Questlove Supreme: Brian Alexander Morgan

Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.

Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to another episode of Quest Love Supreme. I'm your house, much love. We have some Supreme in the house. We have uh yea, what you doing out there, guys and all?

Yes, yes, yes, I'm still here.

I'm not not on fire. Okay, good, Yeah, that's good to hear.

Uh.

We have fun take alot right now? Yeah? Cooland man cooland was it was raining out here today?

So uh.

And uh Sugar.

Steve Greetings, Hello everybody, Team Supreme.

I love you, I love you back Sugar Steeds like Michael Jackson.

Like.

Network Hello, I like that, Yeah exactly.

Okay, So, ladies and gentlemen, I will say that today is one of those those I guess you could say the special deep cut episode of Chus Love Supreme between the explore and sect work and the history some of our favorites.

Who otherwise wouldn't receive their flowers.

While here and our guess is that person in my book, he his resume is extensive and.

Legendary and wrote down resume.

There's a lot of sufficial there's a lot to drake to Taymour Braxton, the Faith Evans to jo Jo dan Nesby, Hark Faney, Mi Walston.

Ursa Lebo Hathaway.

But you know it's it's without no doubt that his work on the bona fide classic lp uh It's about Time by Sisters with Voices Study Dree, which he made his mark creating hit after hit, classic after classic, John after John. In my opinion, Week is probably neck and neck with Living Lift Every Voice.

And Sing as as the national anthem.

Actually I think we edges it out because unlike Lift Every Voice and Sing, I know the bridge to Week by heart.

It's at least the anthem is at least that right hey, you know?

But yeah, what more can I say? Ladies and gentlemen, We've been waiting for this one. Please welcome to Quest of Supreme, mister Brian Alexander Morgan. Thank you, thank you, sir, thank you.

Thank you, thank you. Love all you guys, fans for life, fans forever forget it. I'm huge, huge, huge fans of everybody, so thank so.

Where are you right now?

Bro?

Where am I right now? Is that what I'm at home?

Okay? You know East West Coast?

Oh oh oh la am i bad la. The valley out in.

The valley, you know, you know, yeah.

I think last time we hung out it was when you were in Sacramento.

This was got.

It was after after Foreign Shang Show and s Smith. She was like, yeah, y'all, yes, big shout to side man side knows everybody and she's like, yo, y'all want to go brand that was in the Morgan wants us to come back.

I was like, yeah, yeah, that was God. That was ten years ago.

It was easy and I was a huge fan of what you were doing then, just loving it.

Bro.

I had no idea you knew who we were when I When I got your care that's when I realized how much of a head you were when in your kitchen and you had CDs in your cabinets where the glasses should be.

I said, he really about that life.

And I'm a huge little Brother fan, huge roots fan, black Dog one of my Oh my god, we're talking about pins. Oh my god. I've been from day one. I was a I was a fan of Quest credits just.

From day one because he appreciated Because he appreciated credits.

I caught it all. I was like, okay, then there you go, man, Look, thank you that's real talking all day.

Do we I believe, did we not? I don't know if we met at our very first show. We had a show in Sacramento, like back in ninety four, ninety five.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, I think I met you and Rafael Sad the same day at the very first.

Killed in there that nightclub.

Right, Yeah, I remember that, Okay, So I do remember, yes.

Sir, yes, sir. And then I saw you again.

Next time I saw you again, it was years later, and I had on that Donny Hathaway joint, that Donny Hathaway shirt.

Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, Oh.

Good, Okay, I know that you well, your home base was kind of Sacramento, but you were born in all places, Wichita, Kansas described growing up in Wichita. How long did you stay there before?

Wow?

Man, you know what Wichita is Some of the hottest talent you'll never hear, is what I like to say, because when you're there, it seems impossible to be on joy, at least back then, not now because you could do anything on the Internet now. But when I was there, listen, Charlie Wilson, Roger and Zach all that Midwest funk, all that stuff is the holy grail because we perceived them as people who got out of the Midwest. Like, okay, even Babyface and all that stuff from Cincinnati, Cleveland.

Pick a thing. It's rude boys.

There's always that Midwest funk, Shirley Murdoch and plus you get way back, you know, of course, Ohio players, James. So there's always been this element of whoever makes it out of there, we feel like, oh, the gods made it out. For example, Charlie himself, Gap Ben, they had been struggling for years before that before they finally broke through. So I feel like me being for which to I was just.

Another one in that long line of oh my god, he made it out.

So what was the music environment like in like, what's your first musical memory from your childhood?

Oh? Man, I can tell you that right off the top of Michael Jackson.

Of course, the purity of Michael's voice on I Want You Back, ABC, I'll be there, Touch Me Beyond beyond, right, and then you add Stevie Wonder to that, and the progressive stuff he was doing on those keys really got me.

I wasn't playing yet. I just started playing until I was like ten in nineteen seventy seventy six.

But between seventy and seventy five, man, it was Stevie, Donny Hathaway, Michael Jackson.

Those were the three voices that really changed my life.

Now, later on in the late seventies, it was the Clark sisters that changed everything else that turned. That was a paradigm shift from in seventy nine when it is my living in Vain. Everything changed again. But I don't want to get.

Ahead of myself.

I can tell what no I can tell how you stack your harmonies.

I can see that influence in it. You hear that, Yeah, no doubt, I hear that. So yeah, are you from a musical family or like.

Let me give it up to my pops.

He made a record when I was like two and sixty eight to forty five, quest and I still have it and me and my dad is the only one. Let my mom's gone, my sister's gone, rest in peace, but my father and I. He thought he was Jimmy Hendrix back when Jimmy was you know the ship. So I grew up in a house that was he was playing not only the slide, the family stone stuff and the and the funk stuff, but he was also playing

Bro all of it.

My dad thought he was Jimmy seriously with the friends, swearing the friends. We had beads in the house, and you know it was that.

Beas before you entered the room. Yes, sir, I thought it was the only.

Yeah, absolutely, you know.

But my dad was a guitar player, man, and that's the only musician that I ever saw first in my life was a guitar player. And he had rehearsals at the house too. That also was mind blowing to hear musicians play in your house, and your house is only a two bedroom house. It was very, very impactful to a little me.

What did your folks do for a living?

My crazy, crazy thing. Another thing I got from my dad reading reading.

My dad worked as a librarian at a at a huge, big metropolitan library in Wichita, like the biggest in the city, and he drove a bookmobile to the hood to the hood books, letting black kids come read in the bookmobile.

So that was a huge influence on me as well.

Book I've heard I've seen that on television. So was that like the book version of the ice Cream Man.

Totally just drive books to the hood, and you know what's crazy, Like I don't think you could do that now, Like it would be.

Like people be like, what the hell?

But no, it bring the book Man, the food Man, and the Bookman back and bringing back.

Bro and you know what, thank God for get Harris Ye. Back to the influence. My mom knows what she did.

She was just a secretary at a construction place. But it was her church going that was the dip where my mom and dad converged. My dad was absolutely not religious and all about African this African that. My mom was completely Jesus, Jesus, all church all the time.

You didn't like saying in the church or playing the church and none of that.

Of course I did, of course, okay, okay, that's the training right there, the beginning. But now I got to keep it one hundred because everybody listen, I got to keep it one hundred. I grew up Baptists, and so it was all about Andre Crouch and and James Cleveland and.

Yes, which we love, but check this. It was when I went to the Koji Church for the first time right and heard that Corsist is.

You know, I heard that little swag on and you know, drummers was really really drumming.

I was like, oh so I kind of switched over a little bit.

Cool.

Explain that to me.

So, what's the difference in you're saying in Baptist Church was just very traditional meat potatoes gospel.

And you were allowed to be more so.

Is this a non denomination in church or what was the second church the church got in Christ Christ Learned as the Kojik Church or Pentecostal.

They they had a history of literally trying to play records that sounded like you know, the streets for for for lack of.

A better word, Okay, I have a yeah, I have an obsession with collecting next to Jamaican music, I have a really large collection of like earl gospel acts, trying to turn secular songs into gospel joints like I Got a Second Time Around by Shallow.

Mar I got hilarious.

Oh I got yeah, I have so much.

I'm going to do it on my DJ sets one night, Like just do it, bro you upside down by you gotta be kidding me. Oh dude, all I do is collect like really bad cover songs and gospel secularizing songs.

There's a really good one for the Jacksons. Can you feel it? But yeah, it's like wow.

Let me give you another thing about that particular subject. There were certain producers at the time that were capturing it though, they were really nailing it, like this guy. I gotta give you, Matt Probs, Bill Maxwell. He used to produce the Andre Krouch records. Them joints sounded like earth winning fire productions. You hear me, like pristine, ridiculous, funky, punchy mixes. And I was as a kid, you know, like the late seventies, me thirteen year old me. I

It sounded like Sherylyn's got to be real. Think it didn't.

Really?

Hell, yeah, absolutely, joint. I need that, I need that's insane. Yeah, I'll get you that.

And I got a lot of gospel stuff that we did in that era. But trust me when I tell you it was it was. It was from a good reference point Thomas Whitfield and Detroit Production, Pristine on Vanessa bel Armstrong by the time, by the time Commission came out in eighty five, Can you explain?

All right, So here's the deal.

I grew up like my Arab musicianship, especially with all the cats that I encountered in my age range. Take all the jazz cats out, So those who were non jazz cats, you were either a prince head or you were commissioned head.

Aha.

And of course you know every cat I know now that's deep on gospel chops. Commission is their foundation. Can you explain to me, like a majority of R and B musicians' first generation from like nineteen ninety to like yeah, two thousand and one, two thousand and two, what is the obsession with Commission? Like, what was it about them that just grabbed. Was that like the closest y'all could get to secular music that mom and dad would allow

Great question.

I can answer it like this for me speaking for my generation literally coming from like I said, the Hawkins and Andrea and those guys in the late seventies into the eighties when drum machine became a thing, production literally changed because of Prince right, So commission, now, remember all we had before that was the Whinings with voices like that, and they were incredible. And again but you're still talking live then that's Phil Maxwell again, same producer, same producer

We likned it to the Whinings.

You know that big, powerful voice coming like from Marvin Winers, but we had never heard it from such a young person prior. Besides Johnny Gill you know that, you know what I mean. Somebody you feel me and shout out to Johnny.

That's my guy.

But there was a young boy in commission back in the back in yes eighty five. See the Fred Hammond I knows Uncle Fred No.

No.

Eighty five, the very first album.

Get get familiar with all of their whole catalogs because what happened was it changed our lives. But what they did that I liked about them was that they not only had the gospel chops, but they had a David Foster flavor all through their whole mix.

Like and I'm not joking, I'm talking about this. Yeah, but look but with the chops, but with the chops of a.

