October 4, 2023 • 69 mins
This week on The R&B Money Podcast, Tank and J Valentine welcome the iconic songwriter Johntá Austin to wax introspective.
Taking it back to the beginning, Johntá reminisces about his first brushes with fame, from singing in church to starring in TV shows as a child. He recalls the fateful night as a teen where his life changed forever after an appearance on a legendary late night show.
Detailing his journey through the music industry, Johntá outlines his early collaborations with some of R&B’s greatest visionaries and the process of transitioning into a full-time hitmaking songwriter. He and Tank connect over the struggle all artists face, even at the height of success.
Johntá pulls back the curtain on creating timeless love songs like “Be Without You” and “We Belong Together,” analyzing what made 2005 his career-defining year. He explains how he helped discover and develop a future superstar’s iconic debut album.
At its heart, this episode is a vulnerable and real discussion about the ups and downs of the creative journey between two icons and a trailblazer who helped shape 21st century R&B music as we know it. There's no better authority than these three legends together in one room.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
R and B Money.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Honey, we are.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Take Valoti.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
We are the authorities on R and B ladies and Gentlemen's.
My name is Tank, I'm Jay Valentine.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
This it's the R and B Money Podcast authority on
all things R and B. Exquisite, exquisite. The level has
just gone regal.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
There's R and B Royalty in the building and Royal
Royalty in the building.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
One of the greatest songwriters of our generation ever walked
this ever walk this planet. You guys, ladies and gentlemen,
and mister John t oh.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Wow, yeah, really yeah, thank you. Yeah, he's here. We
believe it.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
No ship.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
You are than brother, Thank you you. I wore my
suit for you.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
Guys.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Man, you were doing this when I was trying. I
was trying.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
I was I saw you you know when when uh,
I remember, I remember when one of your your first
big checks. You got one of your first big checks.
This is probably ninety eight maybe was it ninety eight? Yeah,
and you you got the Jaguar, the jack Jaguar four door.
Did everybody wants No, it was the Bens. No the
(01:44):
Jaguar bubble Eye.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
No, Jazzy had the bubble Lie. I had the five fifty,
the five fifty. Why did I think you had the No,
I had the five fifty and I had dubs in
the ninety ninety eight.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Right, yeah, I remember your car was way better than
anything i'd ever Thank you. I get and I'm just watching.
I was just like, yeah, thank you too. If you
keep writing these songs, man, you too can be like John.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
I want to be like John. Now I'm washing legs,
then be on the fries.
Speaker 5 (02:18):
It's like the nigga I was. I was just moping
you had your own McDonald's.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Absolutely early, yeah, early.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I mean, I think, you know, we gotta go back there.
We got to go back to the beginning, even even
before the Sweet Ladies and all these things. Let's go
back to the beginning.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Where are you from, bro, I'm from Atlanta. You from
from the southwest.
Speaker 5 (02:49):
Atlanta, from the Swats. I am from the Swats.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Is that what it's called. They call it the Swats?
The Swats? Swats?
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Absolutely well, let's let's go back to the Swats. Okay,
let's do when somebody said, what up? What John Tey
brought up? Ben boy boy got something special, something on them.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Yeah. Yeah, I started out in church. I think just
probably like most.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
Of us did, singing, and you know, I was doing
television stuff like commercials and singing on television.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
No, just like acting. Oh shit, okay, you kids incorporated, right,
Kids Beat?
Speaker 5 (03:24):
I had Kids Beat and real News for kids on
Turner Broadcasting on TBS, seeing inn and you know that's
when Ted Turner was still the head of the company
and I was thirteen. Yeah, so I did it from
like thirteen to seventeen.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
How'd you get in that? It was? So I initially
landed it on open audition.
Speaker 5 (03:44):
My mom just took me, like she saw it, and
you know, I'd already had a couple of commercials under
my belt and she took me, you know, to do that.
