Questlove Supreme: Ne-Yo

Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.

Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Quest Love Supreme. I'm your host Quest Love. Yo, it's a hot summer. It's hot, man, that's talking.

Take I know that. Fonte and why are not in New York City right now?

Yo?

It's hot everywhere, y'all. I just love DC. It's hot. I'm in LA. It's hot.

It's just it's just wet, hot, hot hot.

See.

I'm on hiatus right now, so you know, if I'm at work, then it's always sixty seven degrees, so I always have a sweater on. But you know, this is one of the rare times in which I'm not under freezing conditions.

Sugar Seed? Are you? Are you an uber driver right now? Sugar Steve, what are you doing?

I'm in a limousine heading to power lunch.

Uh time?

Sure?

And I was telling Neo and about this earlier before the interview started.

I can't dispose.

It's a very big thing, very big thing happening.

And so you're basically going to see Elvis scot Stella right, oh, ship, it's bigger than that.

Whenever he gets a secret of it, it's always Elvis Scots Stella, I met I met one of your comrades on the play this morning.

He kept waking me up out of my sleep. Who was that?

Jeffrey Miller is a great, great trombone player.

So he's on one of our records on JMI Recordings dot Com check it out.

Yeah.

He he woke me up twice, once to tell me that he records to you.

Uh. The second time he woke me up out of my sleep to share a.

Joke with me about carrying his uh, his plunger, his toileble plungers that he uses for his sex for his uh trom boones. Well, you know you could have You could have bumped into worse friends of mine.

Anyway, y'all we're here today.

I will say that our guests probably doesn't need I won't say I will say that he doesn't need an introduction.

But he's one of my favorite bridge writers. Bridges, Yo, you're now rare bridges and undefeated.

Our guest is indeed, he's a three time Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter, producer, actor, collaborated with the best of them, from Jiga to Beyonce, to Pitbull, to Rihanna and to Kanye the Fabulous.

I mean, the list goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on.

Uh. He's released seventh albums and his eighth, which is entitled Self Explanatory, will be out by this recording in July.

I believe the platforms Yes July fifteenth eight track as well.

Here three platinum albums. Prolific songwriter and producer and entertainer. Yo, ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for the one and only, the one, Neil, the one.

What's loves to pree? What's up? Brother? How you doing?

That was a hell of an introduction. I needed done like that from now on.

Hey man, every every hero needs is its theme music and his own fanfare.

I love it. I love it.

Greeting brother.

So for our listeners who can't see you right now, Yes, you're in a house that looks like it's nothing but art deco lights.

Like, yeah, I'm at home currently. This This is my recording studio that I'm currently And I tell people all the time that they be like, so what do you do with your spare time? What do you do when you're not doing music? I'm like music, That's that's that's pretty much. I do this because I love it, man. And with that being said, I couldn't have a house without a studio and it had to happen, so I built my own.

I love it same as I'm in my mind.

That's dope, man.

Yeah, I was about to say, fante you you got your your blue light on as well.

I feel like I had to keep the vibe going.

Got to.

Where where are you from? Where were you born?

Was born in Camden, Arkansas? Yes, deep deep deep South. Don't feel bad if you don't know where Camden is. No one knows where Camden people people from Arkansas don't know where camp I.

Always thought it was vague, the Nevada, That's what I was confused.

Why did the majority of my growing up in Vegas?

Like I went to high school in Vegas, whole nine, Like all of that happened in Vegas. My dad was a truck drive.

Oh that's a cool that's a cool job.

You rode in the back of the camp He had one of those cats with the beds in the back and everything like.

With the reason he wasn't ever because he was driving trucks and doing other stuff.

Yeah, yeah, do.

You have any siblings. Your parents are they musically inclined?

Uh?

My, everybody in my family does something in regard to you music. Did playing an instrument or singing or rapping.

Or with whatever what happened?

Everybody does something like my mom used to sing, my dad plays bas he sings, My sister sings ridiculously. She's she's a she's an alien.

Well I have I have two two sisters and a brother.

One one sister sister and one one half sister and half brother. You know, Papa was a bit of a rolling stone.

We passed no judgments. It is what it is.

But but yeah, yeah, closest closest to my my main I don't know if I call it my main sister. How does that work? The sister that I share a mother and father with that that system where the where the we're the closest. You know.

No, I have that situation too, So.

You know, I go no disrespect to my to my other sister and my other brother. You know, they just they they moved around and did their own thing, and it is what it is. But but yeah, I grew up in Las Vegas under a very very musically inclined mother. She did everything the music, every sing the thing you can think of being cleaning up the house to watching TV with the stereo playing type type situation.

So yeah, it was just always there, right, just all there.

What was your first musical memory.

First musical memory sitting in this sitting in the living room in front of the stereo, crying and not understanding why as I was listening to Billy Ocean's sudden.

Steve that is.

An eighties baby. That is an eighties baby.

Right though.

I know I know, Steve, he is hitting your he's sitting your groove right now.

Has no meaning to me.

Suddenly, No life has new meaning.

Mean, that's what I meant. That's what I said.

He wasn't suicidal, His life has new meaning.

You know I always fuck it up a mirror. You're right, I fed it up.

Wow, I'm good.

No, No, that's actually dope to hear it, because oftentimes I think people were rather shame that. I think that's the purpose of music is to either document a time period, like music to me is always like a musical polar y because it helps me remember what year it was, or what time it was, or what happened at a party, like oh yeah, like whenever I hear, you know, ironic by Lance Marsette, I'm forever gonna remember, like, oh, my first car accident. You know, I'm just giving an example,

You know what?

To be completely honest with your man, I might have been maybe maybe five or six or something somewhere in there when this happened, but even now as a forty two year old man, it's something about some of the melodies that just gets you.

Bro.

It's just I think it was just I think that was the first time I realized the power of melody. You know what I'm saying that hitting a certain chord on a guitar or a certain note on a piano could like I put goosebumps on your arm type thing, you know what I mean. Like I didn't in mind at the time, I didn't know that's what it was.

Again, And I have to ask in light of what what I what I lovingly d up as the versus Comedy Hour.

Hey, bruh, you going there?

I didn't know. I'm not.

I'm not.

I'm not.

I'm not about gotcha journalism, not about putting the next man down?

But are you rather perplexed? And the thing is, I don't believe that music is dead.

I just believe that the particular music I like, I have to search, like very very far and wide for it, like I have to search for it. But for you, are you kind of perplexed at what what passes for music now?

The fact that.

That type of melody might not necessarily be exposed to a mainstream audience as.

It once was. Mm hmm uh.

That that's a beautiful question.

And I have to say I definitely share in and where you are with that?

You know what I mean?

Now? Mind you, I've I've put myself in a place where if I'm going to be a part of this industry, I have to find a way to.

Like a little bit of everything, you know, maybe not love it.

I probably I wouldn't turn around in my car, But if it's on, I'm not gonna sit here and bad mouth it or sit here and not have a good time, because then not playing a kind of music that I want to hear quote unquote.