Of a you're my inspiration by Chicago, you know what I mean. So that was the difference between the Winans and Commission. Commission gave you that no, no, no, those kind of melodies.

That wasn't that way with Tomorrow with the Winings that was later.

Well, no, there they were on it, but they weren't young.

Okay. The Commission was young. I get it, okay, And that.

Changed it because when they saw young people doing it. I went to their show so I could see the audience change, you know what I mean, like all of a sudden, it went from older.

People vibing on the Winings and the Hawkins and.

And all that to fool young kids that would have been otherwise in a club at a hip hop thing.

Are all of a sudden that a commission, commission. That's right and so.

But now but they got hip though, so Tremaine Hawkins and then got hipped, Clark Shisters got everybody got hit and was like yo, they start doing stuff that they could play all down on Tremaine as a direct result of that.

And that's right, that's right, that's right.

Right.

But because they got hip to the kids was picking it up and they would put it in the club and you brought the sunshine was the biggest, biggest, biggest joint of that type of thing.

But that was just following Stevie.

But I'm saying as far as really young people commission is the paradigm shift is what I want to say.

Question y'all got me downloading a bunch of Gospels.

I was going to say, uh, you know, there was some gospel in my crib, like and I see what you're saying. Andre Crouch's Perfect Piece is a great.

Example, good record of that. Of that, uh yeah of that.

And I think my dad had the the Hawkins Family album which Warrin's White actually did the first song with them or something like that.

So they got joints, bro, they got joints. Holy One. Have you heard Tremaine's Holy One? Oh my goodness, you got a certain.

First album, very the first album with the look at Me, look at Yeah.

Holy One is on there.

Okay, yeah, I know that whole album left and right. My parents went through a really weird Christian phase for like a good four years. So yeah, dope, yeah for every Prince album that got broken. And I had to, you know, be a exercise with Tremaine Hawkins record.

So I got you stick a pin in this.

When I got to Sacramento because I'm jumping I'm not jumping ahead to my Sacramento and how I got there. But when I got there, one of the first people that I got to meet was Fred Hammond and Mitchell Jones from Commission because Waynmon Tisdale was a Sacramento king and also an incredible musician, and he was there.

He had a.

Right yeah as a musician.

Yeah wow, oh yeah.

He was definitely a major athlete and came out Oklahoma. So we had the Gap connect Charlie connect.

But trust me when I.

Tell you all those people came through Wyman's house and I met them over there. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, just one of time.

Wow.

Yeah.

So what was your what was your what's the first concert you ever attended.

When you were in That's a great question, man.

The most significant one would have to be the Victory Tour opening day and and uh and were there too, Yes, sir, yes.

Sir, you went. You went to the opening night, open the night, strip pants absolutely, yeah, strip pants night.

Well, the Democrats, I believe the Democratic Convention was also in Kansas for that period. And you know, I did enough Bagan, but my my dad and.

My mom, and I like said, amazing, amazing, I went to the third night. Were you by yourself? Like by yourself?

No, my mom, my dad, and my sister, my dad.

Uh.

This is one of the times where like one of his brain hair schemes worked, which was he was like, we're gonna scalt the scalpers, and I was like, what does that mean? He's like, we're gonna wait five minutes into the show. See, you gotta be on immense faith to leave West Philadelphia drive all the way to get to Kansas City.

Wow.

And we're just sitting in that, you know. And I'm twelve man, so I'm my nerves are all. You know. I ain't paying no thirty.

Dollars, no ticket, but I bet y'all get him down to town in about two minutes before the show. Bam, Wow, we got, we got.

We got four Victory Tour tickets for ten bucks? Was the original stuff?

Huh damn?

Straight up, yo, that's crazy. And guess what.

There's some footage somewhere floating around of Mary Hard from Entertainment Tonight interviewed my ask what nobody.

Said her name? In a minute, Mary Hart no said her name, and it's not good.

Here up.

What I was You guys gotta choose his side right now, bro.

That's I did not know that. You guys are hit the media. I did not know that, and you know I love her and yeah, wow, crazy wow.

So what was it like in what was your your band situation or your like your high school situation like were you in any local bands at the time or yes, and you know what was your development moment that brought you to musicianship.

Totally crazy?

Okay, So starting in the church, I saw this thirteen year old little girl playing keys. It was the pastor's daughter. That was my first, Wow, a young person can do this. So that was huge for me to see her doing that. And then when they added drums at our church, it took us took them a while to let them let them do that because they were so conservative. But once they did that, my mom Look, my mom was the church secretary, so pete this.

So the drummer would always leave his drums at the church.

So when my mom would go to do the secretary stuff and on Saturdays, I would go with her just to jump on that dude's drums. Okay, So I started out drumming before I could play keys. And then and that changed my whole life because I was like, man, drumming is like the thing I thought, that's what I thought I was going to be doing. But then I kept getting on those keys trying to you know, how you pick out melodies and stuff. And I got better and better at picking out melodies, and I was like, man,

These guys are playing Herbie Hancock. I'm in here playing soon and very soon. What the hell?

You know, it's good to know that. I thought I was the only one that went through that, that whole thing. Like there was a period maybe like two months where I drummed in my local church.

Uh huh.

But you know, I was trying to play funk rhythms and whatnot, and they actually had to have a meeting or whether or not my playing was uplifting the lord.

Or like that's how strict they were like, oh my god.

So because the thing was when I would play all the you know, they'd be like, oh, like, I try to play like seprom seas By, like a popular break feat inside the music, and it's like the kids news.

So they started doing the and everything. Church the deacons like.

Sit down, so look, and hence that's why I left the particular church I was at and I went to play for a Kojak Church, And when I got to the Kojin church, I had my full on keyboard and drum machine in that bad bad When we play you about the Sunshine, it sounded like you about the sunshine?

Wow, wow, you feel me?

And then all my commission stuff. I programmed it the night before. QUEST programmed all the beats and feels and crashes and everything, and so when I played So when I played the commission joint, it sounded like the record.

Yeah, what was your whatpin of choice?

Where were you using Leah Lindrum all day?

Wow? You got lyndrum that early?

I got Lyndrum And as soon as it came out, it was I got it in eighty three. I think it was eighty three. They all went out.

They had one out in eighty two, but it was in California. My friends had I heard about it, but I got one in eighty three.

Yeah.

How many LUNs did you have that mode to get that?

You know what?

Listen this here's the good news about how my development happened. In Wichita, there was this white guy named John Miller. John Miller owned what would be the equivalent of the guitar center in a major city. Okay, he had his own music story like that. So we had all the new keyboards, all the new drum machines, earlier than everybody, right and so. But he also had a recording studio, a sixteen track recording studio.

So this is what happened.

So he said, I used to go in there and just play on all his gear because of course, you know, being broke poor, that's where.

I got a chance to play.

So the people, the esecial, the white people that would cut and this is Kansas, so the white people that would come in.

There and hear me playing on stuff would ask, you know what my name was? What am I doing?

So John got hit piece like yo, you know what. I got a studio I want to promote, and if you come in there, I'll give you free studio time if you can go in there and do some work. I did a demo in there, bro That gospel demo is the demo that got me my record deal.

On Warner Brothers. Wow. What yeah, Wow, Yes sir, yes sir.

That demo I did in that studio got me the record deal that Bennie Medina signed me to in eighty seven.

I did it in eighty five. I did it in eighty five eighty six. By eighty seven, J King came through Wichita, Kansas and heard that demo.

And I cannot wait to hear you J King's story waiting and waiting for some King you know.

Yes, so this is to give people some context. So this is TIMEX social club, Yes, club club, Yes, so this is that.

So eventually absolutely all.

Yes, right, he came from all that, and that's my people. So how did I get from which iss Tod to Sacramento?

Just that way? A friend of mine named Steve Williams. I got a shout out, my.

Boy, Steve Williams, because Steve Williams was the person who was the biggest club nouveaut fan I ever met in my life, like a full on stand right, And of course I was arrogant. I'm snooty nosed fred Ham and Clark sister's guy. Then people can't sing what are you talking about? I was. I was very I was a quest of very snob situation, like because I know Christen snob. Nah, bro, I'm talking like when I'm talking singing, we're talking about

I'm just saying I was just that that arrogant guy. You feel me? So I wasn't even paying no attention to the freaking club New Vau at that time. Now and rumors. I thought that was a joke. I was like, is that is that like a joke?

I thought somebody record? Yeah, yeah, talking about how do rumor get? I was like, okay, what is that Eddie Murphy, what the fuck is this?

And did know it was because then, because if you remember, that was the joke.

But lost re short. The guys that put that put that record out was j King. He put that own label and that joint.

Blew the hell up.

And when Pop and They was on all of a sudden they were on tour with run DMC and motherfucking Beastie Boys.

Okay, when that happened, I was like, wow, this is a real record, right, never thought nothing else about it.

That was nineteen eighty six. Uh, and I still got my gospel demo. We're trying to get signed to A and M Records. We had a little manager and they was trying to get us signed to A and M because John McLean signed.

Janet had just done the Fall Down record of Tremaine.

What you mean, right?

So we thought, hey, we could it was me And when I say we, it was a group called Cachet that I was in.

It was.

A light green drink right there. And hypnotic is a part of it.

Listen. I was trying to be all in.

Look since j K found me and signed me, I was trying to be all in the French state Club Nouveau.

And you know, so I just said that stupid ship. It's just right, right right. It's just made a unique voice, supposedly, and it was spelled c A c h E T d E v O. I s, oh wow, that's right, that's right, that's right.

Oh yeah, And you know what, shout out to my girl Michelle mactheney, who I grew up with, my homegirl from witch Toad.

She was in that group with me, and recipes to James Williams who was also in that group. We passed away that. But guess what, Jake One just.

Sampled some something from that very album only last year, that unreleased, that unreleased Warner Brothers album, Can you feel Me?

Like?

People find they find stuff? Brow that's dope, man, Ain't that crazy? But Anyway, long story, so back to J King's Okay, So Jay King blows up with time Ax Social Club. They fall out and then the only thing left is Denny and Tommy and and Uh and Jay King and then he puts in Samuel and Val. That becomes Club New vaut All right, So now I'm still in Wichita. My first visit to LA was trying to get signed to A and M with John McClain. John was actually interested and we thought we had a deal

So I answered the phone. His name is Steve Williams. He goes, hey, you got to get down here.

I'll let Ja King hear your demo, that same gospel demo, and then Jay King snatches.

The phone and be like, come get this motherfucker. He's sucking up my pussy. But I do need you to let me. But I do need to let you. Let me take this tape, I said.

And I was like, WHOA, I don't know, bro, And the only thing I had seen was bad press about them fighting right with Time at Social Club.

Yes, listen, let me tell you to radio obviously, and I read right the lead singer Time Social Club like just throw J King under the bus.