And I got the audition and you know, and landed
the gig. Yeah, and so I was on yeh Saturday
mornings like so it started with like these little news
blurbs and you know, like you Ryan Cameron always makes
fun of me when he sees me. He's like, you know,
(04:05):
this is John Jay Austin for Kids Be and so
because that was like the sign off and then you
were buying out yep.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Right early and so from there.
Speaker 5 (04:15):
But I always had a passion for music, and I
was interviewing all these people on the show, you know,
sports people, entertainment people, and then I ended up being
able to go on our Senior Hall and he asked me,
you know what if I wanted to do anything else
in addition to what I was doing. I said I
wanted to sing, and so he had me sing with
(04:35):
the band and then he kept me around for the
whole show, like I come back from commercial, I'm singing
with the band and he let me hang out.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Dave Chappelle was on that night, which is a you know,
you are pouring champagne. Yeah, you know. Yeah, Man's.
Speaker 5 (04:52):
That he did this before us to not just the
writing thing, but this as well, Like, yeah, I was
interviewing people.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
I'm like, this is kind of what we're doing. Yeah,
he did this, I was doing that. I was doing that.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
It was you know, like Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan's, all
of these people.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
You interviewed all of them. Yes, people absolutely came through
your show. Absolutely absolutely. We got to find the archives man. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (05:18):
So if you see my Instagram, every year on Michael
Jackson's birthday, I post a picture of me and him
and it's this, you know, I'm like thirteen.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
These I wore glasses back then, had a silk shirt
on coming. He was doing the silk shirts then. Yeah,
you know that's crazy.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Yeah, and from and from there on our Senio Tease Williams,
who was absolutely Tease Williams saw it and she called
up to Turner and was like, you know who is
like got ine And you know, went up to New
York and met Kenny Ortisse who was at RCA Records
(05:59):
that was back, and that he had just signed s WV.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Not just signed, he signed.
Speaker 5 (06:03):
Him and they had done well, like so they had
done great, and so he was looking to sign you know,
someone else and so he you know, they flew me
up and you know, Tease had made that introduction and
I got my first record deal with RCA Records. I
was thirteen, you were thirteen. That was before I was.
That was and that preceded the writing. I was just
you know, all about the singing. It was, you know,
(06:26):
and New York back in those days, you know, to
see it, you know, walk through the office. At the time,
Rob Walker, who managed the Neptunes, was an assistant to
this cat named Dino, who was another an R. Steve
Stout was up there working for Loud under Steve Rifkins.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Yeah. Yeah, just the all of these people back in
those times.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
Yeah, that's incredible, bro, Yeah, that's incredible.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
So you signed first to RCA or you signed to
which one?
Speaker 5 (06:52):
I signed the RCA Yeah, OK, yeah, because it was
RCIVE at that time. No, it was just yeah, everything
was separate back then. That was before for it kind
of you know exactly exactly. So I signed and you
know was recording. That was back when, you know, that's
that's how I hooked up with you know, the like
(07:15):
Joe and the Neptunes, like Kenny Kenny Ortiz had founded
Neptunes earlier. This was back like you know, Chad had
to leave the sessions because he was still in school,
like he was going back to college and flying out,
and you know that was back when.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
You know, so do they work on your first album?
They worked on the first album.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
I still have like the demo of like a couple
of the songs and with like with like Joe.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Singing the demos but to Neptunes.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
Yeah that Pharrell had written for me at Dallas, Austin
at Dark and they and they were here and this
is back when I mean they had them staying in
like this holiday inn that was like around it. It
was like a kick door hotel. This is this, So
this is early Neptune. That's how I'm giving you the
picture of out early Neptunes.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
This is and you know, and then you know they
go on there And how did that process go though?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
I mean, because it's like, you know, you as an
artist at thirteen, like, yeah, you know, you probably have
some expectations too. I'm getting ready to I'm getting ready
to go there, you know, I'm ready to be him.
I'm getting ready, man, I am.
