your mind of all time?
Yours? Your personal list?
Luther Vandross. Why Stevie Stevie Wonder? I mean, you got to say Whitney Houston. You can't go. You have to, you can't go, you have to.
I'm so surprised when when she's not mentioned.
You can't not say Whitney Houston.
Bro. It's hard for me because it's like I want to go shock a Colm, then I want to go to say.
You cannot say r Kelly.
You can'tnot say our killer man.
I just you know, I know the comments gonna go crazy.
Okay, talk about the music.
Vocally, like in the artistry, like the songs that the reason why we're here.
You just can't not do that, you know what I'm saying. You can get into di'angelo vibe, you can get into. You can go back back and get liking to like a Marvin Gay vibe. Marmon Gay you can you know, my hey, let me tell you who's a well fucking monster. You don't talk about enough, I guess because he's way old school. But you watch you put these clips. Motherfucking David ruff Who.
You talking to? Who you talking to?
Like what I'm saying for David Ruffling was a fucking There's so many, man, I mean, you know, fantasious, one of my one of my favorites, Jasmine Sullivan is one of my favorites.
All Right, that's it.
I'm sorry. I got so many, man.
Better make sure you bring it home when you're gonna get in trouble.
Usher.
Of course, I'm talking about what the usher is like.
And I always tell people like, because I'll I spent I spent so many years defending you know, like my love for his vocal and I'm like, girl, which is crazy an rs the people who work in the music business, and I'm like, yo, like, what makes us so special is that the nigga's tone is such a one of a kind, Like it is the most familiar, most recognizable tone. I think and R and b like outside of like you know a Keith Sweat who has like a proper.
Get more difficult for him now though the artist thing was one.
Thing songs, So yeah, to do five, I'm gonna try the songs of all time?
Ship what you're riding around to? What's like? What? What's what? Do you find yourself? What's the free what's the freeway out here? To seventy eight five? Maybe you get on the twenty.
Cut gusus what I found myself listening to lately, I've been listening to a lot of Dinning by Donny Hathaway, So I've been like on like love Love Love Heavy, like that song is so special to me. It's something very beautiful and lush about that song and the production of it and his the meaningfulness and how he delivers the record, and it feels like he's you know what I mean. It feels like he means that shit late in my life. Michael Jackson is yes, yeahah, what can
you say about that song? It's not you know what I'm saying. It's like literally one of the best songs ever created. Right, I Love Lady by D'Angelo. I mean, oh, you know my record I Love a lot that I co wrote that I love you got a bad Okay, you got it bad. It's just like to me, I feel like that song is like one of these songs is kind of like That's why I always reference that song because it's like I learned so much in that session.
The first the first first thing so, but the second thing is it's like it's so simple, but it's so he sang it so beautifully and it was like this heard and it's like magic.
Literally, it's all of those, all of those simple elements coming together. The song is.
I mean, it's like from the from the beginning, from the very top when he is the like from the top, it's just like the funk is this coming on right now? The wind, the winds, the wind. There's so many, man, but I cannot. I would be remiss not to mention Mary's be without you.
I mean you, I mean, I mean you know what I mean, you know I mean you can't you just you have to.
I mean she didn't even sing that song. No more people, it's still the biggest record. Yeah, Mary don't sing us, so no more. I haven't seen Mary seen this song forever man.
On the roll.
She doesn't sing this song. I'm not she stopped singing that song a long time ago. Why, I don't know that should ever have seen a song like that? Like she just I'm one of the bats. She wouldn't seen that song in like a minimum five six years, probably longer.
We need Marry on the pod talk about this.
Yeah, she hadn't seen that song in a long time.
We're not gonna let you out here without this stuff right now, Okay, I'm ready.
I ain't saying no name.
Hey, I ain't saying no name.
I ain't saying no names.
I ain't saying no name. We was.
What you did, don't see, see, I ain't saying no I don't know.
Yeah, man, man.
So Brian Michael Coy, yeah too. You've been in this game for a long time. Long your mama bought you Rick James.
Rick James first eighty three dude, you.
Yeah at six, So you were justin for all of this.
But as you were destined for all this, you had to go through all this. So with you being here now, we want you to tell us a story funny or fucked up? Are funny and fucked up the trials of Brian Michael Cox. I ain't saying no names the only road to the game.