Worse than that, though, I would read like black beaten, you know, come on, man, so look so but here's the thing that changed my mind talking to him.

I saw an image and the TV was on, and it sounds like I'm making it up, but it's not. It's true. Joan Rivers had her first show on Fox and she had a little talk show.

I'd be damned when that shit played on repeats in which tah, there's Joan Rivers talking to J King.

And Club newvau with and handing them a gold album.

Wow.

I was like, uh, whoa, Now do I want to say this at my mama's house or I don't want to worry about whether Jay is a crook or not?

Right?

And so I said, man, let it take the tape, Bro, take the tape. And he said, and he said this to me, and he made a promise to me. He said, bro, I promise you, I'll have you a record deal in two weeks. This tape is phenomenal. Benny Medina is going to love it, and you're going to be ready to leave Wichita and move to Sacramento, which is where he lived at the time.

And this is nineteen eighty seven. He absolutely.

I was washing dishes one day phone rang, picked up that thing on you know, the old school phone, off the wall, put it on my shoulder, kept washing the dishes.

Jak said, you ready to leave? I said, who is this?

Jay Man?

Get to pay your mama's bills. You're moving this Sacramento. You guys are signing the Warner Brothers. That's how I got in the record business.

Wow, nikes.

Now that the Cats Sims you mentioned Samuel that was in that group. Was that the same Samuel? So you like what you see Samuel?

Absolutely?

Oh yeah, absolutely for sure. And that was you know, that was the club devote part of it. When I got to Sack, I met all of those dudes. They were still recording Tony Tony. Tony hadn't happened.

Yet and where can you answer this for me? Where the hell is Tommy Denny right now?

I talked to him.

I talked to him all the time. Tommy follows me on on on Instagram, and Denny is out here. I think he's managing them joints.

The producer. Oh wow wow ye folks.

Yeah, and we're talking about we're talking about Denzel Thomas Backro and Denzel Foster.

That's right, right, absolutely, so, I mean you get the Sacramento. I get the Sacramento and it's the first time in California ever. No, No, that was my second time because I had just been in La trying to meet with John McLain in the year before, in eighty six.

In eighty six, Right, how did that fall through?

Or it was just like quickly beating happened and it fell through?

Because this is my only big Griffy tie ever in my whole life.

It felt because the guy that we thought was our manager was a crook and he had been doing business with, said Dick Griffy at some kind of international shipping weird something.

He went to jail, and when he went to jail, we had to go.

Back to Kansas, right, Yeah, So the j King coming through was a literal savior of my life.

That was a lifeline.

Yeah yeah, well is.

Jay King from Sacramento?

He actually is from Sacramento. Yeah, okay, sounds like what.

Have y'all noticed that no one, no black artists not born in the in the sixties, that gets to our show. It's like they cannot even get to California without running to either Ronnie Simmons. We're now j King like is completely I mean, the good side of that story is also clearance. But yeah, it's like, you're gonna get You're gonna run into four people on your journey.

That's said a lot about them though the success or epic failure one or the other.

Oh my god, wow, it's crazy.

But Yo, here's the thing though, the j King part of my my experience taught me a lot because not only did they get me in the studio and kept working, but unfortunately I did very horrible drum sound during that era.

Don't don't don't go find that cash album quest and talk about the drum. Oh god, it's horrible.

But look Jake, I made up Jake and get it from him.

That bad Boy is on disc. Gods, it's horrible. They're selling on on which call it too Amazon. That shit is on Amazon. So look anyway, it.

Never so it never was released. It never officially released.

It never but I have it on CD.

Got you you know, we got it that far cover, about to be released on the schedule and everything, and then Jay like pissed off the top brass and they dropped his whole ship.

Wow.

So yes, describe j King as CEO because he was on the come up.

Yeah he was.

And then you know what, so what happened?

I think you know what?

Like and the jail tell you this himself. When he was young, girl, he had a serious like energy problem. He could not control his.

Energy, like meaning like if he got pissed, he let you know. He did not edit himself. He did not care.

I remember one time a security guy said something crazy to him as we was walking through the mall.

He went and got a gun.

He said, like he was triggered, Like this guy was not the one playing with seriously seriously, and.

That was it.

Maybe I don't know, I don't know, but I'm telling you this. People did not play with Jay.

Jay was about his business and he definitely but one thing he was to me was like a kind of an older brother. And he was protective and he was and he nurtured me, I give him.

And you know what he also did. He left me alone. He left me do my thing. And and I'm telling you right now, those years.

Taught me the most, probably because it was the time where I thought I had made it.

You know, when you get signed and you think you made it and then all of a sudden beginning.

Man, look that was just the beginning. You know all about that funtation, So it's just it was crazy. But when we got dropped because of his actions, and now I'm stuck like not having product out, and I thought, my dream You listen, when you think your whole dreams are over at twenty two, you know what I mean?

It was devastating. It was devastating.

But Jay was so much of volatile person that it made it difficult to deal with.

In the moment, he reminded me of the way he talks. He talks just like J Prince.

Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean.

I know, like a very quiet little least the interviews I saw which something said, don't mess.

With that guy.

Do you want to have any.

Go ahead? Go ahead?

And I was gonna say, do you ever have any What was your interactions like with Benny madeena at that time?

If you had any?

I did several And you know what, this is the funny one of the funny stories about Bennie.

He at that time he was really trying to transition into television, so he was kind of over it in a lot of ways. He was already over the record thing he was because he was really about to do Fresh Press of bel Air, because he started that immediately when he left. But what he was for me was just a real honest person, like he was like, Nope, that sucks, Yep, that's dope.

Nope. At one time I used to.

Make these phone messages on my phone and sat him in where I would do all these big ass productions quests. I would do, like whole productions just to say that I'm not home.

We all did.

Yeah, you know what I'm saying right right. So I had this one joint and it was funky as hell, and he called me.

Benny called me. I was like, what the hell Benny mcgeena was telling me. He went, Yo, that's your first fucking single right there. Wow, And he literally chose it for the album that never came out, but it was a song called wrong and he said, man, that's just.

So that happened. And then I didn't see Benny for decades until he was trying.

I heard he was trying to find me throughout the whole successful SWV period in the nineties.

He never could find me.

And when I finally saw him again was recently at a La Read book signing. It was me, him and Usher and La Reid, and that was probably twenty sixteen.

He hadn't seen me since eighty eight.

Right, how's he doing?

Man?

She's still like good health and everything.

As far as I know. Bennie's great. Yeah, I mean when you're that rich man, j the Man, Diddy, Babyface, you know. Please.

There's another legendary person that enters your sphere and I don't know much about him or like I know his music well, and that's Robert Brookins.

Oh, how like how does he enter your story?

So when I got to Sacramento, I found out that there was this rivalry between j King and Robert Brookins. Robert Brookins had been a child star in the Sacramento He's from Sacramento as well, so they were like from the same hood, and it was like, you know, I'm gonna be famous before you type of thing. So Robert was a genius really on the keys vocals, I mean, talk about fred Hammon. Robert sound like fred Hammon before fred Hammon.

Wow, Okay, so pete.

So when I get there, it was only a matter of time before I I would meet Robert because I was always he was like a legend and I hadn't met him yet.

I was only twenty two.

I kept hearing about him, and then when Jay would talk about him, it was always brother.

I beat Robert's ass, So I was like, what is the deal with Jking and Robert?

So they had this rivalry. When Robert Brookings met me, it was by accident. I had this girlfriend I was seeing the time. Her name is Donna. Donna answered the phones for Robert's office front office. So one time I wrote Week and I wanted to play Week for her to see what she thought of it.

As a female, I went into her office. She introduced me to Robert.

That was my first time meeting him, and he didn't know nothing about me singing or playing and none of that stuff. When I pushed the button play on Week, my demo of Week Donna.

I looked up. Her ass was in tears. Robert was like, that's too many motherfucking words, yes, he said, he said, why are you saying something? Words? Make it most simple? That's too many.

I was only if only Robert had an on the bone thugs is right around the corner.

But look, but look what Robert did at that moment. Though he showed me a couple of chords, he showed me he was working with Jackie Jackson at the time. He took me to Tito Jackson's house here in LA. He took me under his wing, is what he did. And that's how I ended up on his second album. I'm doing backgrounds on there on a song called United. But Robert literally, what he really was trying to do was take J Kings thing from J King.

You feel me. He's trying to get me squarely into Robert camp. He's like, and what you doing with that?

You know?

Jking?

Them niggas can't sing, they can't. He's like, you too, You're too bad to be in that camp, bro, what you doing? And I think he tried to show me, like the life Hollywood life with the Jackson's and the that, and he was also playing keys for Earth Wind and Fire.

Eventually Robert was doing everything long story short, you.

Know, Okay, yeah, I know, I know he passed away like ten years ago.

I think, yes, yes, yes, but he ultimately became very good friends and.

And he was He's just one of those cats where that I always knew about or you know that that never you know, got a shine or really got the light of day, but always saw his name on credits and all that stuff.

And that's funny, man.

And listen to a record by him called uh in Our Lives, In our Lives, check that one out.

Okay, yeah, look that up.

Did you sing your demo for for a week?

Did I sang all the demos for all those songs? Oh? Yeah?

So how long before.

You're able to at least get back up on your feet again once the j King deal goes? Like did you try to tell Benny like why don't you just sign me directly? Or like you were already under contract.

To listen when Jay did what he did, I think that in that building it was a rap for anything having to do you feel me, like any food from that tree was done.

It's a rap.

And I didn't have the power as a young kid like that to be walking up in those rooms talking about anything. Really shit, We fucked up and went tried to get a manager to get out of the j dial, and.

That backfired on us. It was just all bad. I was depreved on.

Did it take you to be free of him?

A couple of years?

Man?

Like a couple of years.

And then even after that though, I was just struggling just to be able to be a working musician. So all of a sudden I start taking I start taking any calls, any calls, if anything, I would take it and go do the work.

That's how I got Stevie Wonder Gig.

And the Bobby Brown Gig in nineteen ninety and nineteen ninety one, respectively.

Can I shall tell you that story?

Nice?

Okay, So this is what we lived for. Think this.

So now me and Robert at this time had fallen out because Robert made me buy a car that I couldn't afford and put it in He said he was gonna go sign for it, but then he didn't do it. Then I was stuck with the things. I was mad, so I was like not feeling Robert, and then Robert I also had done multiple songs for Robert that he was supposed to pay me for and then he didn't pay me for them. So I was really really mad

Well.

Remember I had Donnad working in there, so Donna could tell me what was really going on, right, So what I found out was that he really never was gonna pay me.

Okay, so I was I was heeded.

So now I'm down to La hustling for gigs and ship I get a call from a guy named Derek Allen, bass player.