Speaker 5 (08:19):
I'm thinking like I'm gonna be you know huge, I'm
about to do this album.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
It's about to drop.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Because at the same time, you know, a childhood friend
that I had met around twelve usher, you know, was
already out doing He had called me a macout. So
it's like okay, and then he's you know, he's about
to drop. Can you get with it? It's like, oh man,
I'm getting you know, I'm next. I'm right behind my guy.
And then I went through a voice change and then
(08:49):
the administration that brought me in the acts new administration.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Came in, like y'all know how y'all. Y'all know how
that goes. Y'all know how I knew it?
Speaker 5 (09:00):
All right, kids, we got another kid we want to sign,
and that kid was Tyres. That was so that's how,
that's how we get.
Speaker 6 (09:09):
To Okay, let's get there. Let's get there, because now
you are faced with the music business absolutely right, where like, hey,
we got this new kid, and we want your song
for this new kid.
Speaker 5 (09:25):
Yeah, and it wasn't my so sweet lady. Troy Taylor
when he was with Charles Farah when they were the characters,
they also worked on my album as well, and so
and Carl Thomas was writing, and so you know, we
had had a bunch of songs. So Troy is the
one who really kind of pushed me into like, yo,
(09:47):
you ever thought about writing? And I was like, you know,
I mean, you know, he was like, you should try.
I hadn't written any song yet, and really, you know,
I kind of played around with it, but for yourself, no, no,
like I hadn't you know, all of the songs I
recorded other people.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Wrote and the problem yeah right right, I mean didn't
right for himself. Shit, you know that's where it starts.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Yeah, And so you know, Troy pushed me, and then
we like landed a couple of things on Jason Weaver
on seven O two, and so then I get, you
get deal after I get out of my deal, you know,
because that was now my way of just staying around
the business, like you said, the music business, and I
just wanted to be around it, you know, biding my
time until I could maybe get another shot at being
(10:33):
an artist. And so I'm writing and it's you know,
it's I'm getting some placements here and there, and you know,
then I get a publishing deal, you know, Valerie Patten
signs me to Chrysalis. I think I'm like fifteen at
the time, Like my mom had to sign the contract.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Everything exactly exactly.
Speaker 5 (10:52):
So, uh but then fast forward, so I'm home and
you know, I get a call from Troy and he's like,
you know, listen, I got an opportunity for you, and
if you're smart, you'll do it.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
And he was like, you know, if you're emotional, you
won't do it.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
And I was like, okay, but you don't try setting
up y'all.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Don't try you know what I mean, Troy setting it up.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
And so he's like, uh, you know, he's like, you know,
the you know, the record because we had the hook
for Sweet Lady. He's like, you're a sweet Lady and
I was like yeah yeah. He was like, you know,
I need some verses for I need you to, you know,
finish the verses and.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
We're gonna do it. They wanted for tyres.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
And I'm like, I don't want to help that nigga.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
He took my spot.
Speaker 5 (11:50):
Yeah right, you know, but then after you go, after
you get that out for about ten minutes, realize that,
you know, he he in Tyreese's mind, this is my spot.
Like I'm trying to I'm trying to be an artist.
I'm trying to be successful, just like you had.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Nothing to do.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
I don't know, you bro, Like yeah right, but you
know I got a deal. I'm popping, you know what
I mean, from the commercials to the deal. And so
I was like, okay, I'm gonna write the verses. I
wrote the verses. And that was back when you know,
this is before text.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
You couldn't you know, send songs.
Speaker 5 (12:30):
Nothing, nothing over the phone, right, you couldn't record nothing
on your phone. So, you know, Troy called me and
like my answer machine, pick up and let it play
and so I could hear it on the answer machine,
and then I wrote the verses and I called back
(12:51):
and left the melody of the verses on his answering
machine with the lyrics like that's how we did songs
over them, That's how we did songs over the.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Phone back then. Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
So Sweet Lady was written, you know, the verses, the
hook was done, but it was done on an answer absolutely,
and that's your first legitimate hit record, absolutely, absolutely. So
before that, let's let rewind a little bit. You do
your first publish, your fifteen What was that deal?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Like? Do you remember that deal? Do you remember like
the terms of that deal with the type of bridge
you got absolute fifteen? I remember.