Do you still listen to the radio?

Not as often as I once did. Uh nah, not really. Normally I'll go on you know, one of the streaming streaming joints or whatever and pull up what it is I'm looking for it. That's that's that's easier for me than then sitting and trying to tolerate some of the things that because I mean, I'm I'm I'm from that place too, I'm from the place where you know it was. It was the intricacy of that that three part harmony, like that place and and and that's just you said it.

Like which like what are we all rushing towards?

Songs are like a minute long? Now, Like where are y'all going so fast?

No?

I mean they fast?

Yeah.

My son, my son, he has a I don't know if you're up on her. He has an artist. He listens to is his girl, Pink Pantherist. I don't know if you're up on her. She put out an album I think it was last year, ten songs, eighteen minutes.

That's like fantastic Volume one.

And this is the whole album.

Yeah up, but he this my sixteen year my youngest son.

But yeah, that's that's kind of where the young is.

That's what it is.

I'm really I'm really curious as to why that is, Like, like because even even when I was even when I was sixteen, like it was about it was about.

The story of it, you know what I mean, Like like I don't know, maybe maybe I was.

A different little sixteen year old, but like, uh, what's what's the joint? What's the joint?

The song is ten minutes long Luther Vandrus.

Okay long ago as Superstar.

Yeah, that's a ten minute song, and it feels like two minutes because you just enjoy that shit so much that it passes quickly. But that song is ten minutes long and you wuldn't even you didn't even know it.

But it's about.

The beginning, middle, and end of a story. I used to listen to music for that. Yeah, and I think you get that no more?

Yeah, now, bro, I think we got like it's the tail wagging the dog like in that. You know, people are making music specifically for streaming services, and so they know a one minute or one and a half minute song will naturally be streamed more in five minutes than a five minute song would be once you know what I mean.

You know, from a business and commerce standpoint, that's that's that's smart at hell. Music art is not supposed to be inspired by commerce, at least not in my personal opinion. That's just supposed to come from the heart somewhere. And if it's coming from the heart, it might take a little longer than a minute to give my point across, But that means that my song is played on the radio. Now damn all right, Well here we are, ladies and gentlemen.

I learned that lesson with I think really with the Old Town Road. I spun it at a party once and thought, you know, okay, I'll put it on.

Like back when it was red hot, I would that would be my first record, my stalling record until I find out what I really want to play.

And I looked at the thing and.

It was like two minutes and twenty seven seconds, and I really whoa like I had to play it twice. I meant the Billy Ray Cyrus thing stretches it a.

Little bit to like, yeah, a.

Seventeen seconds, but yeah, man, it's it's also maybe that this generation doesn't need a lot of time to express itself.

I won't say that doesn't much to say.

They do have the language. They have the words.

It's like mean culture, yeah, statement, next statement.

But they also have new words that we didn't have before.

Where we used to be taken forever to say a gas like trigger, you used to have to think, come on, that shit didn't exist. You a whole sentence about what that ship really was, like like.

Trump, the lingo is gonna change with the times, as you know, as long as it's young people, it's alway gonna.

Be do lingo.

I ain't mad at that part. Yes, I just wish that I wish that everybody would just slow the hell down. I feel like, you know what I felt why music is suffering is because nobody's taking the time to keep it good. No more like everybody is, as you said, everybody trying to get their streaming numbers up. And it's like listen. We'll worry about quality later. Right now, it's just let's just get it out there. We can get these numbers up. That sucks. I just I just hate that we in this place now.

Man, I really, it's not all young people.

That's not that's not everybody understand because there is a section of young people that are appreciating the nineties right now that are we discovering neo soul and all of that and making it new against I mean, you know, let's just get a baby some love.

There's always exceptions, you know.

The mass is the mass situation right now is you know, a song need to be a minute long because I got something to do?

What do you have to do? You ain't got trying to listen to some good music.

I don't get it.

I don't get I used to tell people on the radio, listen, if you want to find good music, it's not going to be the ship that easily comes to you.

You're gonna have to go find it.

And I'm on the radio telling you that the good ship is not what you're easy on the radio. Okay, we had we we we repeating some things, but I'm sorry, go back there.

I feel like I feel like this shows now turning into the corner of do the right thing.

There's there's one other element of this that I feel like might play a very very strong factor. Okay, now, I am not anywhere near good enough to say that I am a piano player or a guitar player or a drum player.

I'm good enough to tap around and find what I need.

Right, But I recall a time where music was kind of like a really really exclusive club. You had to know what you were doing, you had to be good at you had to be good at what you was doing.

Like now, anybody can do it.

Anybody can do it. It's it's the door, it's the y m c A. Come on in, y'all's that's where. That's where we're at now. So of course, if you got just anybody doing whatever, of course things are going to suffer.

That the quality is gonna suffer.

There was a point in time where the quality was up because the cats that was doing it was quality. Taking nothing from anybody today, I'm not saying the names. I'm not doing that for my bashing. I'm just saying that now I mean to take something to take something like DJ. You remember when you had to like learn timing and like like figure out how to mix records and now.

You push your button and you got and you're done. You're done. You push your button.

Yeah, yeah, I think those tools are just gonna have to push people to like be creative in a different way, because I mean even though, like even with DJing, it's like, if you have the records, you can give me a mirror's hard drive right now, and I wouldn't know what to do with it, you know what I'm saying, Like you still have to know how.

To play the records. You know, there's just still skills, a skill set that's evolved.

But with now, with technology, in many ways good and bad, it's leveled the plan field so that the barrier of entry is pretty much non existent.

Well. No, it's the same thing with with like bro with with with auto tune for example, Yeah, you got to know what you're doing with auto tune to make it do what it do, right, you're gonna be auto you go and and and so it's the same thing with DJ.

I understand it.

There's a technique to it, but you can't deny that back day, before the buttons came, you had to be a little bit better at what you was doing.

You know what I'm saying. You had to be good.

You had to be that dude a little bit like and the same thing came to playing instruments, the same thing came with singing.

You know what I'm saying.

That's that's why we're kind of seeing what we're seeing right now, is it's not the craft itself. I don't feel like it's as respected as it once was. Like nobody's blood sweating heres to get good at this no more?

You know that means the bottom is going to fall out, right, y'all know that, right?

The bottom fell out, or God willing, somebody comes along and saves us.

Do you remember the first album that you purchased with your own money?

The first album I purchased with my own money, surprisingly was not an R and B album. It was The Far Sides Wild Was it the Wild Ride? It was all right?

Yes, the first one? Yeah, huge, huge far side fan Yeah.

Yeah, see you're thirteen, okay.

Easily something like that.

Wow, you know what's where? Uh?

That album was a hard sell for me in the very big I didn't like Your Mama.

It was cool, But.

Was it the remix that turned you around? Or was it just no?

When I heard for Better for Worse?