He plays bass.

That's right, d o A, yes, you know the So shout out to Derek Allen. So Derek was Bobby Brown's musical director for his tour at that time.

He did College Girl on Bobby Bobby.

Exactly check you out. So yeah, that's exactly right.

So look he hit me and my man, Dennis Austin was in the band he's a keyboard player, Dope drough from Sacramento as well, Derek's homeboy. They called me and said, Brian, we need somebody that can sing and play. Can you do this Bobby Brown gig? I said, what's the gig? We're doing the American Music Awards. We're doing a medley of all his hits at the American Music Awards. Okay, and now this is nineteen ninety. Now this is a

And when this is happening in nineteen ninety Okay, Okay, So I take the gig. I get the gig, I get down to La uh and I do the gig. It was amazing. I met Val Young, who's also a legend. Shout out to Val Young. I know you know that.

Vow was on the record. That's right, uh and goat banned but check this. Yes, So it's me Val and this other guy named Harold. We're doing the backgrounds for Bobby Bobby. Uh.

For for reasons I won't mention, could not really do it. You couldn't do the show okay, live like it was supposed to be.

So Dick Clark said, you're not coming up on here. You know, Dick Clark did not play. He's like, you're not coming out here and messing up my ship.

Go go record it. You got to go record it. So we went to excuse that it was bad. So we rec or the whole thing in the studio.

Now, when I was supposed to leave the next day to go back to Sacramento, I'm in the hotel room. I'm getting my bags are all packed. I'm in the hotel lobby waiting on a cab or something, and look, I jump on the piano and I start playing what a commission song?

M hm?

And it probably was running Back to You or something like that. So a guy walks by me and he goes, yo, you know that you want you know about the commission and say, man, come on, and so we start doing two part harmony to it in the lobby of this hotel.

I looked up and I was like, Bro, you are Keith.

John hunh Wow, Stevie, Yeah, Stevie, and you yes, yes, yes, yes.

Yes, yes so Pete. So I go bro, and before I can say anything else, he said, what's your name? I said, I'm Brian Morgan and he goes, not.

Brian Alexander Morgan and I said, wait a minute, you know my name? Bro? How do you know my name? He said, Bro? That Cache album. Stevie plays it on the bus all the time.

What I even get it because they gave promos out all the time tables.

I said, what.

He said, check this out, Bro, we're having a rehearsal. Stevie's doing the Grammys and we're having a rehearsal for it. Would you like the audition for it?

I say what? Of course?

I said, what you'all doing? He said, we're gonna do we can work it out the Beatles joint because Paul McCartney's gonna be there.

I said, oh my god. Yeah, So I did it.

I went to the form, a line around the form, waiting, everybody doing twenty thousand runs warming up, Keith John walking me in, got me into that audition and I got that gig.

So if you look at this you can you can YouTube it. Nineteen ninety one.

I think I know that performance. Yeah.

Wow, that's right, and I'm in there. That's me right there.

That is crazy around up you you the R and B Forrest Gump out here cuz.

That's what this is.

How he came.

Yes, yes, it's a conversation.

Thank you, thank you, thank you very much. Hey. But yo, but from there back home and broke right, okay, and.

It's cool to be on TV and your mama was like, look at my baby on TV with Stevie Wonder.

But you know, Stevie didn't call me after that until about four years later when.

The girls were out. But when I went back home something I'm gonna switch. I'm gonna make it easy, just transition for y'all. I was like, I cannot be broke no more. I got to write something for somebody that I already know has has has a standing, you know what I mean.

So I in eighty nine, Martha wash.

Had out everybody, everybody, and I love that joint right, And I've always been a househead and a dance head. So I was like, man, I can write. I can write a joint for Martha. And then all of a sudden, when she had out everybody does now that, I was like, somebody right, So that's ninety one.

So I'm like, this is my opening.

Because she got a record deal on RCA as a result of her getting suing C and C. So she got that deal. So I said, that's my opening right there. She got a brand new album that she's gonna need songs.

So I went home.

I had a listen to what I had quest This is the equipment I had. It's pathetic, but I made these joints on it.

You made it work.

I had a motherfucking nine O nine rolling nine on nine house.

You need that, you need that.

I needed that, And then I had a horrible release since HR sixteen B.

Remember that joint, it was progressive joint, Oh my god, for percussion.

Right, you made it work, bro.

I mated them joints together and used the nine O nine for the kick and snare stuff and the HR sixty B for the percussion stuff.

Right, and them two joints go together. It sound like a whole new drum machine. So boom. And then I wrote and I was like, I did my best.

Everybody everybody right, And it's a song called give It to You and when number one dance for me and Martha on RCA in nineteen ninety two, early nineteen ninety two. But it got me in the door at RCA and our person of the of the Martha Wash record was.

Kenny or T T Kenny or ts okay Okay, that's how we get to s WV WOWTA got you in the door, got.

Me in that door? And I did. And I had only done two songs on the demo for Marcus. She liked them so much. This is what Martha Wah said to me when she heard them demo songs. She said, I don't know who you are or where you come from, but you're doing what we want the A and our guy has not given us what we want until he played us. You can you can you do more?

So I ended up doing five joints on that on Martha's debut on r C A five songs on them, and that literally changed my life because I was able to get a new car by say fuck you to Robert Brookins.

See say say to j King, I could you know I'm out here?

I'm still working, you know it was And I was never malice towards him because I knew that if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't even be there, So I would never talk shit about Jay. But at the end of the day, I was just like, yo, I'm working, and I got an apartment and I started working and if I didn't have that money that I made for Martha wash about my first MPC that I did, I'm swim to you and all the rest of the stuff.

On wow, So aka right, got it?

Got it?

Now?

All right?

Go?

How do you developed this stuff?

We came first the songs or or did the songs come first? Or you meeting the ladies of s WV first songs first?

Remember I told you I did Week before I ever met him.

I did that, right, okay eighty nine and that's when when the whole thing fell apart with Jay, and then Chante Moore came into the picture, and then that's kind of I wrote that out of a sadness about.

You were writing that song for her record or I wrote it.

About her, and I was writing it for Charlie Wilson.

Week was about Chante Moore.

You didn't know that?

Every yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, bro, yes, wow, speak on it.

I had a huge crush on Chante Bro and I couldn't but that was Jay's woman at the time.

Chaunte was Jay's woman at the time. Big Time.

Got a man.

This is.

Man.

I'm saying yea, yeah, yeah, and you.

Know what, and it was just about boundaries and I need didn't want to cross no boundaries with my that's my boss.

And j K was still crazy, don't get it sucked up.

So with that like that and she got that voice though that was, Oh my god, make a connection.

Brooy, Yes, yes, yes, bro bro So.

Long story short, but I tell the body still Charlie Wilson fan though, me thinking where I'm coming from. So, Wednesday Lover had.

Been my favorite gap band song at that right, Oh god, I gotta write something for charge. So that was Wednesday Lover came on eighty eight, so I wrote week in eighty nine. It was only a week a year later, not even a whole year later, right, So I'm thinking Wednesday Lover. I got to do something at least as strong as that, right, And so but Chante was the fuel for the subject of it because it was just

You know what I mean?

Why is she not exclaiming this from the rooftops?

Does she?

What was her reaction?

To knowing that.

She didn't know that then and.

Now she definitely knows it now, she's known it for years, But back then she had no idea. And not only that, she was trying to get the hell away from Sacramento and j too. She had a whole little life she's about to live. But but my point, but my point is thank god I wrote something so honest, you know what I mean, from my heart and and she was the inspiration for it.

And I'm not ashamed to say, you know what Wednesday Love.

Yeah, man, when the one that's that's just hard, Oh my god, it still all right?

You two are an anomaly to y'all, so puzzling because I know that's not on that's on the round Trip record.

That's right, there's nothing else on. There's horrible.

Listening. Nobody in eighty nine that like, but when look at You Sucker wasn't on there, like.

Man, right, right? So when's they level?

What for for my generation I think is when Jagged Edge covered it, Yeah, that kind of sent a lot of people back like, oh, this is a cover and then you know we checked that one.

It was the same thing when Mary covered I'm in Love Like that was a lot of that was a gap.

Band record, a brilliant gap band record that it kind of just went under the radar.

And honestly, after Gap Band eight so I no na listen.

They were on Capitol and we're about to get dropped, and it was a whole lot of screwed up stuff happening at Capito. At the time, it wasn't it wasn't a good it wasn't their fault. That was a bona fide smash it should have been, but no money was put behind it.

It was just horrible. But that record just did.

Something to my heart at the time. So when I wrote week, I was coming from Matt's face like it's gotta be doping up for Charlie to do it.

Now.

The ironic thing is I never even gave it to him, wow, because so much stuff started happening in a different direction for me when like Martha happened and then it didn't really blow blow up like I hoped it would, but we got the number one dance record out of it, and then it kind of went away. But when I met when I heard Coco's voice though, this is the connection. So when Kenny Ortiz was like all this Suden when he's finishing up Martha Watch. He's like, b I got

But wait.

He FedEx the joint a cassette to me back in those days. I opened the cassette up, I put it on. Soon as I heard Coco's voice, I was like, oh my god, that's another Shirley Murdock all day. Right, So when you put my energy, which is a Charlie Wilson heavily influenced thing, with a Shirley Murderer, now you got a potential computer love about to happen.

That's so scientific.

It's the truth, right it is. And I knew it as soon as I heard it. So I'm like, okay.

So that demo that had been floating around a week of me, I knew in the back of my mind Coco would murder it. But I was trying to get a solo deal for myself. So out of all the stuff I sent Kenny for them, I didn't send him.

That Wow, I sent him right here.

I send him some other stuff, and I did not send him Week. Now, listen how he found out about Week.

Before you do that? What who was working on their music that got to you?

Because I'm under the impression that you did all their music, Like how did how did their demo get to you?

And what was on that demo? Like what was the music?

That's a great question. There's a guy that what they were work with called Donald Donald Brown. I'm a bolding, I think if I'm saying it right, he passed away. He was there's a song on the first album called a Couple of Things he did on there.

Look on the credits and check his joints out. But he's on the first album. But that's the stuff I heard was from him.

But now what I learned on Coco's voice at the time, I was like, man, she's got to have somebody to be able to control what she's doing because it was like very church. You know, it's all over the place, church, church, church, and alands were wild. I was like, if I could, if I could harness that entertainment.

It's going to be dope. And I knew that.

But here's how Kenny found out about Week and went crazy there back to J King at J King when I worked there, there was this janitor working there named Jeff Bowen's okay, So Jeff Bowens would clean up the office after everybody would leave.

But what we didn't know was that he would also take help himself to taste and concept to me. Oh okay.