Speaker 5 (13:27):
So I gotten that deal based on my first commercial
release was Mona Lisa's Can't be wasting my time going
to the Wayne's Brother's soundtrack with the Lost Boys. So
I signed my first publishing deal.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Was it was for eighty K.
Speaker 6 (13:44):
Okay, fifteen eighty K, all right, how much you got
it up front?
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Eighty I got on Lady K eighty K up front.
I got small set of twenty five. Yeah I didn't.
Speaker 6 (14:00):
I made it though, I'm gonna have to sell some
more dope.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
Yeah, so you know I got that up front. It
was three years, and you know, you have to meet
your song delivery commitment to get the exactly you know
what I mean.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
So it was.
Speaker 5 (14:20):
Four holy written songs, which if you write fifty percents,
that's eight songs. People never people never do that math, right,
because it's in It's twelve exactly, it's in the contract,
holy written song.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Like it's only five songs. I'm about to kill them, like,
no you're not.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
No, you're not. You need ten.
Speaker 5 (14:39):
You need fifteen released released, not just.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
Release. See we're giving them label on a major label, right.
Speaker 5 (14:51):
Yeah, So I went into suspension my first I did.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I didn't mean the commitment, right, I didn't need the
commit Yeah, you know she.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
Guy over here who was actually putting out on his
own album too, and you.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Gotta love this, you know, I love it now. It's amazing.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
But my best clause in the contract was I got
the reversion clause. So everything came back to me in
ten years.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Yeah, you're only fifteen anyway, So it's ten years after,
you know, because I read up with them a few times,
you know, Valerie and I stayed in business for a
while over there at Chrysalis, and but yeah, everything came
back to me.
Speaker 5 (15:30):
I don't know, I guess about twenty eighteen. Yeah, so
all of the yeah stuff stuff happens when you're not
emotional exactly exactly. No, I learned that early. I had
to relearn it, of course, over and over and over again.
So sweet Lady drops, Sweet Lady drops.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
I'm newly hanging out with Tyres at that time. Yeah,
because RCA had signed a group called Elements of Life
that was on the same production company I was signed to.
You know what I'm saying, What was my guy that
was over there, Kevin.
Speaker 5 (16:09):
Oh gosh, gosh, Kevin, because that's who dropped me, Kevin,
Kevin Evans, Kevin Kevin Evans, and Anthony oh gosh, who
was right up under him. I can't remember Anthony Morgan.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Kevin Kevin Evans when he signed EO Element's Life. Then
he was like I went and sang and performed for him.
Was like, we want you to next.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Him.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Yeah, I mean not to fast forward. But then then
when Kevin got pushed out, I was I got pushed
out too. So anyway, you know, it slice two times.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
So this drops.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
It was a meeting Tyreees for the first time. I'm like,
this dude is different. That's when you had the thing
right here. And he was mad at because everybody thought
he was Tyson Beckford.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Yes he was.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
He was angry, like we were. We was walking the
streets in New York and oh my god, Tyson man,
no fucking Tyson.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I was like, it's not a bad remind me to
tell you. Let's go.
Speaker 5 (17:21):
We're at a New Year's party, uh for the you know,
the the Christmas part at the Mayor of Atlanta throws.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
This was in during Cassimes.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
You know.
Speaker 5 (17:30):
Era and a friend of my wife's, my wife had
a bachelor party in Vegas and they went to go
see Tyson Beckford, you know, when he was doing the Chippendale.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
She goes up.
Speaker 5 (17:45):
My wife's goes up to Tyres and it was like, also,
good to see you. We we loved the show last week.