Ah yeah, oh damn y'all, alright, all right, when I heard your Mama, I just started corny and I ignored them.

And well, you know, like when Richard Nichols and AJ Shine were producers. AJ Shine was like Philadelphia's stretching Barbido, and he had a copy of the album and I looked at the album cover and it was just the craziest thing I ever seen, which is really weird because when he put for Better for Worse one, I feel like the album cover, that's the that's the soundtrack to the album cover Worse. But when I heard those Fender roads, like that just totally I don't know, it's just it

Yeah, shout out to my man, Cam. No, that was me.

Yes, I was absolutely there for that.

Ah.

Man, Yo, man, I've known Cam like I've known Cam since I k known Scott since they were like yay Hi, I thought Cam wrote those lyrics.

Yo.

I was like no, no, no, no, We definitely we definitely went back and forth on that. That was.

That was my first time ever.

Working with Cam and it was I just remember it because I remember it being such an easy situation because I worked with other writers since then, and it's egos getting away and you know, well I will I'll route this much, you know, and all of that stuff gets in a way that was not the case when this song came to be. I feel like that might be why the song this so well, because it was just such a uh it was it was like it was

Can you talk about the process of you discovering your voice?

So, yeah, my sister was born with with just she she came out to womb High Sea like just in there easy. It takes her, takes nothing. I'd work for my a little bit. You know, I knew I could, I could hold the note. I wasn't tone death, but I wasn't.

I wasn't.

I wasn't my sister, you know what I mean. And and in our house, you know, the standard became my sister. So and so you know, I felt a few not just below that. So it took a little minute for me to just really really get comfortable with my voice. A lot of Michael Jackson, a lot of Stevie Wonder, you know what I'm saying. Moms actually put me on to both of these gentlemen, uh, and it helped me get more more comfortable with just how my voice sounded.

I used to really not like the sound of my voice.

Because from what I couldn't do what my sister could do technically she had the ad libs.

And all of that stuff right.

And then my mom was like my hero, and she used to listen to a lot of like, you know, husky voiced singers, the Ojys and your Teddy P's and you take them all that, and I didn't have that, you know what I mean. So I didn't like I didn't really like singing at first. And then she introduced me to uh, to Michael Jackson's Off the Wall, not thriller, Off the Wall.

Uh.

She introduced me to songs in the kid life.

She introduced me to to what they just how they were doing, what they were doing with their voices, and they helped me become more comfortable with my own because there was a similar tambre there, kind of that nasally high thing, you know what I mean, And it just helped me get more comfortable with it, but not comfortable enough to sing for people. It was at the height

I pull that joint out I'll write a quick.

Song, sing it to myself, throw a note up back under the bed, and gone by my business. Like my friends didn't know for a long long time. I didn't because it wasn't for them, it was it was for me. It was therapy for me, you know what I mean. So I went to a performing arts high school for visual designers, a drawing paint and whatnot. And every year this high school, Las Vegas Academy for Theater, Performing and Visual Arts, every year they would do something called pop Concert.

Techie guys that do the lights and all of that.

It was like a like a like a super glorified talent show. Think you know they got smoke machines and the biggest thing going on it.

Yeah.

Yeah, So of course this is a major deal to the whole school. Everybody except the art majors. We were kind of left out of that.

They ain't really there weren't really nothing for us to do.

You make your back drop now we find we got lights the right couls. So we were kind of like the grassy old kids, like they wasn't wasn't nobody studding us because the whole the rest of the school is.

On pop concert pop, console, popcorns.

These kids crying in the cafeteria over choreography, you this fucking six.

Like so it sounds like someone I know.

So this particularly year, me and me and the grassy old kids, we decided, you know what, we're gonna do something to just to just kind of take the piss out this whole situation, right, so.

We pulled straws. Of course, I pulled the short straw.

The plan was to somehow get into the talent show, because you had audition to get into the talent show. So that was the hard part, get into the talent show. And then once you got on stage, turn around moon the crowd run off like that was that was what we were gonna do. That was our plan.

I pulled the.

Short This is a plan. It was. It was kind of like just a big fuck you to everything that y'all making such a big dollar. No one's getting signed from this, this this this talent show.

Guys, calm down, And that was always saying that to everybody.

Okay, so how you gonna get on stage?

You aren't majors were always assholes.

Man, I'm sorry, completely on purpose.

We thrived on being an asshole. We did it on purpose. But okay. So so I go to the choir the choir room to audition. I sang boysmen, end of the row. Uh. The choir major instantly asked me, why are you not in my class? Because I'm not a singer. He was like, yes you are whatever, Yeah, you in?

All right?

Cool? Bye, gone, all right, I got in. How'd you get in? Don't worry about I got in? All right, cool, get there. It's the day of everybody's excited. All my own boys are sitting in the front. I don't know how the hell they manage that, because it was just something that you had to get tickets to. But we found our way in, damn it. We always the grassy old kids always find a way. Anyways, it's my turn to go up. They introduced me, show your love for

All of a sudden, it was like a I can't it.

Was slow clap to us, to the roar.

Because it was it was it was like, where the hell did this come again?

They were shock the nigga with the braves.

That'll draw you a picture for ten dollars. This is who I was all of a sudden, you know what I'm saying. So so that at that moment, suddenly, you know, the following days it's girls saying hi in the hall and ship that that. I knew all of that. You know, A buddy of mine, hey, me and some friends, we had a singing group going up. You want to join the group. Uh yeah, sure, all right. And then once I got into the group and met you know, some like minded gentlemen that wanted to do the same thing.

So you just left the grass, you old people like you just rode out on him like.

Friends and friends.

And we was always at but you know, it's it's at the same time I'm in the I'm spending a little bit more time in the choir room and.

The little bits ask this question, your class.

Of ninety eight, nineteen ninety eight.

So that said, did you go back to your twenty three reunion in twenty eighteen?

Say yes, I did? I did.

Did you stunt on them?

I don't. I'm not. I'm not a stunter. If that my flex is real light. It's like, you know what I'm saying, I'm gonna put this ship on, but not say I put this shit on. I'm gonna just wait for you to notice that I got that ship on, like you know, that's me. That's me, you know, I'm not gonna draw attention to the diamonds, but should you see them?

Goddamn you know what?

That's me right imply everlyam So you know I went and mind you the most famous people that was myself. Apparently the drummer from the group The Killers went to the same high school as me. Yeah, Vega and.

Seven o two, right and seven o two.

Seven o two seven oh two on their way out as I was on my way here.

Okay, I just knew, y'all.

Okay, I just knew.

Yeah, but uh, she's an actress, beautiful chocolate actress. She was on the True Blood show Routina. Yes, we went to we went to school together. Yeah, man, yes, old, I mean routine.

You're not old. But you know what I'm saying, Queen Sugar.

Wow, man, listen, nowadays it is a blessing to ghettols. I ain't even trip hell yeah you So.