So now that was eighty nine, cut to ninety two, ninety one somewhere in there, not even ninety two, It is ninety one. I get a phone call from Kenny Ortiz. He's at a meeting at RCA Records in Hollywood. He goes, nigga, you have been holding out on me. How in the hell am I hearing this song from Jeff Bowens because

I'm trying to get a deal myself. You hear me on that joint cup. Why don't you sign me? He said, be later. I need them on that record now. And he said because he wanted to do like a female guy.

Okay, okay, okay, So but who but who who influenced Aaron Charlie? So we still we're still back at Charlie. Right, So when I get back to New York, I agree to it after you agreed to drop a little coinage, uh.

De right?

So yeah, we went in there were in the studio called Homeboy, which is legendary robinesque. Shortly after we did that, did show me Love in there Andrew Martin whichever one you believe, And.

Is that the story is that Andrew Martin is singing that.

Yes, Lord, that's what that's the Yeah, that's what. That's the big, big big. I saw it on the internet, man, and then and then Andreas, y'all got to google it.

She she sings it.

And then when you hear her sing it, you can be like holy wow. So anyway, but Fred Fred shout out to Fred McFarlane and and uh the guy that own Homeboy not forgive me, Matt Foster, forgive me. Y'all worked there, Fred and Allen, George Jesus, the writers of Show Me Love.

But we're recording this salam Rima, recording a lot of joints in there as a very famous room. Ask everybody Homeboy recordings, Ask them about that. Anyway, history So got that cut. Coco hated it was difficult to record her on it.

But the good news every hit starts right.

But yeah, Well, let me ask you, well, I was gonna say, you're you're basically being set up, uh, kind of as a blind playdate. So like, how do you even start to nurture the relationship of trust and whatnot? Like do you just immediately day one to start recording these joints? Do you like spend time with them? For like jam and Lewis spent two weeks with Janet before they even hit the studio.

Man with you, what was the process to gain the trust that was?

That is a great question, and let me tell you the answer is not good because that level of commitment that Jam m Lewis, and I'm a huge fan of Jimmy jan Terry Lewis my guy. They influenced they influenced me producer wise, like almost more than everybody.

Uh my key style, my bass, left hand bass is Jimmy. We talked, We talked very often. That's my guy. But they spent a time with Janet like that to do that, I had no such luxury.

I got these three girls thrown in my face with attitude out the Yin yang right like all this whole New York attitude, and they was like they didn't know me, they didn't care. But what the difference was with me and Coco was she had been used to running these hip hop producers crazy because they couldn't sing, and they could and she and they couldn't tell her what to do because they could not reproduce it with their own mouth.

Sing this, and I can sing, and I can tell you how to sing it.

So that changed the game for her, and she resisted it big time, like in a big way, like it was it was very hard to get anything done. However, once she got it, done, and I was satisfied with how it sounded.

That's what you hear?

Did you have to go line for line? And what you're basically saying is and I've heard this story before, the story of u uh. We once had Linda Perry on the show and she was talking about how, you know Christina Aguilera when she first got beautiful. You know, of course Christina thought she was going to do some you know, crazy and you know, just as a way

And she's saying in her dry voice, and Linda, news is the take.

I'm gonna let you struggle for three weeks and make you think you're gonna top it and didn't do it so like? But what's what's the You know, I've made it known on this show that I hate nothing more than recording vocals with artists.

But how do you like, how do you get them to just straight up chill and go.

That's a great question as well. Listen with me and Coco.

It was very very easy in one sense because she surrendered because she wasn't a person who could ad lib. She wasn't an improv person at all, and she was really fearful of it, Like she would be so terrified that she might have to create an ad lib or do any of that stuff. So in order to make her feel more comfortable, I would just do every single thing that I wanted her to do, literally, like I would just sing it down the way.

Literally that I wanted her to do it. I'm talking about every single thing. Listen, I'm saying to you at the end, even down to the even that I sang that like every single run, every single thing. So really what you're hearing when you hear those records is just me doing it first and then she does it. And it was so it worked so well.

It's like it was magic how it worked, Like it was like I was I was able to have a female voice be my voice.

Does she feel like she was being inauthentic if she just followed you verbatim?

No, Because she was so young, that wasn't didn't cross her mind. Now I'm sure now here's what I feel like happened. Later, Cocho, you tell me if I'm wrong, because if I know you're gonna see this. She probably got really sick of people that are like musicians and singers asking her questions about shit, about how we did shit and whether and how they do this and how we do that, And it was really just she just copied the demo.

It was not a big a big answer, right.

But the whole thing was it was always back to me. So I think as a person young person is trying to develop and be who they are, it would be a no.

I could get that. I see that.

It could be annoying to constantly be reminded that somebody else gave you all your licks or somebody else.

When you go into a studio with another producer and they expecting you to do what they've.

Heard it before, exactly you can't. You can't replicate that shit.

And then but she learned, and that's why I think her learning process started right there. And she'll tell you that to shout out to Coco.

She'll tell you those hard sessions taught her how to do all that stuff that that eventually came to her naturally.

Can I just ask a question.

Real quick because I noticed that, I just I'm sorry, just because I noticed that you keep saying Coco and for s WV fan like, we all know that Coco's voice is like, of course she is the but how did the work low work in the dynamic work with the group, because at the same time, as an s WV fan, you still was like, I want to hear Taj.

I want to hear Li, Like like how did that?

You know what?

On my records and everyone their place or every listen.

I made sure that they were on every one of my joints, all my hits. But this is we just having a discussion about this recently. Kenny Ortiz would always try to get me to re record Coco doing the girl's parts as just as a safety just in case, and I didn't believe in that because what I like, I loved their blend, the true authentic blend from Coco, Taj and Lelee is you can't replace, just like you can't replace Queen. That sound of those guys's voices together

So how long were they together before they got to you.

I think a couple of years, and that's why their blend was so smooth and so perfect. What I would always do.

Was record them individually so I could have control of each note and I would make sure they would blended into the record properly.

So if you listen to every one of my joints, they're always there. They're on my joints.

But can you commonize it, but never like as solo like.

You oh leaves well no, no, that came later because remember most of my joints were on the first album where we just trying to find our feeling right because clearly sounds amazing on that faith Avage joints and she did or you kid me on.

The second album and they all can sing this is sis exactly. That's exactly. It's truly systems with voices.

But at the same time, the placement of what they do on the hit records is as important to me as.

The lead because everybody loves those backgrounds. You kidding me so firm?

So or if it's a everyone sings, come on bro, everything they do, I'll tell a legally this who's who felt underappreciated and under it's not real.

I'm like, no, you can't sing none of those songs without those.

Background without them, yeah, man, you having them singing unison like because I love how there the way that you stack their background vocals, it starts off unison and then it blossoms into harmony.

Is that the Clark sisters influence.

Absolutely, absolutely all day. Thank you, Twinkie elber Neva Clark. Yes, ma'am, sir, exactly.

Give me example on the s w B record of when you do that, because just for the layman is listening.

Okay, uh so and then saying you you harmony, your harmony yes, and then back you don't know what, and then you don't go harming against confuse. Yeah, maybe that's what you give him something to look forward to and back and forth with it.

That's commission, commission to commission. That's that's that's a style man.

Yeahah. George Clinton.

Would often say if you you look at Funkadelic records, like look at Flash Flashlight, they would always sing in unison because he had a theory that he once gave a theory about like how you know, when you're in an Irish pub or whatever and people sing the song, they get drunk, like they all sing together what he calls.

A Greek chorus.

Greek chorus, right, it's more down to earth and it's it's more inviting to make you want to remember the song if everyone sings in unison, like in the same voice as opposed to like yes he wasn't to take six you just want to watch him like Wow, they're amazing, but you feel like.

Never need them now.

But yeah, that's the things where they had just enough unison to make people feel like, oh, I can sing this too, and then you had a little.

Spice in there to let them know with me and Rain.

Same thing.

I have another I have another question production wise, and I always wanted to know this. What makes It's about time somewhat?

Uh uh?

I guess revolutionary is also in the production because you could easily.

Succumb to what was happening in the and that time with with New Jack Swing.

You know, I'm certain that like Guys the Future, uh TLC's first record, like everybody was using you know, James Brown's think about It loop and all that stuff like or that post Dallas Austin, like basically the boomerangsund track like that sort of right exact.

Post Public getting Me one hundred Noise. Yeah.

Yeah, but I for this album to come out in nineteen ninety two. It is very unnew jack swinging.

Like it's right right, and it was a bridge to.

Yeah.

I was going to say, like, can Henot feel like, wait a minute, this doesn't sound like in Vogue or TLC or whatever was you know, the time you're competing with Dallas Austin and Teddy Riley and what if I'm going to be made you purposely go the opposite direction with the production.

As we when we started, I'm so in to you didn't exist, so remember that, right, So when we started recording, we started from week and then went into the only the first up tempo we did was right here, So technically I'm still slightly new Jackie on right here, my original right here if you listen to it.

But I was trying to do it in a breakbeat kind of way, right So, but Pete, but I knew.

I knew from coming New York and coming being in New York and being in the energy. I was around Fanta, I was in the heads sessions, I was in Eric sermon sessions. I was in sessions that didn't have anything to do with R and B. So my my instinct was, I gotta go harder. I can't just do New jack swinging that's the pop sound and radio fuck that. I don't want to do something that's different because the reason why guy was so hard was because they did their

So I'm like, no, this is me right.

So by the time as we recorded, and listen to the record, because I'm gonna keep it really one hundred, there's two new Jack swingy things on there.

You gonna like it. Bro come all right, but that's.

The remnants of what had been. You can hear. I think you're gonna like it almost. Yeah, I like that song.

I mean, I definitely see the news. But that was not a bad song at all. But I appreciate it.

But I'm saying that happened when I first met them, and then my whole once he got quest asked about the comfortable comfortability factor by the time as far as getting to know them and who they were. By the time we did, I'm swim to you. I had recorded them many many times. So now they trust me and they trust what I'm going to tell them to do, and then we had that level. So when we get to I'm swim to you, I knew that this was going to be the ones for me, even if it

It was actually not trying to say sixteen on the high end. I was like, yeah, I was like, uh, is there some controversial about that right here?

Story? Oh god, the remix? Oh yes, God, I just wanted to know about right here. Oh okay, no, no, no, I don't know.

Everybody has a story about it. But here's my thing. All Star, the one that that did the vocal the work on the record is my man. Now, I didn't know that Teddy did anything on it at all until I became aware of it through Kenny Ortiz and Teddy and them saying exactly what he did.

But we're talking about right here, human nature rem.

So just to be clear, everybody had a hand in it.

But the truth of the matter is the whole beat itself was done by All Star, then touched up by Teddy and others with certain things. Teddy recorded her vocal, Coco's vocal on their some other Teddy's.