You were amazing.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
And Tyres is like looking at her, like, you know,
she was like in Vegas, we wed to show in
Vegas and you know in this she goes off. He
leans over to me. He's like, she thinks I'm Tyson
Beckford after all, this was old Casinia. Yeah, not too
long ago, twenty sixteen. Maybe after all these movies still
(18:16):
haunting him, Tyson back is still haunting you. Just obabe.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
You not?
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Yeah, so so so sweet lady drops it's a smash
because I can tell by the way ty is walking.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
He's walking he has a smash He's talking smashy. Yeah, yeah,
what changes?
Speaker 3 (18:45):
I know everything changes, but what but what what can
you pick out at that moment when it didn't get
you out of suspensions.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
That by that time I had, Yes, I had had
a couple of other songs come out, and yeah, so
I was out of suspension.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
You know.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
I think by that time I hooked up with Noontime.
You know, we were you know, still like getting our
collaborations together.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
So it was like a we you know, it felt good.
Speaker 5 (19:15):
It was like a validation cause it's like, man, like
now I'm turning on the radio all the time, and
then you watch the song crack the top ten, you know,
R and B and it's like, you know, I think
it made it to like number eight and I'm seven
number eight something.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Like that, and it's like, wow, this is a real
bona fide you know record, and.
Speaker 5 (19:35):
You know, I think from there it just it motivated
me more to want to, you know, put more songs
on the radio. Then it kind of became about you know,
you go from I want to write, so I want
to get placements, then so I want to get placements.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
To now I want to get singles. Yea.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
Now it's like, you know, it goes from I want
to get singles to now I want to get first
singles the second you know what I mean, like I
want to be you know, and then from there it's
like I want us to be the go to guys,
Like now you come to us, Yeah, Because.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
It's like before you actually have a hit record.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Even sometimes when you do have that first hit record
one or two, you're a guy that people will listen
and accept records for. But there becomes a point in
time when it's like, okay, let's book the session. Yes, right,
there's a process. That's a real process. If John Tay
in with X, Y and Z.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Because Johntay's record is going.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
To be he's going to deliver, it's going to deliver
something exactly. And when did that change? When did that
happen for you?
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Ah? Man?
Speaker 5 (20:39):
I think that happened, man, it was because it was
post Sweet Lady. I think we started to get those opportunities.
It was it was two records when be Cox and
I did Get Gone for Ideal, Hm, I love thank you.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
That was, you know, I think Lee, yeah alone, pack
your bags, Yes, get the hell on. Yeah, because I
don't want you no, no, Yeah, that was the record
was great.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
I was inspired by a real person. I bet it was.
It absolutely was, absolutely was before you could block people.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Yes, this was you know.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
She she also inspired I Miss You for Lee.
Speaker 5 (21:29):
But you know, back in the day when she used
to try to bring that up, I would be quicker,
you know, I inspired I miss you.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
I would also be like, you also inspired Get Gone.
So there's that feel because I married Min I'm not
even gonna do it. Just just let's keep going.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (21:49):
So so it was Get Gone that because that record
showed like these guys can do records on new artists
and get a new artist happen, you know what I mean.
So that's one thing, you know, And then for me
it was like the second time because we had ty
rees and now we have Ideal.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
But then yeah, be Cox did Get Gone. Yeah, the
guy one of the guys from ideal is his cousin
or something? Right?
Speaker 4 (22:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (22:20):
Yeah, yeah, who produced I don't want to, Donnie and
Jazzy Fair producer.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
I don't want to.
Speaker 5 (22:28):
And then when I don't want to came then it
was like, Okay, these guys are for real. They're doing
real hits because you like, I don't want to win
number two on the charts with no video, and you know,
and we all from the era of like how important
videos were and you had to have a video, you know,
(22:49):
and you know, number two it was on the Next
Friday soundtrack before it was on Romeo Must Die Socks.