The thing is you're saying that your gift of journaling or writing poetry was sort of your your stress reliever. You're that you let off steam. Did anyone ever hire your services as like, uh, you know, quasi here no divergiac as right, write.

Me something all the time, Yes, all the time. Yeah, I used to do a lot of that for football players. That's the football player at our school, because there was no football at our school, but Rancho was down the street. And yeah, I know a lot of them guys. Yeah, I'll write write poems. Then they getting their girlfriends or yeah, listen, but.

Okay, ten dollars and dollars dollar got you, I'll let you say, you go for it, ten bucks.

I'll never went hungry.

I would like to know what your process was then as opposed to now, as far as.

Writing with the song.

Are you a person that can get an idea of just words without melody or knowing what type of song it is, or you know, do you have to sit and listen to the song or how different is your songwriting process high school, post high school versus what you do for a living now.

I can honestly say that when it was, you know, back in high school, before before the stakes got high, you know, so to speak, there was a there was a freedom to my writing that that dwindled over time, you know, as as I got into that place where it's like, all right, you've had success, now you got to do it again. And so now you're overthinking every fucking thing you do because it's like, oh, isn't as

But if you want to call it that, I would just go.

Somewhere and look around the room, find a word, a phrase, a picture of something, create a story around it, and then write a song based on that story, just to just to sharpen, you know, just to sharpen the tube. So it could be it could be a word, It could be you know, somebody sitting with guitar and we sit and create melodies that way, and the words over the melodies.

I want to thank you for validating me.

Oh yeah, thank you for.

Validating me right now. No, because you know.

I wrote a book on creativity and I was trying to give various exercises. Well, the first thing I told people is that they have to embrace boredom more because when you're silent, when you're bored, when you're still, that's when the ideas come to you. And you know, I was just suggesting games that you could do, like brand exercises, where you know, I think Carly Simon used to randomly open a National geographic page and look at one sentence

Oh yeah, yeah. I mean it's because if you don't, your songs tend to become stagnant, you know what I mean, Like there's there's the okay, there's let's write about love, Let's write about sex, Let's write about money, let's write about girls. These four things are always gonna, you know, flow to the top for the for the younger generation, that's just kind of is what it is to be young.

I get it.

But if you just focus on those four things, then all of a sudden, your songs kind of start sounding alike. It's like, all right, well, well you need you need new ways to say the same ship, if that makes any sense. And the only way to do that is to step outside your comfort zone to find a word that it's actually difficult write a song about graphight what but how?

Hold on?

How? What? What?

How do you sing?

Yeah?

Because because you can rap, but singing something.

Step away from from I love you, so never let me go, you know what I mean?

Like, step away from that and figure out another way to say to to get that same that same point across, but with different words and different phrases and different melodies like I used to I still do.

I can't lock into one.

Specific genre of music because you know, if it's if it's hip hop, is these these three melodies that every hip hop artist is using, right, So that's a very small bowl. If it's R and B, you know, it's these chords, it's the church chords. It's that type of vibe.

Okay, that's cool.

Step outside of that.

Listen to some country music, listen to them melodies over there, step outside. I listened to some some some Hindi music or whatever, just melodies that you wouldn't typically go to too, and it helps just expand your your your library of sound.

You know what I'm saying.

When you sit down and do it, you got more ship to play with as opposed to I love you so never let me go. And you know the latest church song made over with R and B lyrics on it.

Yeah, I want to ask, what are your tabooed no no in songwriting?

Like, okay, I hate your on my mind all the time. Maybe you on my mind. I think about you all the time, right.

Yeah, those those hurt those hurts song.

It's just so come on, man, like you ain't even tried you you phoned you phoned it in the death like that's yeah, I hate that. I hate the phone in lyric, not nothing mind you, the phone in lyric, not the simple lyric, because you can say it simply and it's still be clever, it's still have have you know, a little kick to it.

Smokey Robinson's the king of.

That, the king of I'm gonna just say it, but I'm the.

King of simplicity.

Yeah, but it's but but still but still fly, oh like simple but fly, not just simple for the sake of simple. Like I used to have an issue with the whole concept of repeating one word over and over and over and over and over and over and over. It used to it used to bug me, cause it's like, why there's so many words. There's so many words?

You mean rhyming, rhyming words with words, or you mean like my my my, my, my my mom, like just saying one word baby.

This is why. That is why I have the utmost respect for the Dream, because the Dream found a way to do that ship and it don't bug you. I don't know how, but it don't. But hey, you know what I'm saying. It works for him. Shout out to the Dream. How the hell you do that, bro, because I'll be trying that. It's like, nah, it's crumble, No, this ain't.

It, This is not it.

Of your contemporaries, who are the you know, the people that you respect the most, and who are your I guess you could say you're I'm about to say Mount Saint Helen's uh before president?

Yeah? Who?

Who?

Who's the Mount Rushmore of of songwriters? For you?

Of songwriters? See, that's that's that's an interesting question. I've actually never been asked that question before. It's always who's just your mount rushmore like a favor like so, so if for that question, the question you didn't answer, you didn't ask, well.

Okay, let me let me reask instead of who do you respect now? Who writes a song today that you're like, Damn, I wish I wrote that?

Like?

Is there a song that's like man, I wish I had a crack at that?

Like Damn, I've I've I've heard one or two Drake records where the lyric was clever enough to where I'm like, oh, I did not think of that. That was that was good? That was good? Yeah, that hurt I've heard.

I've heard one of two records from him. Uh in that space.

I don't know.

I'm gonna be real honest with you. I don't know a lot of the newer newer generation and I don't know their names. You know. No no disrespect or anything like that, but it's just I have to be I have to be enthralled in the record today and take it upon myself to go back and be look be look at who wrote it, who produced it. And if I don't, if I don't feel like that, then I'm not I'm not gonna waste the time.

I'll let it be what it is and keep it moving.

Are you up up?

Victoria Money, she's a writer. I really like her.

Victoria Money, I consider an artist. But yeah, she's a she's a.

Oh she's Arianna she but she's an artist, like you know, like he said.

But yeah, I love her music.

Yeah, her music is yeah.

Yeah, shout out to Victoria Money, shout out to shout out to the girl her.

Who's your Mount Rushmore before you as in, that's the level of the pending game that I would like.

My Mount Rushmore, ultimate Mount Rushmore, be an artist writer. Hold on because all of these guys kind of embody all of that five gentlemen Michael Jackson, Prince Samit Davis Junior, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.

Said that list like five. Yes, that's a nice.

Group in Vegas. A group in Vegas. There is the rat Pack. I was I. I fell in love with the rat Pack. My mom brought it home and of course I gravitated. It's the same because he was the one that looked like me. So yeah, man, that's what it was.

If you're in a run, what's the process of you dealing with it? Do you have other hobbies or other other things that you get into. Like sometimes if I I'm a great example is whatever the movie or I write a book, or I do something else creative, and that'll make me miss music. So do you have like another pivot that you go to if you're ever in a trap of not being able to finish the song?