Right, and Teddy did.

I guess there's some other guys that work with Teddy in the studio as well.

They got at me on Instagram. Those are all great guys and everybody's cool people.

I'm just saying the German nation of that song and that production and that beat was done by All Star.

The person who grabbed also.

Did anything remix killed it?

Right?

Wait, even.

Teddy even the drums, because I could have sworn the drums were Teddy.

No, Teddy's drums are on. I'm swinging to you his remix on that. Have you heard that?

It's so rough?

So yeah, he.

Played that, telling me that that that swing.

Know that that is All Star. And then they told me what sample he used. And I'm just gonna say this.

I'm just gonna say this, this is how I got because I mean, I'm just like y'all, I wasn't sure who did what at this point. When I hear something, you know Teddy, they say one thing Teddy's people and his and his guys that did it with him.

No, we was there.

We did this this is and I can't argue because I wasn't there. But here's what I told all Star, who had told me that he did the basic beat. I said, all Star, tell me this then, because I'm like you quest I'm like, let's get down to the germination of this whole what you just did, Like, okay, where's that beat from bro? And he broke it down and told me the samples, and I went and checked it against what he told me, and that is it.

Just tell me? And then it's like remember that showman.

And I was like, important, more importantly, what were the comments like when he rocked it on versus?

Well, that's how all this man, that's how this all happened. Because when that when.

I'm madly yeah night that night, I didn't see that part.

Of then when he opened his whole thing with that joint.

Oh so he had a story for it and everything and.

People ready with the receipts. No, he just opened it as if it was his. Yeah, that's what he did. And so and I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa you know that one? Hold on?

And then I called All Star because I wanted clarity. I was like, bro, before I say anything on this internet about anything, tell me once again, who did what on this joint?

For real?

He lose at his ship when he was.

All Star was laughing. He's like, these people are hilarious.

He's like, bro, okay, So you know it's obviously that Dinah Ross presents the Jackson five story, you know.

Right exactly right, right right value.

I felt with Hooklon singing, I'm like, yeah, well, Teddy's work of Michael Jackson. He got this sample clear, Okay, yeah, I get it.

And that's not why the sample, Claire, trust me.

The girls had been just number one with week a million selling single, number one, and this is at the time that Michael had just done his OPRAH interview, so the publicity wasn't the greatest, and then being associated with something really really black, like a number one pop girl group that has a song called week Out. And that's why the follow up is right here human Nature with number two and Michael, those girls went crazy number two pop. It would have went number one if it wasn't for

Mariah called me out.

To myself son, Hey, Brian, what did you say when you heard Joe Joe's version a week.

And then she kind of knocked me out. Well, I did it. I produced it.

So oh fuckaby, It's the only reason I love her so hard still.

To this day.

So thank you. You're welcome.

Vincent Herbert called me on that one said, listen to this. I put the phone in my ear. I just heard a kid singing.

She said. She said she's thirteen. I said what anyway? And she's white.

I said what, And it's right, yeah, Tamar.

For people who are on the light in the music exactly, so Vincent yoga yo and the mirror.

They fled me down, fluted me down to l A and I cut that on Jojo.

How long did that take?

But she like it just seemed like she just had it.

Oh man, that was nothing. That was like, oh my god, Yeah she did that. She did and she's been.

Singing it every since. Sorry to talk on Susan that my boy killed it.

He saw it on Instagram a year ago she was doing it.

I was like, happy at my.

Boy Steve Mackie's house. Hell yeah, shout out Steve mackeiy j Loo's vocal coach.

Hello, okay man.

She still maintained that the original version of Anything is better than the remix.

That was Thank you so much, bro, dude.

I mean, I love the remix.

But man, I first when I when I heard when you just hear you talk about that album the uh you know that's off your record? And how I can hear now as you talk about it, now you know the thing, you're gonna like it? That was kind of new Jack screen but Anything. When I heard that, I was just like, Nah, this ain't on some other ship.

Yeah, man, let me tell you how I wanted to. I really approach that one. Coco at that time. I was impressed with She was her own, she was solent in her diva is very very early, right, and I'm just wanting with Mark the watch I'm on the hills of Martha watch an actual diva, right. But I was like, Coco is a little young diva in training for real, for real, I.

Said to myself when I thought about how that album.

When that album starts, broke you got it, man, I was like, I need a joint that not only sets up the whole mood, but it's got to be a joint that sets Coco's voice.

Out there like that.

And I was thinking about Diana Ross's how there's the slow intros on uh ain't a mountain high enough? You feel me where it's just the slow building it builds up to the ben boom boom bam, right. But I wondered it when it came on to be so sexy, I was like, what can I do atmospherically quest to set up a sexy thing?

So I sampled.

I turned on my water foster in my apartment and I sampled, uh, the water dripping. Then I sampled me dropping a fifty piece into a glass, and so I got that PLoP that I wanted.

And I was like all these and then I breathed into the mic. I was just going so all those sounds.

I said to myself, you didn't use the library records, that the studios, right, you just.

Know I was in my apartment, bro I was like, nobody's joint is going to sound like this because it's so just me literally making up sounds.

And so by the time I put those keys to.

All those weird and all those snaps and all that breathing and stuff, it created a mood. And it's the perfect mood for Coco's voice to come in and do what it does. And look how good the background sound on that. There they are again laying taj killing it.

Yeah.

Nah, And the unison and harmony thing theory is still an effect on that.

Come on.

So what I want to know is that once this album really hits pay dirt and becomes your your lottery ticket, well one, how does your life change? But can you talk about the phone calls that come in after, like the artist that you had to turn down and whatnot?

What is that? What is that?

Downpouring of water feels like like, how does your life change?

Again?

I was being that kid from Kansas who always lived in those credits like we do. When I tell you, when Charlie called me and said I want to come by, just come by the house, you know, I'm in tears.

Damn.

They're like, oh my god, my hero's coming. And then we sit down and jam and get on the drums and the keys and back and trade back and forth. He on keys, I'm on drums, he's on drums, I'm on keys. Recording it, videotaping it. I got all that footage. It was amazing.

But when Stevie called and said, what are you doing with that girl's voice? How are you doing it? Can you come down and hang out? What? And I was like, And I said to him, do you remember me? I said, I said background, so we can work that.

He did not remember that, Okay, But the point was, now he's calling me, and I'm and I'm and I'm there.

Man, I'm like, this is crazy. Who another one that called, Oh, Ray Parker Jr.

One of my heroes came up and flew up in his plane and came out to hang out with me and Sacramento.

Just stupid stuff.

Man, All the heroes you can think of that you want to call that you love? They called, and and and Mariah called, and I went to meet Tommy Mottola and her.

That's how I got dream Lover. Clyde Davis called.

And signed a girl group that I had at the time, and he wanted me to do my production deal with them.

It was amazing.

What was that? What was the name of the girl the Groogle.

They never came out, but they were called Oliver Twists.

All of her spell it no, no, no, no, how they spell it, just like, oh my god, oh wow, we have some joints.

We had some joints on it.

Wow. I want a collection of all the groups that didn't make it with these with the.

Hilarious right.

So man, so on the second record, Man, before we go, I just got to nerve and give you your props.

There's a baseline, a base you play on anything.

It's yes, sir, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.

You feel me because you know why that you know where that came from, always hanging out with with his fretless Yeah. So I did that as a nod to Waymen Tisdell, Like, yo, bro, I'm thinking about you right here.

That's you. I just wanted to play with my hands on the keyboard, like let me play this thing like a fretless dude would do. Thank you, Thank you for noticing that.

Man.

That's no, that's that's like my favorite part of song.

By the way, women tis deal is on that first album. He did that's what I need, That's what I need. That's right. Yeah, shout out to and Danielle Tillsdale.

So, man, what happened on the second record the and when they did because you did the single the well no no, before you.

Get ahead of myself, Layla love you.

Yeah I heard that.

I was like, Yo, this doing this ship?

Look what went down with with with the second album and the girls?

My six six degrees in Separation's crazy quest check this out.

Do you guys know who Jeff Foreman is?

Yes? He was Layla's may he and yeah we had her on the show.

When I got that Warner Brother still way back in eighty nine and I was thinking I'm about to come out on Wonder.

I met Jeff and through a friend here in La. He just was a friend. But what I what I learned was that Jeff Foreman's brother is James and two May.

What damn right right?

He's just so yeah yeah, so James and Too May's kid brother is my buddy, my best friend. Jeff Foreman. Shout out to Jeff Foreman.

Also shout out to DJ Khalil, who Jeff Foreman meant and gave his first gig. Jeff Foreman introduced me to Layla right when he signed her to Virgin Records in nineteen ninety. So that's why I already had a relationship with Laila four years before let Me Love You.

Ah got that crazy, And so by the time when that came out, were you and the girls with y'all beefing, like what was your relationship?

Like, no, let me no, no, let Me Love You came out in between the second album. I didn't know that that was right.

That was ninety four, yeah, and then the beginning was ninety five, right.

So I spent I did let Me six, right, but I did.

Camember when ladelp Half Life came out, I remember exactly. Yeah, he came out in ninety six.

I did Let Me Love You in ninety four and Usher Crazy in ninety four, and they both came to Sacramento and recorded up there.

That was Usher's first album, that Diddy A and R and the whole thing.

But Pete after that, Layla first of all, came to Sacramento and murdered that that's a that's one take that lead vocal and let Me Love You.

Is one take.

Really.

She was smirking cigarette playing my Gallaga machine. When I walked up on her, I said, you ready to do this vocal? She said yeah, let's knock it out, put a cigarette out, got on that mic, sung that entire.

Vocal from top to bottom. Really killed it. Yes, so let me let me love you a special to me. I really really love love her on that.

I totally forgot you did crazy on the USh album. I forgot about that record.

Yeah, I don't like I don't like talking about that when I said that was my first Diddy experience.

And it wasn't great.

Really, let's talk about it exactly.

Well, I mean, in a nutshell, as much as I tried to not swing on my debut with I'm Swinging to You and all that. Of course, it was a big east well east coast, west coast thing going on at that time. And and did he just had been just put in charge of that kid Ussher and and I was like, yo, this is how I hear this tune. And I did it really straight.

Well, he didn't like it and wiped it and had Chucky Chucky Thompson was one of.

My good friends redo the whole really, so that's it. So I never could listen to it because that's what happened to that. However, us should call me recently after we had saw each other that book toward LA's book thing.

Yeah, He's like, Yo, do you still have a copy of.

That old way we did it? I was like, hell yeah, that's just like, let me get a copy of that. We want to do that in my live show. Wow wow yeah yeah yeah so that that that made me feel better. And Babyface liked my version better, by the way too. At the time when it happened, I gotta check that.