She can't say nobody name.
Okay. So there was this artist. So I had a couple of encounters with this one artist, and uh, this actually was the artist I was saying that there was like, oh.
Uh, you know, you know he's he's like usher, he can't really like with the same.
That was the preface of the prefix of the meeting. Right, So I meet the guy right comes to the studio I was working at Larry Bie comes to the studio, comes in with a bunch of like you know, fake jewelry on like you just look, this is I've never seen anything like this. Really it was so it was super cartoon characters. I never seen nothing like this in person. He pulls up, he got the you know, he got the whole kick kaboo along like this is back when he was wearing a really baggy jean outfits.
You know what I'm saying.
You know, so comes in, he's like, you know, really cocky.
You know what I mean. I'm okay, man, let me hear something. You know, they played me some of the music is cool. Is not nothing crazy, it was you know, it's not terrible. I'm like okay, we'll cool a right, we can do something. You know, we'll figure it out. So, uh he's like, yeah, man, you know, I'm I'm I'm trying to take this ship to the next level. Man, I'm so and so and so. You know, I'm I'm gonna be bigger than everybody, and I'm gonna cat cool.
I've heard this before, but you know, all right, cool, you know it's good at I have, you know, leething yourself, got myself. So then there was this girl that I was dealing with at the time who comes in. She came to visit me. She comes in and he sees her and he's like, I guess that they had like some type of interaction before. He was trying to talk to her and it didn't really pan out or whatever whatever. So she comes in and he's like, what's she doing here?
And she's like, you know, I'm meant to see him right point in me. He's like, oh, you here to CP Okay, I get it, You here to see b cocks. Okay, okay, all right, right, that's cool, right whateverever Son se n he don't like it at all.
He's not fucking with it, right, So I'm.
Like, no, it's all good man, everything's cool man, it's just my homegirl, whatever whatever, whatever, you know, we're trying to play it cool. So as a session goes on, this guy's not really as he's not good at all. I thought he was at least decent. But every right, come with the song. So we get through the song.
She's still there. So I did go to the bathroom and walk in on him talking to her right and he's like, yeah, I got money now, you know what I'm saying, Like you know what I mean, why don't you let me just you know what I'm saying, take you out, take you and take you all the time. Whatever. I got money now, I got a deal. Who I'm saying, he's just he's just and all on that. I'm like, yo, what's up. It's like hold on and I'm just you know, I caught him in the middle. In the middle, I'm.
Like, Yo, what are you doing?
Bro?
You know what I'm saying, Like, I mean, it's all good.
Whatever if she go, if she go in this whatever, handcuff cool. Fast forward. I get a call from the A I. He's like, yo, man, we want you and him, we want going you in Jamaine, Like all right, So I told your man, say, Yo, they want us to work with this kid. I tell him my name. He was like, all right, you know, bring the kid down, bring him to Atlanta. Now with in Atlanta and we write another song. Might just get this kid is not He's not good. So I know this already. I know
this going into it. I'm like, Yo, this kid is not good. But this is our man and our guys. Let's make it happen. Start recording with this kid, right. I I sing enough to get my ideas out right. Whatever I can, I can carry you. I can sing a little bit, but I'm not like, I'm not an artist, you know what I'm saying. So it's like for me, I'm getting frustrated because I'm like, yo, like, bro, like I should not be able to sing this better than you.
You getting paid to sing. You told me you was the best motherfucker and you ain't shown me nothing yet. You know me, taking I'm usually not like this. I'm usually super different.
No no.
No, no, no no no, you try trying. We're going through the sessions going terrible. So I tell the runner, yo, go get me like a bottle of Hennessy. I was drinking at the time we made bottle. I gotta get through this, right, So Jermaine knows. And once I started like going up and he's like, all right, man, you know what, dog, I'm gonna I'm gonna get up, all righty man, y'all finish up. So so I'm drinking, I'm
you know, taking and he's fucking up. I'm like, yo, man again again, so drunk, I get the more belligerents. I'm kidding it right.
So now for whatever that wind.