I think I think the key word is pivot because you kind of have to pivot because if you don't, you sit there and force it until paralysis. Yeah, exactly that. So, so the thing for me has always been a step away from it, you know, as hard as that may be sometimes because you know that that whole defeated thing starts setting in. It's like damn, I let the song beat me. No, you're not defeated. It's not done. Relax, you can come back. I'll step away and not normally

That's all I really need.

And that's and that normally helps. That normally helps.

See, that's that's how I play word.

So I guess I should sort of channel on to actually writing lyrics because I actually I treat my word o game like I'm writing a song. I should have been writing songs by this point.

Tell not as hard as people make it.

What's the average time that you'll spend writing the song?

Like?

How fast does it come to you?

I like that?

So what song? To get the longest the right? Yeah, to get the longest the right.

So when I first started getting attention, so to speak, I used to prove myself on how fast I could write a song. That's kind of where my name. That's kind of where the name Neo came from. Dion Evans, the Evans main Recipees. He gave me the name because he like, we'll talk, give me an hour. I could

I just need to get it out of here and into the world.

And somehow through that process of that transition from my mind to the world, shit changes and things happen, and all of a sudden, it don't.

Sound like it sounded in my head no more.

And now it's like, ah, shit, I felt right, step away, be somebody on the street fighter, Ah, come back, fix the problem.

That sound like fine?

Tap process now yeah, now you have to walk over.

That's not straight up for real.

I want to ask you man specifically about your work with Stargate because I have like really great chemistry together. And I remember we've met on a few occasions, but I remember this was probably like god, this is like oh seven oh six, but your first album in my own words, had just dropped and we was in Atlanta and it was a drama.

Drama was having a party if I feel like it was.

It was drama.

But anyway, some part in Atlanta and I saw you.

I was like, oh man, it's Neo and you were like in there. I was surprised that you even there, you like had to had all you like super chill. I was like, oh wow, like you were like super quiet enough, and I just walked Abu. I was like, yo, man, Sexy loves the join.

Off new record, And he was like, Yo, appreciate it.

You know what I mean, but but I love that song man, and you and Stargate like y'all have chemistry, man, Like talk about that process of working with them, what it's like.

Well, firstly, I was I was so chill that night because I was I was shipping on myself in my soul inside because I'm like, oh my god, it's this it's.

People in here.

I know that person.

I know that person too.

I just calm down, relax, three two four. In my mind, this is what happened in my mind. Outside it's like, yeah, I've been there, Oh no I was, I was, I was losing it. But Stargate, the beauty of Stargate is how genuinely humble and just kind of I hate to use the term regular because it's there's nothing regular about their level of talent. But they're just ordinary people. Like you'll never see these cats with the big dumb jewelry. You'll never hear yeah Stargate at the top of the joint.

And that's what they do to the point where you know, they'll give me like so sick.

For example, was that that harp and a drum and that was it and that's what I wrote to And then later on they went back and put the chords and like filded up. You know what I'm saying, sexy love, same way, doom doom, doom, doom doom that and uh, that's it. Wrote the song. They go in later and put into the bells and whistles later on because it could to make to make the track meld to the song, you know what I mean. No, it's like it's like cat's what Cat's ain't doing that. It's like, no, I

They're sweedish if.

There from Norway brothers from Rueigian Mothers.

Yes, which kind of again speaks to your point quest.

It's it's different over there because there's a there's a different level of respect for the craft over there. Like these cats that they will sit on that piano, they will get on that guitar, they will get on their drums, they playing everything, you know what I'm saying, and and it's it's it's fun for them. It's like the fringe benefit of it is that you make money, but that

I would like you to talk about, uh the Left Eye Show.

All the cuts. Yeah, so the cut that was that was me.

And remember the guys told you right after that that situation with the with the talent show that a friend of mine was like, hey, at the singing group. I won't know if you wanted to say that was the.

Group that was us.

Uh we caught ourselves envy.

Because we were from Nevada. Yeah, yeah, it was.

I went into it, but but not a lot.

Yeah. The cut was after Apollo. We did Apollo, Amateur Night, Apollow and things did not go to plan. I'll say that what you're saying, uh, well, I mean, well, I put it this way. Samman didn't come out Okay, he was double he was double dutchy in the corner though he was ready.

What did what did you sing? What did you say?

We sang? We sang Players in the Hood by Donelle Jones, And to this day, every time I see Donnelle Jones, I apologize to that man for murdering his song the way we did on that stage. It was it was Yeah, it was not good. It was not good. But we was young and we was cute and there was a lot of girls in the audience, so they kept us alive. But it had not been for that. He was he was in the corner like, am I going?

Am I going?

Man? It was bad?

It was bad.

So you after that.

Walk Wait, you gotta walk me through the process? What is it to do?

Like everything, even to the house band, like, what is the process when you do uh show time?

So so basically you you you send them at the.

Time, you send them, You send them a tape of what you do and they say, yeah, we'd love to have you. Uh come on down. Mind you. They don't pay for you to get there. They just if you can make it, come on follow. So you get down there. Now what's supposed to happen is you're supposed to come down a day early so that you can rehearse your song with rap You and the Cruise who it was at the time when we was a shout out to my man, rape you. I do not blame you, bro.

It was, Yeah, it was. It was completely messed up.

Oh many lessons learned, so many Lets you've chosen another song in hindsight, Oh no.

No, no, that that had to happen. That had to happen. It had to happen exactly the way it did. We needed to be knocked down a couple of pigs because we we had We had done all that could be done in Vegas. We did every talent show one you know what I'm saying. We did all that and we just we went in there like I should didn't think like we really literally walked into place needed that. Oh yeah, yeah, oh oh yeah yeah this Vegas.

Yeah we do that.

Yeah, No, when ill you after we got off that stage and got back to the back. We all ran in the bathroom and just stood around and staired at each other for like fifteen seconds and all bust out crying at the same time.

It was bad.

Yeah. So after the Apollo, we was like, man, we gotta redeem ourself. We got so you know, uh, shout out to my man Corey. Corey was like our manager. He was a part of the group, but he was the manager. He was the one that was you know, he was the one that wasn't afraid to talk to people. You know, we ran up on Diddy one time. Hey let us sing for you.

That's Corey.

But Corey was also the one that could never be on time for anything. He was like, hey, did he told us be there by eight twelve? Oo shower type situation?

Now?

Was that was Corey?

Where is.

I don't know where Corey is currently still probably shout that after my man Corey Clark, we got to the cut uh two days earl right, because he was like, is there a band we need to rehearse with it? After that, it was like no, no, no, no, no, no, y'all got y'all got tape of your music? Yeah, okay, cool? We can use to take? Why are we used to take? We went in with an original song that we were written called pillow Talk.

I think we did okay. It wasn't terrible.

It wasn't great by any means, but it wasn't terrible, and we wound up losing to a girl that got on stage and got.