You gotta see me that.

Oh yeah, it's crazy.

Yeah.

I loved that first US album. I mean, he was it's totally not age appropriate. He shouldn't have been seeing.

That shit at twelve, I hold, he was, Yeah, yeah, I do like that.

Man.

So so when they do New Beginning, what's your status with the with the group at that time, I come.

Out just like we did on the first album. I come out to New York. I'm hanging out, I'm working. We had, you know, in all the spots, hitting all the studios.

Quad. We recorded half of it at Quad, you know where Tupac was. It was. It was very energetic and good. I thought I was going good.

I knew something was gonna be weird when their management kept saying, hey, they got to write they have to write on this song.

They have to write.

Here we go.

So I was like, okay, you know, if they can contribute, I'm not mad at it.

Of course you can write, write right, Well, nothing really ever materialized from the writing, and so I didn't think nothing else about it. Well, the record gets done and then all of a sudden, none of my joints are singles, and I'm like, oh, this has been a concentrated effort to sideline me, really because they just probably didn't.

They were like, yo, he made all the money because he wrote and produced.

Yeah, so they was like they just tried to side but they knew they couldn't take me off the record because they needed my sound.

But at the same time, they didn't release anything that I did as a single.

Did they write on any of those other songs that you didn't do?

I don't think so, especially certainly not the ones that hit like You're the One. Maybe they did they write on that. I don't know, but I know all Star was responsible for killing it. And but see all Star was a part of the original success via the remixes, So to me that made sense. That was a continuation, you know what I mean. But at the end, of the day, same subject things. You're the one, it's the same thing.

It's the subject of I'm gonna it's the same subject again.

You feel so even this time around with the proven history, like, there's not a more of a bonding between you guys. It's just strictly business and that's that's such a great Okay, let's not ruin a good formula, because there's nothing harder than doing your second album and having to prove that.

You know, no, it went the exact other way.

Unbeknownst to me, I had no idea that it was so hostile towards me until it happened.

And when you call the album new beginning, you're trying to tell me something. Damn.

So how long did that circle back take? Because y'all are you know, y'all are back to good.

Beautiful she's been good for a while. Yeah, But I mean, but then but they left that particular manager was the day. Was was the reason for all the drama sounds like between me, between them, between the.

Messenger, it was bad. Yeah.

So I was so happy to see y'all get back together for rain Man, Like when y'all when they did.

The yeah, the release, Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

I was so house, like, yes, if he's back with Bron, you know it wasn't.

Because I chose to really that moment little backstory quest. Yes, yeah, all right, peep this.

So I was so hurt by the whole not releasing songs like Fine Time that people consider should have been a single the ballot or what's it gonna be?

That's what I'm here for. I got five solid joints on.

That album that I thought at least one or two of them could have been singles and sold most of the fans.

So I was like, in my mind, I was like, Okay, I'm done with them. I'm moving on. Uh so Brandy.

I was focusing on Brandy because Sylvia Ron reached out and gave her and.

Maryland Bob I know, you guys remember that name, Marlin Bob.

They reached out and gave me a production deal a song deal rather, and they're like, Yo, we're gonna do like a five song deal with you.

Can you give us some joints? I'm like hell, oh yeah.

And I was like, but I want to work on Brandy though, and she's not really you know, she was on Atlantic, she wasn't on East West Atlantic. So she said, well, that's in our family word. So I wrote three joints. One is called Don't Change, one is called Rain, and the other one was a third one that I have. I never titled it. It was just a third joint. So look, so I let them hear them. They're like, Yo, that's crazy. You need to get in with Brandy right away.

He's like, YO, check this out me, Please don't cut that on Brandy.

Wow.

And I was like, what it's like, yo, man, that's a s w V. Join. So it has circulated in the in the in the you know, somehow circulated.

You the most circulating talked about producer man of social industry, right, so p.

So then the net it's crazy, right, But when Rodney.

Listen, when Rodney Jerkins took over the Janet, I mean the Brandy record, he and this is the Boy's Mind album. So I think, and Rodney will tell you this, he loves Rain as well, but somebody I don't know who got it.

Who's here, But it ended up being we're not going to cut this on Brandy?

Yeah, So then which is Angel in disguise? Okay?

So you see so look at so I'm cool because Sylvia and them already broke me off for these songs. So I'm like, oh, that was just a demo that I just got paid a couple hundred thousand word awesome. And so then I said to Anthony Morgan the next day, you know what, Okay, I'm here, we can cut it on.

We can cut it on this WV. And that's how that got on that Wow.

So during the so during that session where y'all, what was it like with you and Co. Yeah we all still cool or how was it?

Now? I understand this.

By this time, a whole new paradigm shift had happened. Missy and Timberland are part of the equation now.

Because they come out with That's right.

So absolutely, and so Missy called me to be to hang out on the set of the Rain video, which, ironic, both these songs I'm doing have to do with water and Rain. I went hung out, and because because she had cameos at the end of that video. Remember seven o two was in there, and yes he's not in there, Coco. Miss Missy and Coco were beefing at the time over

So I went and hung out.

We recorded the vocals to the backgrounds to reign On Taj and Leelee at Electric Lady Land.

Hello, very did, and then we did. I did Coco's lead vocal at right track. Remember right track?

Yeah, yep.

So so those those are my two days of recording in New York. And in between that's me that's me from the demo let you just follow me. That's me. That's me of course right, and it's.

Also you singing uh, because I never thought.

Yeah, yeah, we can't forget.

I always on my mind tribute to my hero Charli Wilson and the gay band earning all day.

And I did it unabashedly, very clearly.

And by the way, just while we're in this moment quest I made sure after I saw you know, your Charlie thing on on the on the on the other show, I was like, yo, I feel like he lightweight kind of came after me on week somebody I made a lot of money a week and it was basically he thought it was another record.

Truth of the matter.

I never thought about that record. I was only thinking about Wednesday Lover, the one me and font are talking about and and so. But but he but it got back to him that I said that, and he called me any any thanked me. He's like, yo, bro, no, he said this, you are a gap band by your damn self. Praise its huge, right, And so I was like, man, I love you so and I got this joint for him called better man right now.

But if he does it, who it's crazy quest, wait too, Quest, we got to start sharing. Okay.

Yeah, So once Rain came out and uh and Missing Him came out, now we're in a new whole paradigm shift.

Thank god. I got to play Rain for Timblin right in the studio as he was mixing down.

Are you that somebody show? So in the studio I walked in. I kept hearing don't, don't, don't.

I don't want to.

Play in this black ass ballad shit. Okay, And you know who brought me there to that session with Static Major?

Rest in Peace?

Yes, rest in peace?

Everybody else from Player, all my homies form Player too, man, that funky, smokey everybody bro.

It was crazy black man.

And so again, that was a moment in time I will never forget. And I played it for Tim though, and you know what he said, because his ears are incredible. He went, I played him my demo version versus the album version, and he's like, your demo version sounds better, bro, And I said, I know right, he said a fatter.

He just got it right away. And guess who else was sitting there, Jimmy Douglas.

I was like, I know, God, Jimmy Douglas. You feel me so, I mean, yo, man, he's the greatest dude ever ever. Jimmy Man me too, man, god Man crazy. But that's you know, that's how rain happened. Look how the ripple effect of.

Rain has been so crazy? I can't even tell you like.

Pulling me back?

Yeah, come on, bro, favorite change jam, call away?

I did like one call right now.

I don't even know that one called away. It was with I like that exactly.

It was with with who was on the hook on that?

I think we.

Weave on the hook nice. Nice. That's the two chingy jams.

And that's what you know.

It's out right now on Rick Ross Summer rain yesh ship.

I got it?

Now you're gonna make me listen to That's.

What can I ask uh? From the pastorious point of view, How easy was.

It to to clear that? Yes, very very easy because at the time in ninety seven.

Wasn't a whole lot of people sampling Jocko or doing anything having to do with Joco at all, So it was very easy.

It's just weird because like I almost like you know, there's some samples out there that are so quasi obscure that you might be tempted to be like I can get away with this.

You know it's crazy. I didn't. I didn't let me say this. I did not sample it. Let's get played it.

I know that I know you inmp it.

That's the thing like when you when you when you're creating something like you know all the time. I'll put it this way, I'll say that eighty I do.

Well.

Yeah, but just like eighty percent of the outperield I do usually starts with a sample.

I'm not I'll tell you after we stop recording, but.

I want to know that. That's one of my favorite What I'm saying.

Is it'll start with this sample, and then I'll make the decision on whether or not I'm gonna ride with it all the way out, or if I'm gonna freak it so that.

No one knows what it is or whatever, you know, and then I.

Dress it up and then I take the sample away and then blame it's a it's a song on its own, but Portrait of Tracy could be one of them things where it's like, yo, this is man familiar. I mean, yes, you definitely stuck with the melody or whatnot. But in the beginning, did you definitely say like I'm gonna make a joint to Portrait of Tracy.

No, let me tell you this. I'm gonna do this story right here. Is really quick. It's very quick.

The only reason I even know about Jocko at all is because of Layla Hathaway. And so when I was doing let Me Love You like You described with Janet and Jimmy and Terry, I went to her apartment. We hung out, trying to get a vibe, just to get between us right energy. She pulled out all this vinyl.

One of the vinyls was the Jocko debut, the black and white joint with tra Just on the cover. I was intrigued with the cover.

So when I pulled out and I saw that Herbie Hancock did the notes, I was like, oh my god. So when I started listening listen that, when Portrait of Tracy came on, It's my whole soul and spirit was just snatched and transformed.

Right. So I was like, oh my god.

So when I went back to Sacramento, before I even did Let Me Love You, I did my homework.

I went and bought that CD. So I just lived with it.

Now when I heard it again I listened to it, I was like, oh, that's crazy. When if I ever used that, it's gonna be dope, and then forgot all about it.

Four years later, ninety seven, ninety six, whatever.

But three years later, I'm in the shower a hook comes to me and it's full entirety never happened before in my life. A whole hook with the words and everything came to me as I was showering. Water is always involved in my shit.

So I fucking the whole rain down on me like love this all Like man, it just came to me, and I said, hold on, man, hold on, hold on, hold on. In my mind I heard it clearstay. I said, if that jacko thing works with what this hook is, it's gonna go together. Well. So I ran to my studio with a.

Towel on, put the Jocko joint, put the Jocko joint on, and I took it as divine intervention.

When it was in the same key, I heard the damn.

And when I went I said it. I sung it out loud on my voy ain't not me, And I put the record and went.

And my hands went up.

I turned on that NPC. I did that beat right, then and there too. Yeah, absolutely wow. In a towel, I said, no, nah, I'm doing this joint right now. I didn't want to lose the feeling.

Of what I felt. And I'm gonna tell you something.