It was on two soundtracks. It was on Next Friday.
First you was getting paid? Yeah, yeah, ship, what did
you buy?
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Man? What's the first? What's the first? Crazy John Ta?
It might have been that Bens. I mean it might
have been that Ben. It was not on the streets, No,
it was yeah, it was brand new. Yeah, I think
that was it. Yeah, I have to pay the overage
to be the first. No, no, no, man.
Speaker 5 (23:26):
I found a guy in Athens, Georgia who got one
for me, and I drove up to Athens and and
you know, I drove it back.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
I was killing that noontime parking lot. Same way you'll
travel for a woman, you'll travel for a car. I
flew to LA to pick up a car once you
should and shipped it back. But I like, you know,
I need to see it. Yeah, fly out there.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
When your money get different.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Even rich for a long time money and your money
get different, you know you have particular taste.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Ye, I need I need to Yeah, I need all
new cars don't smell the sad. I wanted to see
(24:23):
how because I had just gotten the Black card, and so.
Speaker 5 (24:27):
I wanted to heavy one, the heavy one, right, the
one that made Now now a lot of cards are
made out of that, but like the black was the first.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
One, and I just I was just like I wanted
to see if I can do the whole thing. And
I handed them and they swipe it, and I'm like, wow,
that's cool that the whole car. That was a whole
I need to know this. Oh, were you with a
Black card? And for people that don't understand, he's talking
(24:57):
about the American Express Vorian right, smell that Centurion.
Speaker 6 (25:06):
Yeah, and it's the unlimited you can you can go
purchase a jet. Yeah, they gonna want that jet, like
they want to jet. Yeah, well, but you go purchase one.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
By the time I got this, I was like twenty five.
Oh wow, small, small set twenty five, small, twenty five.
This is you know, we Belong Together is out. This
is all of it everything. I mean he wrote we
Belong Together at twenty four Yeah what yeah, around Yeah,
(25:38):
I think we were around that time.
Speaker 7 (25:40):
Yeah, yeah, at that time it was yeah know I
was yeah know, he was in it. I was in
it for the good and for the bad, for the
good and for the bad.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
My question, as we go through these progressions with you know,
so many records, what are you feeling as what is
the artist John T. Austin feeling like, because there has
to be moments all of this where you're like.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
These are my children could be this could be broke
my career as an artists. Yeah, maybe I should.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
Absolutely. I said it a hundred times. I said it
a hundred times. I you know, I'm conflicted about, you know,
giving records away. You know, I'm conflicted about it.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Was almost like.
Speaker 5 (26:30):
You ever see the movie Happy Gilmour, Yes, you know,
how like he started doing really well at golf, but
he kept telling people he was a hockey player. Like
you know what I mean, I'm like, I'm an artist
and you know, but I'm like, I want to hold
on to something. And my manager, Chris Hicks, you know,
he would always have to talk me out, he would,
(26:52):
you know, but he would say, listen, the only reason
you hang on to records is if you are not
confident that you can make another one. But I believe
you can make another one. So let's give that we
have an opportunity to place these records and put these
records on people who are coming out. You'll get your shot.
(27:13):
I don't know when it's gonna happen, but yes, So,
like it's it is frustrating. It was frustrating because like
even though I'm making all of these hits, I'm like,
you know, man, I you know I can do this,
Like you know, I'm.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Singing the demos. They're you know, they're doing my demo
note for note no for you know, right, So it's
like you're hearing yourself right the radio. Absolutely absolutely a
version of yourself. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
So it's you know, like to the point where like
when we were talking about when can't help but Wait
came out for Trey songs, like getting calls like.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
You wrote that, didn't you. I can tell like it's.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Your even what you're talking about, because I didn't know. Yeah,
we were just talking about it. I was like, I'm
replaying the record of my mind and I just hear
you you have vibrato. I hear the whole thing. I
was like, that's for damn sure, John T. Austin record.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
John T. Austin could have diad yes, yeah, could have
put out easily.