Next to Neked and Icy gave her two more points than he gave us.

Yeah, wore to judges other cut. I couldn't remember it.

No, I think it was it was it was guest judges.

Everything different every every episode, so I think want to judgesus. He literally said it on the show. He was like, he was like, you know what, I wasn't really crazy about the song, but when she started stripping, I gave her a nod.

Damn, Like.

Damn, But everything happened for a reason.

Everything happens for a reason. That was one of the last shows that we did as a group before we finally decided you know what, let's just.

Do you remember performing with us out in Vegas.

When Jay brought me out?

Was that?

Yeah? All right?

So I literally okay, So you know, as president of def Jam, you know, by that point I felt comfortable enough with Jada, you.

Know, to.

Rib him or you know, joke with him, like you know, most people just treat him like the King, like the good version of Ed.

I mean, like they don't mix words or whatever.

But you know, I felt like a little comfortable where I just call him up randomly about something and I would say that you were one of the artists that

Oh you didn't know he had it like that talk.

And the first I wish there was a videotape because there's a thing, there's a thing with Jay where he turns around real slow like and I hate.

When that's Smuggie.

I told you so, look he'll give me.

He's like.

Yeah, because it's like the cherry on top. You're like, well wait a minute, now.

You was killing it.

I was like, oh my god, he's going for James Brown Tammy Show levels.

But I knew the importance of where I was at. I'm like, let me get this straight. The roots and jay Z and me, oh, show my ass.

All right, So you leave Envy and then what's the process of how do you get the attention of record labels?

So I left left Envy. But in the while we were in and me again shout out to my man Corey, you know, constantly moving around trying to trying to get things in pop for us. We met this cat who had a boy band signed to Hollywood Records, you know at the time that was a Disney's with me. Yeah, a group by a group called Youngstown. They were they were never got huge, huge hues, but they did well enough.

Gonna get it.

We're gonna get a deal. Yeah yeah, write a song.

Whatever. So after I broke up, after the group broke up, I basically started being managed by that guy is now his name, his names Dubbs. Everybody called him Dubbs, Dubbs Wilson, and he was the one that was kind of moving moving me around, you know, showing me the different people. I was living with. This cat by the name of Paul. Paul the producer. He did uh Teacher Moses' first album.

Oh yeah, yes.

Yeah, yeah, I actually met we actually met Teacher. I met Teacher through that whole situation. I vocal both vocal producing, and arranged that whole first album.

I didn't I didn't write.

I didn't know she wrote. She did all the writing herself.

I was, I was. I was infatuated with record himself.

I'll just come in and you know, through harmonies here and that type.

Okay, Still, that's dope, That's that's music history.

Like, what is your patient's level with vocal producing?

Because I hate it.

I don't do it anymore. I say that, you see, yeah, I'm not so, so shout out to my man's sauce U Curtis Wills, and make a sauce of Fumberly of the group. Something for the people, you remember, something for the people. All right?

Sauce is my vocal producer, ranger. You know what I'm saying.

And so if I wrote it, he's normally the one that's gonna take it with the artists and and and get it, get it recorded properly because he has the patience for that.

I do not see that's what you need, don't all right?

So can I say or I won't ask for specific specific names, but you know, because it's real, Like there's certain artists that I hate working with because you got a Jedi mind trick them.

You know, they don't want to do another take.

So are there artists that you've had that situation with where like they catch an attitude or don't want to do it the way that you.

Give you one more take? Yes, your silence is telling me everything I've been in.

So I've been in with people that that people that you know, I've been in with people and it's like it's either it's either that or they're so antal, like, yo, did you hear the breath from the beginning of that? Let me just get that breath one more time? No one, no one hears, no just the just the on the very on the very top. Let me get that. Let me get again one more time, No, one more time, one more time for the breath. I just gotta get the breath.

That sounds like Beyonce Rihanna Manress took an hour and thirty minutes for the breath.

It's not a word.

It's just a breath at the top of the word. Hour and thirty minutes.

Wait, I gotta be I gotta ask you. Was it Beyonce?

It was not?

Okay, it was not Wait.

Do you remember do you remember uh uh a bronx tail when they had that now you can't leave moment.

Yeah.

I had that with her once and never again.

Like it was about figuring out the ending of a song, and I was like, I said the wrong thing. I said, no, no, maybe it's too vance. It's cool, we could just do with the regular ending.

We're good challenges and be like.

And she's like, oh, we're gonna get this right and I said, well, it's lunch break now, so we can just come back into He says, no, we're gonna do it right now. I don't care if it takes three hours. Yeah, it was that now you can't leave moments.

So yeah, that's the that is, That is the Beyonce that I'm familiar. But it was but when I when I worked with her, I wasn't needed, like I wasn't there for a lot of it like she she had it. I didn't have to. That was that was one of the things that made me fall in love with her even more, like I didn't have to feed her no notes.

I here's the next note. I got it.

Okay, all right, She's like, I went and got coffee, I came back, the song was done. Okay, Well, well what y'all got doing today? What y'all doing?

Because I'm.

If that's the case, then what's your what's your favorite what's your favorite song of hers that you've done? That you you come back and heard her finished product and was like, oh ship.

Yeah, thinking one that I deal with her, that I didn't fare that way about everything you did because mind you so so at this point, at this point, I know a little bit about how to sell a record, right, I know that you can't sing the record ridiculously well because you mess around scared artist offs.

Right, you have to keep it.

Kind of middle of the road, just just good enough.

You know.

Oh you're talking about making the demo. You're talking about making the demo.

Yeah, okay, yeah, I did not know. Oh yeah no.

So anything that I did for anybody, I sing the demo and send it to them and they and they like it, dislike it, whatever it may be. So Beyonce, and you do it dry, you do it dry. One you know one takedown. I have melody. I have harmony ideas here and here and not in stone, but here would be a good place for a harmony. Here would be a good place. That's all that's always needed when I come back. And it's the irreplaceable that you we all know in love now, so irreplaceable flaws and all.

You know what.

I'm very I'm them on and I'm a bit yes, do do that dry? Every everything, all the all of that that's heard, that's all heard. I wrote if There's a Joint on that same album called if If You Let Him Take Me From You another where she just went Church on ship, like just yeah, I've never felt so useless in a session then a session with Beyonce, like I did not need to be there at all.

Is there a song of yours that vocally you wish he could have been there in the room for it, just because it wasn't the way that you envisioned it.

Yes, okay, yes, it just didn't do what it was supposed to do. So I love Luke James. Luke James is my guy. Luke James has one of the best voices that I've heard.

In a long he do.

I wrote a song for Luke James and what happened was the original the original kid of the song was way higher than he was than he sings in his regular voice, so they had to drop it down to where he sang. And if anybody knows anything about when you take a high key song and drop it down, it kind of takes a little energy and a little energy from the record. So when I heard it back, it was like, damn near three notes lower. Then I initially gave it to him, and I wasn't there when he cut it.