My sample that I never told nobody and Rain, this is a beat they ain't got nothing doing with no melody nothing.

There's a beat on Michael Jackson's solo.

Album where he redoes Bill Withers use me. So you gotta check this out.

It starts with a beat or ain't no sunshine?

I mean, ain't no sunshine. It ain't no sunshine. Drums, ain't no sunshine at the beginning. I'm sorry, you know what I'm talking about.

So when.

Boom, right, So if you listen to Rain, there's a little tiny thing.

I didn't want my beat to feel so stiff on the NPC, right, So my beat.

Is bum bum bum bum. That little is the dreams.

I love it.

I love it, and that gives you that that real human feel in there. So when people try to.

Recreate it on whatever devices that they have, they forget that human element, like James Gad saying or somedamn body. But it's like, you know what I mean, and I did that, and then I just played the keys, and then when I wanted to sample Jocko, but something told me no because I didn't want to stretch it and have it sound all weird. So I called one of my favorite uh bass and guitar players over to my house of Sacramento, and he just replayed what I wanted him to play.

And I didn't want all the notes.

I just said, dude, yeah, I was going to say, every bass player worth a green of salt, like that's their entry into the world of jazz. You gotta know Team Town by Jacko well Weather Report, and you gotta know Portrait of Tracy Damn right like modern jazz.

Like that's just without.

Saying, but you know what the first person, as sambled it was master.

P Nigga, what's doing?

It's called you just don't Know? It was the only only like nine months later and it's called you just don't know? What you did to me?

I missed that one.

Missed that one though, that him doing that without getting permission paid off my publishing debt to Universal at the time way back and by two thousand that record because he sold four million albums that was on his album called The Last Dawn.

It was on the last song because that was the double CD. It was right, Damn, I forgot about that record.

And yes, four million albums so way before CHINGI master P did it within a year of me putting it out right.

Paid off my All of a sudden.

I knew what I had gotten from him as an advance like in ninety eight, and then in two thousand it was already paid off.

I was like, wow, yeah, and it was because of that. Okay, So one big.

Is it ever as you look back over your career, is it ever a part I guess where you're at now where you still have the yearning like to be an artist that'd be all the just the great things you've done as a producer. Is it still a part of you that yearns to just like put out your own music and still sing because you still got it.

I mean, you still got the chops and you could still do it.

So not only that I am doing it, and I finally got myself into a position financially where I can do it and do it and do it right. So that's exactly what I'm doing right now, like putting something together for you guys and the fans that love all the stuff that we talked about, plus stuff I'll be slipping out to certain people.

I'm totally doing that and with artists I find that's.

What I just gave a quest, that was those exclusives that he can play if he wants to, because it's a couple of new artists on there or and then some old me and Coco's on one, and then this new girl, Nephutitiavanni is on another. She's a badass writer and a dope ass singer. Check that out joint called do It Again. I think you guys are gonna appreciate what we got going. And I'm about to put out a lot of stuff that I wanted to do on other people that I never did do, Like those other

And I call it BAM's rare, remixed and unreleased. I love it. You're gonna put that, I'm gonna put No, I'm gonna put the new crazy with this new dude that's a crazy singer, all right.

That makes it's cheaper.

Yes, it's a whole nother joint. Hey, hey, it's trapped out. It's dope, it's dope.

Can you talk about well, I know that there's not even I won't say resurgence, but you worked on with Drake. What was that situation? How did that situation come to be?

Came to be? Wow?

You know what's crazy I learned about Toronto is that they're Detroit adjacent. And let me tell you something. The Toronto fans of as far as sw vegos are voracious. They know their ship.

Like I was shocked to know that Noah like forty yea.

Champion.

Them dudes know their ship. So when they reached out. I have been working with DJ Khalil, who was one of my best friends here in l A. Thank thank god. Man. Yeah, man, I love him to death.

And he's the guy that said, man just moved to La stopped playing, just moved to La because I was just kind of like not wanting to live in La ever.

And but why is that? Because wouldn't it be easier for you to go to where the water well is?

You know, it's funny, that would be true usually, but since I had made such of my own little lake in Sacramento.

It was easier to just stay in it, you know what I mean. I was a small in my own little I created my own thing there, and I was doing my dance stuff. I was just doing my thing.

But it's it's when Chris Brown redid she Ain't You? In twenty eleven to right here and it did so well, and then pulling me back in eight It was just all these little things kept telling me, man, maybe I do need to step my toe back into it, just because I had I had.

This is what happened.

I was over the fact that we couldn't seem to get any traction with black artists, and that it seemed like that all the black stuff was getting done in white face.

It and and that, and that was frustrating and I was just over it. So I started doing one that done in white face. It was being called pop and it wasn't mean called R and B exactly right.

And then you all of a sudden relegated our chart. All of a sudden it looked like the gospel chart used to look what is wrong with you? Are y'all kidding me right now?

And that was did somebody said white face I'm right here.

I love it. Question hear me?

Know?

So like I dipped out?

I mean you know why because my mailbox money was so crazy I could afford to didn't.

I wasn't really tripping on.

What was that money?

That's the dream right there? That phrase is amazing. My mailbox money. Listen. Let me tell you something. Pulling Me Back was a big pop record. Let me tell you Jermaine Deprie.

Shout out to Jermaine dupri and a big not to Jermain Depres for real because a lot of producers don't want use some other producers stuff. That was huge that he did that, and I want to thank him publicly right now. Thank you your main love you. And then again with Chris Brown with she Ain't You?

And that did well.

So that was the year that I decided I'm gonna move to LA. That was twenty eleven. I actually did it in twenty twelve. And DJ Khalil is the person who received me with open arms. And as you know, because he told a story about It's About Time album

He said, by the time he got that through playing at this about time, that changed his life.

So that and then the fact that Jeff Foreman is the one who mentored him and gave him his first gig in television doing music for what's that show?

It's an entertainment Tonight show called the Other One the Troll with.

Yeah, that's how Khalil became. I got back in his life because Jeff Foreman was working with him, you know what I mean. So if I don't know if you guys believe in divine stuff like that, but to me.

Absolutely that right there was.

It's a lot, so long story short, thank god I got in it. Khalil had already worked with Drake, so he knew what that camp was like. And I was like, man, I want to get down. I think forty found me from somebody. I don't know how he found me, but he found me and he asked me if I had anything original.

And I did.

And that's how the song nine got done is because I already had it and I sent it to them and him and Boy wondered to touch it up. And that's how that got on there turn of six two or nine now, And that's how I ended up on views. And as a result, I think the producer nineteen eighty five, who's amazing himself, we started working and that's how I ended.

Up on the Khalead on the Way record.

And on that could.

If y'all listen, I'm just I'm just doing my best Jimmy Jam invitation on the keys, all of that, all of that keys, baby, you know the nice Roads chords. You feel me everything I miss at home, warmth and all that. Yes, I'm trying to give it.

All this stuff come back around, man, and I'm hopefully bringing it.

I'm trying to you feel me like quest, what do you think about the on the Way record? Are you familiar? Oh?

The colliding No?

It?

Yes? Absolutely?

Word? Okay good, I'm sure if you look okay good. So that's that's how that happened.

That Nigga. I ain't feeling that ship.

Hey, I'm hoping you is dope.

Khalid is dope, bro. That record he got the talk record, he got with disclosure.

Crazy shit hardest, yeah crazy. He don't do no whack ship. Everything he does is cool. And you know what I'm saying, shout out to.

Oh yeah yeah, shout yeah, that's the homie over it and keep cool, Tungey and Josh.

Absolutely and and thank you for making sure that that all went down with with with Khalid, I mean.

Out here where you are right now, and you know, I guess as evidenced by especially with where we are in twenty twenty and as we witnessed, especially watching the Monica and Brandy sort of resurgence, it's I almost feel like there is finally there's a respect with a K put on the name of really good R and B,

I think Bruno has has brought it a long way with records like lucky for me. That's what I like where you I mean them kind of joints. Uh my people out here, my guy Mars Uh yeah, man, shout out to all of the guys at fifteen hundred other James Boloyd, everybody like that.

To me understand where it comes from.

And so.

From Sacramento, absolutely, yeah, absolutely, so they get it. They totally get it. And so I think they're.

Bringing it back around. And I'm just happen to be here, still here doing it and I'm just happy to be doing it. So now to me, it's more exciting than ever to be doing it with the authenticity that I have, you know what I mean, And I still have the understanding of today's stuff and what it is.

You know, I'm not one of them old heads that don't get it, you know what I mean.

No, man, you know when we when we hung out, man, that was the thing I was just so surprised by because you were, you know, a producer that like I grew up listened to, but yet we still listen to.

The same things.

Absolutely you had you know, you had like donuts and I was like, like, like you was you know.

So I think that was something that just the lesson I took from you from that from that meeting was just how important it is too.

And I tell you know, artists at this all the time. You don't have to like new music, but you do.

I think it's important to understand it, understand why it works, and understand why people gravitate to it. And that was something I always admired about you, Like you just worked. I mean you was up on everything, like you knew all the ship I was listening, was like, yeah, I got that list.

You was right up on it. Man.

Absolutely, I'm a DJ, and that makes it. You have to know.

I mean, how could you not know you're trying to spend I mean I play dance, I play hip hop, I.

Play house, Like you gotta know what's what? You ain't seen none of my.

Dude, I've seen your set.

I'll be fucking around.

Man.

I can never do what you do, but you know I love it.

Man, It's it's you being creative.

That's everybody that you see DJing right now in the in the age of quarantining, is.

Trying to get the creative, creative juices working.

I love it.

I love watching DJ sets online you know, and see what people are because.

You guys are so damn intimidating. I'm like, oh, fuck it, they don't done. Seven hours before I even get the funk up, I was like, I ain't.

Seen you pop up on them alive? Man, what's going on?

You know what's crazy? After so much I started doing this album trying to get it ready for you guys.

I need wah.

But I'm so happy just to even be in the conversation about stuff that we love like this, bro, Like it's still here doing it.

You feel me. That's my most important thing. I'm like, man, thank god, I'm still here actually doing it.

You know, we thank you, We appreciate it, We thank you for coming on the show with us.

Man, this is thank you. Guys.

We've been trying to make this happen a long time.

Yeah, I told you I was gonna get you.

So I ain't heard no call.

From Like, yeah, I'm like, bro, I'm looking on it.

I love it.

I love it.

For you.

You know what day because we made it happen. I love you, guys man. Thank you so much back there.

We appreciate it.

This is a jump off of a whole lot of stuff to come.

Once again, Brian Alexander Morgan the Great on Quest up Supreme when we have a lot of sugar.

Steve take alot, paid Bill somewhere else there in the world. Thank you very much for listening. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Much.

Of Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.