Christina Fuoco-Karasinski of LiveDaily interviews Raphael Saadiq. Check it out below…
From his early days as a member of the ’80s group Tony! Toni! Tone! through his work as a producer with artists such as Joss Stone, The Roots, Snoop Dogg and John Legend, Raphael Saadiq [ tickets ] has always kept the faith–especially when labels told him there was no place in today’s music for his stylish, ’50s-inspired solo album, “The Way I See It.”
“They said, ‘You’re a black American guy when there’s only really, like, a blonde British girl [Joss Stone] singing this type of music. Where do you fit in?’” Saadiq recalled during a recent interview with LiveDaily.
“I’m like, ‘We started it. That’s where I fit in.’ So many people wouldn’t attempt it. The only reason I did it was because I actually love it. It’s like somebody surfing in freezing water. A lot of people wouldn’t attempt to do it unless they really love to surf. This music, I really love. I didn’t think about it being a commercial success. I just thought about this point in my life where I’m at right now; this is what I should be doing. It was more important to me to do something that felt right with my life, than felt right with radio or what people thought.”
But “people”–critics, his peers and listeners–thought otherwise. Saadiq’s album was nominated for three 2009 Grammys, including Best R&B Album.
Saadiq spoke to LiveDaily about his inspiration for “The Way I See It,” the songwriting process and how recording music is like playing Xbox.
LiveDaily: Congratulations on your Grammy nominations. What do the nominations mean to you at this point in your career?
Raphael Saadiq: For me, there are so many other things that mean just as much to me–a lot of fans, critical acclaim, song list, and iTunes, after-party playing for Elton John. All those things are pretty much the same. The Grammys are just another actual tool no different from any other one to me.
What can we expect form your live show? Are you going to play mostly “The Way I See It” or your catalog numbers as well?
I do some catalog stuff. But 90 percent of the show is “The Way I See It.”
How do you prepare for an album like this?
I think I’ve been preparing all my life for this record. You gotta go in and be really serious and know that you’re attempting to do something different for Americans. It shouldn’t be different. But it is. To attempt it and to pull it off, it’s an acrobatic trick. I’ve been listening to it my whole life.
You’ve worked with some very diverse artists on this album, from Joss Stone to Stevie Wonder to Jay-Z. Who do you think you learned the most from?
Probably Joss. She’s such a great vocalist and more of a musician than vocalist. Everything is important to her, but she really takes her vocals seriously. To work with her and produce her sometimes … I didn’t really want to produce her vocals but she wanted me to. She really did it herself. I learned a lot from her just by watching her approach to singing. She’s incredible.
What was the songwriting process for this album?
I guess I just go in and play guitar and drums and come up with the melody. Then, once I get a melody, a bass line, [I] just kind of go play the drums and sing it to myself. Then I’ll go back and play the bass and guitar over it. Write the vocals and sing. From there, I’ll just add everything else it might need.
Do you write when you have to or do you write mostly when you’re inspired?
Most of the time, I write when I’m inspired. That’s been a lot. I look at music like a fun book: you open it up and you have all these goodies in the studio that you can pull out at any time. That’s what kind of keeps me inspired, is the instrumentation. Seeing instruments is like an Xbox to me.
How did you come up with the name “The Way I See It”
It just sort of popped up into my head, “The Way I See It.” The way I hear music. The way I see it looking, visually. Also, the way I want people to look at me and the way I see them clapping and enjoying music and life. The way I see you look at me looking out to people, too. Seeing them enjoying it when it’s kind of hard for people sometimes.
How long have you been planning this album?
I didn’t really plan it. I just started playing it one day. It just kept going. Maybe, like, three years ago. The album-cover picture is 3 years old. I took the picture when I kind of came up with the idea to do an album like this. I didn’t have any of the music then. I was singing “Ain’t That Peculiar” by Marvin Gaye. I just wanted to dress like that. After that, I started working on the album to see what happens.
What do you have plans in terms of producing for this year?
I have a couple people, things in the fire. Nothing etched in stone yet. I’ve been getting a few phone calls about working on future projects.
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