So I'm like, as.

Much as I love Luke, this is not no, this is not that's not what the song's supposed to be. But by that time it was too late. The song came out didn't really do anything.

We didn't.

I'm sorry.

I like the shine I did.

It didn't.

Yeah, it didn't. It didn't do much of anything but taking nothing from Luke again, an amazing singer, just amazing dude.

Period.

That was just that was just a moment in time where it's like, Ah, if I knew that they were gonna drop it down that many, that many keys, I would have I would have just been like, nah, do let's something else. Let me let me do something that makes more sense in the realm of where you like write.

Yeah, because it just it just took. It just took all the all the energy from the record.

Like, yeah, it happen.

Like when I first heard Champagne Life, man.

I was like, yo, dog, that's the one right there, This's.

Gonna be the one.

I just wish Champagne Life was You're magnum Opus. That is my all time favorite song of yours, And I wish that ship would have because I felt it was like an anthem there ever was a black Excellence anthem.

Yes, yes, I mean.

I've seen it and I wish that song was just like way way bigger. Are there songs of yours that are not your your, your out the gate hits that you you know, wish were bigger singles or that that jam worked.

I'm not a I'm not a dictator, meaning I'm not the dude going, you know what, the hell with your opinion?

Hell with your opinion? I like this song that's a single, Levan Long.

I'm not that dude. Right. There's a small group of people that we all get together and we pick what song is gonna make the album, what songs gonna be singles, you know what I'm saying, And everybody respects everybody's opinion. My managers Tango. This is one of the oddest creatures on the face of the planet because Tango don't even listen to music. Yet Tango can always one that's gonna go okay, whatever reason.

But that's always knows like no, no, no.

The whole room would be like, hey, he's like, nah, trust me be and damn it it to b B.

I'm telling you it's It's the most frustrating thing in the world.

But so him, just just a small group people that I do this with which means that there's been a multitude of times wherever songs that I wanted to be singles that didn't wind up singles. Mirror from the first.

Album I wanted to be a single.

I wanted that to be a single.

This was before depth Jen realized that I could be sexy.

They didn't view me as sexy, so it was like, hey, it's all good. And you know what, at the time, I was priding myself on not being that R and B dude, you know what I mean, Like, Okay, if I can step on stage you're in a three piece suit and get the same screens that.

You can with your chest out, who win it?

Yeah?

All right? Cool? Right?

So because of that, I guess they was like, you know, marror nah nah, when't work?

All right?

Cool U?

Champagne Life, that whole that whole album, the Libra Scale album was just man, it was just so many things that went wrong, so many things that went wrong. I take I take my I take responsibility for the things that went wrong. So the Libri Scale album, which is what Champagne Life was on, when we went to when I came back from doing the Red Tales movie, and

Yeah, I just it.

It didn't It just didn't go the way it was supposed to go.

Man, it just didn't go. Households go. We got three videos in de Jen said, we can't give you no more damn money. To hell with your to be continued, We're not doing it. Champan like was all supposed to be the first single, and then we come to Beautiful Monster. But then all of a sudden, in the ninth inning, everybody switches up and goes, well, no, we think beautiful Monster should go first. And I'm like no, because I know what beautiful Monster is. Beautiful monsters chasing closer. I

Let's let's you hear this record.

Let's go here. Nah nah nah you gotta you got an international fan base. Now you gotta feed your fan base?

Oh international?

Can I ask? Is this Jay Brown talking?

Is this La Reid? Like, who's the who's at the drive? Who's the will uh deliver?

All of them?

Is?

Yeah?

Everybody, everybody, everybody got the hand on the wheel, and this pushing him at this point, at this point, this is the fourth album, This is after you're the gentleman. So everybody's hands on at this point, right, so, right, and you're you're the gentleman there with so so now it's like all right, all right, he's proving. Let's you know, let's let's let's pay more attention than we ever had before. Almost to a fault because I did to go Beautiful

We want to drop another single?

Why let it know?

Let Why would you chop the legs off of this is going? You got a heat rock with this next one. Okay, if it's a heat rock, now it's gonna be a heat let it live. They don't want to let it live. Chop the legs off of Champagne Life with the next single, which did not do well either. Then we went we ended ended everything off with one of another, which which kind of you know, at the very least level of us out, you know, I wouldn't. I wasn't in the

Just so many things went wrong.

I'm like, there's no way that this is just bad of an idea for all of these things to be happening like this, and then I'll never forget that year I got invited to Princess Grammy party. I mean us always used part of his house, so so you know, that was silver lining in the dark clouds. So we went to the party. I remember we're in in the pool house and there's like a like a plexiglast thing over the pools, literally standing on the pool. I thought that was cool. So he's on the little stage with

Leber Scale was a good album and don't let anybody tell you different.

Wow, but Emir, this is But did you know what was with Neo? Did you know what he was whispering in everybody's ear? Sorry, this reminds me of all the stories that you told me that night.

That doesn't even do.

That's kind of what he does.

You know.

We had one other encounter where I was I was drinking Sivaka and he leaned over to me at the party and said, God's bad for you and the party that was That was the thing that he did.

Before we before you rap.

I just wanted to I always want to know, uh the song time look for Sherman Showcase.

About it.

Let's talk about it?

Yeah man, and that's me and my.

Credit the way, do you know?

Take no credit?

You know?

Yeah, we met.

We met on set. I think the day that you that y'all take. We met because I sang the demo on that and like right right now yeah that he was like, he was like, yeah, man, you saunded just like walk to the Scotty on the joint. But but yeah, they yeah, we did that man, And I was like, Yo, this is like crazy, how I don't know who the fuck they gonna get to sing it? And then I guess maybe like a month later, Diallo shout to Diallo. He came like, yeah, man, we got Neo to do it.

Like?

What was it like on your side?

Brouh.

Diallo reached out and sent me, told me about the show, the Sherman Showcase Show and asked me if I wanted to be a part of it. I'm like, yeah, man, I've always want to do funny stuff. I don't never get the funny roles. It just for whatever reason, I got something funny, all right, I thought I was. I guess I'm not anybody. You killed that shit man, Well, well.

Thank you tell some man the damn casting directors that I'm funny.

It's like, it's funny shit. I don't never get it.

I'm always always get the music rolls all right, you're a starving artist, and then me treating that's what That's what I get all the time. So he sent me the record. At first I asked, I was like, I need to write something. He was like, you can, but I have an idea, and then he sent it to him. I'm like, oh, I don't need to do none of this. That joint like it was a real song, like like that's they'll realized that. Like all of us words that watched the show. We was like all them songs.

We were like yo, yeah with an album word.

But now I'm down to do more now that I know you down to do more?

Wow?

Because yeah, now that I know that, oh yeah.

Can we get a Sherman show case to say what's taking on so long?

Yeah?

