via Artist Direct
Artist Direct: So did Bootsy Collins end up on Masterpeace?
Raheem DeVaughn: I wish Bootsy was on MasterPeace! The week that I actually flew out there to work with Bootsy, we already had the master. I'm doing stuff on his new album. I'm actually going to start the blueprint for my next album right now though. That's usually how it works. At some point while I'm working on the current album, I usually get inspired to start working on the next one. I've been lining people up that I want to work with on that. He's definitely one of those individuals.
Artist Direct: What's the story behind "I Don't Care?"
Raheem DeVaughn: That record is actually the only song on the album that I didn't write or co-write on. I'm big on self-expression, so I've written or arranged 99.9 percent of what I've released throughout my career. I'm always making sure the track is right. However, "I Don't Care" was a record that was done already. It's one of three in my career like that. Sometimes, as an artist you have to know how to humble yourself and step outside of yourself. You say, "Alright, there's something I'm looking for and I might not be able to create it." I put out so much energy in the stuff that I know that I can do. This is a tempo record, but it doesn't feel like it's not me, per se. The message isn't crazy, and I didn't second-think it. Ne-Yo wrote this record. As a fan of his, this was a great opportunity to try a different lane. I feel like I definitely made the record mine.
Artist Direct: If you were to compare this record to a movie, what would you compare it to?
Raheem DeVaughn: I'd compare it to Purple Rain! I think this is my breakout album. I think that it's definitely going to put people in channel with my star power. It's definitely an album that's centered around my life. We get into the war stuff. For example, there's "Soldier Story." I've got personal friends that went to the war and lost limbs. I've got friends in the services in Haiti right now that are giving it to me play by play—not the CNN play-by-play, but the real deal. There's a lot of heavy stuff going on in the world. I feel like this album is actually a fusion of Prince's Sign of the Times and Marvin Gaye's I Want You. I think I really captured both sides of the theme with The Love & War MasterPeace. It's very edgy. It's some of my best work, but at the same time, it's some of my most raw and emotional work.
Artist Direct: Any tracks that stand out to you off the top of your head?
Raheem DeVaughn: I have one record called "Nobody Wins a War," which features Jill Scott, myself of course, Anthony Hamilton, Dwele, Chrisette Michele, Citizen Cope, Chico DeBarge, Ledesi, Bilal and my home girl Shelby from Black Gypsy—she's been working with Prince since he did the Superbowl. There's a gang of people on this one joint. It's ironic that I was able to get with all of these folks. It's the first record of its kind for soul artists.
Artist Direct: Is soul coming back?
Raheem DeVaughn: I feel like soul never left! Definitely the attention is back on it with Maxwell's comeback and now Sade coming out. It re-confirms that if you make something with substance, you can come back out and have a following.
Read the full interview here:
Artist Direct - Raheem DeVaughn Interview
No comments:
Post a Comment