It's like maybe another two hours, all right, So I'm I'm done, got halfway down the bottle, seventy five percent the battle. Next thing, when your man comes in, I'm like screaming on the top of my laws, like, yo, man, that's not the fucking no, you can't fucking sing. I'm going crazy on this kid. I'm going I'm going so crazy in this kid. This kid wants to fight me. I'm going crazy on this kid, like, yo, you know, while we wasting our time, man, time you listen your budget,
you waste no gonna never get this ship right. You didn't get the last song right. I'm going crazy on this kid, like going crazy and like, Okay, that's enough.
It's going to take over, take you out.
He's like, yeah, yeah, that's enough. Come on out here, man, it's enough. It's enough. You're beating you're beating the kid up. It's too much. It's too much. And I was like, you know what, I'm not drinking sessions no more. I stopped, Like that's what made me stop like getting drunk in sessions because I was like, because we drink a little bit. If we're working, little drinks, cool, we could we can get past it. If you're drinking. If I'm drinking and
it's bad, it's gonna go all bad. So do you do you have a nickname for this guy?
Hey? Man, get out of there, Man, get out of there.
You know what I'm saying for who he became, you know what it should be?
It should be that. But I don't drink Henessy anymore. So that that was the thing.
I stopped drinking Henessy surely thereafter because I had another, uh situation that was kind of really fucked up off the Hennessy.
So I was like, yeah, I'm not gonna do this no more.
It's aggressive.
So, uh, Henessy really makes you want to fight somebody, and I really want. I'm not really naturally that kind of a person, So I was like, yeah, I wanted to kid me. No, I was going crazy with the kid. I was like because I was just because I was like, well, a few things I don't like for me. If I'm coming into a situation and I'm like, man, let the room dictate what we're gonna do. We're gonna come in
with good energy and we're gonna see what happens. You know, I'm I'm I'm personally you know, say lead it open and let God come in and whatever happens happens. I'm that person come in, got ideas. Let's get the vibe, because the vibes gotta be we gotta be bouncing.
You know.
If you coming to room, I know that we're gonna get a lot of shit done because it's just our energy. Like if a person person coming in there like Nigga, you ain't done nothing yet, I'm not even you know what I mean. It'd be different if you were like a star, then I would or had done some things that I would be like, I gotta respect that you may be a little eclectic and you gotta get your
ship off. But Bro, you ain't done nothing like I mean zero, you coming here telling me you need us right now, family, You need everything we got to give you, and you can't even deliver. So it'd be different if you was delivering and and I was just badgering you. Like bro, listening back to this ship, I would be like you listen back to that. You sign the way I sang it s beating. I was beating him down. Give him an name. I tuck him Awy because I don't trink hensy.
So my question is, did he ever get a hit?
He did?
He actually got a record. I'm gonna give you guys a hand.
I already know who it is. You know who it is. I know who it is. I know who it is.
He got one record.
I know exactly, and I know that people are gonna be like, Jay, tell me.
Record. I know record.
I know who this artist is because I'm pretty sure I came across them.
He got one record off.
We'll get into it. I know we not. We never asked. I don't know, Joe d m me.
I don't know you got one record off? One record? Never heard from again? But he got one record?
Well, brother h Elder hennessy. Elder. That's it. Start our church. We're gonna start our church, elder.
Yeah, that's it.
And I'm gonna start the building fund.
Oh yeah, all the money, get the building fun, collect the money.
Yeah, brother, brother, I love you.
Man, I appreciate you all. You know, we could go for another quick literally all day. We could do this all day.
Man.
We're glad I got a chance to do this. Man, We've been trying to do this for a minute.
Yeah. But we just want to make sure that people, you know, you know, we just want to make sure they celebrate shure, they celebrate you. Man, appreciate you. You should be celebrated.
Appreciate your brothers.
Man, not later now now, right now.
I appreciate y'all.
Man is amazing.
My name is saying. And this is the R and B Money Podcast.
The authority, Authority, the authority, Yeah, on all things R and B and in the building.
We have the authority on all things R and B. One of the greatest of all times. Give it for Brian Michael.
Cor R and B Money.
R and B Money is a production of the Black Effect Podcast Network. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Don't forget to subscribe to and rate our show, and you can connect with us on social media at Jay Valentine and at the Real Tank. For the extended episode, subscribe to YouTube dot com or slash r and b Money