But the day that well, it's I mean, you know, like everything else COVID pushes back, but the new season I believe is coming in the fall. We did the music, with all the music and all that has been done, but you know, we got pushed back from COVID, but the new season is coming.

This fall though all led me I will happily revived the character.

Yes, okay, did that's what's up?

Can I ask about self explanatory real quick?

Yes, yes, yes, I just want to know because back to this conversation that we were having in the beginning of the show about music and whatnot, I'm curious to how you continue in the legacy on this album and while still keeping it fresh.

Okay, So so this album I started decidum in twenty eighteen, and then you know, of course COVID, pandemic, quarantine and all of that stuff hit and just threw a monkey rinch and everybody's situation that happens. So a good half of this album I had, I wound up having to kind of do over, you know, because it's like, are you work with a producer in twenty eighteen you do a song as all r Yeah, it's for the album.

What, oh, bro, so are you like that happens like that? So good? So so we had we had to reduce some stuff. But overall this album is it's definitely me as me. I mean I called itself explanatory because I feel like I've been here damn in twenty years. You really need an explanation to a Neil record at twin Not really, not.

Really, not really you understand what it is.

But on top of that, this is this is me acknowledging what's going on right now. I can never become it. I'm forty two, let alone. I can never become it. But I could acknowledge it, you know, I can acknowledge it. I can acknowledge the parts of it that I dig, you know, so so Uh there's one song in particular, so actually the first song on the on the album, uh Cat from the Newer Generation.

His name is a France If you ever heard the name before, look him up.

Yeah he got some. He got some to the point where I let him feature on the album. The name of the Join is landlowd is is quality the record, but it doesn't sound like typical Neo, it's more the song. The song leans a little bit more towards his generation, and I'm just kind of you know, uncle on the side of the thing. But I'm never I'm never the cat that's gonna jump on the record and not be me.

I can that that.

That could never.

I can't do that.

So even if it sounds a little more uh contemporary than than than normal, it's just me acknowledging the changes and the evolutions that have happened in R and B. Well, at the same time, I'm gonna still give my bridges. I'ma still give my three four five par harmonies where I I can get him in there. All of that is going to be on this album as well. It's it's just me celebrating the fact that I get to do music for a living smoke.

That's That's pretty much what this album is.

That's dope, man.

Oh and I be able to tell you too, man like good man, I love that. God, yeah, I thought that was so dope, Like y'all up, how does.

It feel like? That was? Yeah?

That was That was another one that I felt like should have got way more attention than it did. But you know, I can't. I can't tell people what to do.

And she's got her own, like you'd be creating anthems for the fellas and the ladies. It's kind of amazing and like progressive to think progressively in a way that's kind of dope.

It's misindependent. I know that. But I like to say she got her own.

Yeah.

Yeah, black people, I like we.

Say she got her own.

Oh, I want to see you. You're seeing working with her? We gotta yeah, I gotta her.

Yeah see it.

Man, she's like an amazing writer.

Love to talk about work with her.

Yeahn man. So so she wrote the hook to let Me Love You and I Love you you learn to Love Yourself. Funniest thing I was like, because I heard that lyric, I'm like, yo, where did you come up with that? And she said, oh my aa meeting, that's what they said, We're gonna love you to love yourself. I'm like, y'all for that time. The realest person alive

Bigger and people don't know, I can't go to Taco Bell.

I'm like that there's a lot of damn sense. So I guess we got to figure out a way for your music to get the recognition in love would you being able to still go to Taco Bell?

She's like.

Publishing, she said, I'm working on it, and the next thing, you know, he comes up with the video with little Maddie dancing, and and half the world don't know what's see it look like, yet the whole world loves of music. I'm like, she figured it out, and it's just victory. Stories like that just just make my heart smile, man, because because I just remember sitting there with her, like, how are we gonna get you the Taco Bell?

They need to hear this music, but we need we got to get you to Taco Bell.

How are we gonna do this?

She did it, she figured it out.

Now, Now I have one question, because I was one day old, I didn't realize that you wrote Mac Wilds's own it. Yeah, man, I still spend that to this day.

Songs that you wish you would have kept for yourself, not.

When they do well.

You know what I'm saying.

I look at it like if it came out and it was a hit on it came out clearly that's where it was supposed to be. Now when it come out in it don't do well, I'm like, well, damn, that's all you was gonna do.

I should have kept it.

I could have did better than another Another question, because you were one of the staff writers of the Empire series. How much how much pressure was that, Like at the top of the season or I would imagine even the summer before, it's like you gotta have like whatever fifteen songs or whatever, Like what's the division of labor?

Where like how do they assign those songs to get done for it?

Because every episode of Empire had at least like six to seven ready made, like real sounding songs, not just like you know whatever they would just play on the background of a different world, but like really fully produced no no, no Gordon gartreel songs. But how much how much pressure was that? Like was this this stuff inside your your cannon that you had in the back already or were you like custom making these songs on the spot.

Well, I didn't. I didn't come in until the following season, the first first season that none of that was me. I didn't. I didn't none of that second season is when they when they when they pulled me, And it was honestly a really painless process.

Bro.

They they and I don't know if it was just because it was me, but they was basically like, well, what what you got for us?

What do you need?

What you got? Oh?

Well, damn all right, well, well let me look into you know.

And then I got to meet Jesse, I got to meet you know, yeah, and and I got to meet Surrey and all of them and like kind of really developed kind of a friendship with them to where it's like, all right, I know how to write a song for you. Now, I know what your voice does. Now I know I know what works. What doesn't you know what I mean? So they they really rolled out the red carpet for me. It made it very easy for me to produce anything that I needed to produce for the show.

Definitely did sweet Well, I want to thank you for you know, doing the show with us, and you know.

Thank you for thank you for the records, thank you for the records, thank you.

For thank you for the Bridges.

Put it up, especially the Bridges.

And you should audition, maybe start auditioning for like some romantic comedies.

I see like a maybe.

Starting out as like a sidekick situation and being the funny funny if you want to do.

I just I see that. I see that for you. You're doing it.

No no no no no no no no. I feel I don't want to do I won't say I don't want to do a romantic comedy because if the rag will come on, I'm gonna do it. But I want to be I'm gonna play a paraplegic white man who just realized.

Kind of going there just the MoMA is black.

I want to do something that's so not me.

You want to, Lieutenant, then come on, man, I'm trying to tell you I want to be something that's so not me that when people learn this meeting.

Oh what damn?

I said, Okay, that's what I want to do.

I understand that what I want to do. I understand you went real far to the left left.

I need that. I need a German chef, got shipwrecked in Africa, have to learn how to make.

A Sherman Showcase Season three.

Familyte Did you hear that?

Come on, he's gonna write He's going to write that song for you. I can tell it all right. So I'm ready. I'm gonna be having light.

Here and fan take Alot and Sugar Steve, and I'm paid Bill and uh Lieutenant Dan over here.

This is quest Love Supreme. Thank you Neil for doing this, and we'll see you on the next round. That's what's.

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