Speaker 7 (28:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
And it's so it becomes.
Speaker 5 (28:18):
Right right, and you're happy for that, Like you're not
like I'm I'm not happy that anybody else got to hit.
It's just kind of like your own personal war that
you're fighting. It's like, man, what do I have to do?
You know, like I'm because I'm celebrating their success and
not jealous of it. But man, I would like to
be an artist as as well.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
You know.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
But you know, we kept writing, what's the record that
you didn't want to give away? Is there one that
you just like, fuck.
Speaker 5 (28:51):
Man, I'm trying to what's a Then there's one that
stands out. I'm just trying to think if that's the
one I want to go with. I think it might
have been. No, it wasn't can't help but wait because
we did that specifically for Trey with Stargate.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
I think I don't want to.
Speaker 5 (29:20):
Like at the time because it wasn't for Aaliyah. Okay,
you know we did it and then Chris heard it.
Chris Hicks heard it and was like, oh, this is
this is getting played you know for Aleah.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
I was there too. Yeah, yeah, you were in there
on a Sony Studios in New York.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
We was like that make a cold man, oh man,
than you fucking rits. You need to write like that.
You see how you writing like that will copy your
doubles like view that.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
I need to repeat some stuff, right, okay, and then
you would you would do the telephone, and so you
need the telephone.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Telephone, man, the telephone like all that stuff. Phone kind
of was like an early auto tune thing. I think
I was the because when you get excited about the telephone,
but the telephone, the telephone, the telephone on the telephone. Right,
(30:23):
I got that from you.
Speaker 6 (30:24):
So I'm telling to interview y'all real real quick, real quick,
come over, come over. I got I got both, I
got both of you guys in the room, and for
a long time, people did not know that that was
Tank's voice.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
People didn't know that. And because I want to were
you even credited on there?
Speaker 3 (30:53):
I didn't get credited on there till late That's what
I'm saying, Like, so people people found out right and
then they I think people themselves just credited me and
then ended up as but it's not on the project.
As a fan right now, I need I need the backstory.
I have to have the backstory. So we give you
my perspective because this perspective more important.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
But I heard him telling it.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
I love it because this is more important. We're at
another studio recording, ye me.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
I think Jerry's with me. I don't know if Cliff
is with me.
Speaker 5 (31:25):
You down at Chunk King right, because we were at
Son of you guys worrying probably probably, and he was like, uh,
he was like uh, he's like a leave recording recording
around the corner.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
I was like, oh, shoot, let's go over there, you
know what I'm saying, check on her and see what's
going on. And so, you know, we walking the streets
in New York, run into the LEA session. As soon
as we walk in, She's like, oh, Tank can do it.
And then Johntay's like, can do it?
Speaker 1 (31:52):
You have no music out at this point. No, okay,
but we knew he was a sang right, but my
background singer anymore?
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Are you still a back kind for genuine? I'm fighting
to be you still want to do it? I'm damn right.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
I mean to this day you still I still want
to sing backgrounds?
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Right?
Speaker 1 (32:12):
I want to sing background And Johnny was like getting
the booth, I was like, this is wow. I just
want to say here right, yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Getting the booth and John Tay of course, John Tay sings.
He gives me the notes, just think me, give me,
give me the.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
And sing that. I think we spent about like five
ten minutes or that sing that like that's a stack
head because he then he put like a mid no,
it's mad crazy.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
I just come out the booth and I'm like, that's
it cool and we're just talking and listen of it.
Liz is talking to me about my style and what
I need to do and you need to dress like
and you know you're like a one man Josy and
you better and john Day's like, yeah, you're do the thing.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
But Johnsy was like, you know when we listen to
the record like I'm in there taking notes because I
had already heard this record. I'd already heard the record.
And then when she's when he put her on it,
I was just like this, Ninka is cold.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
Because I was in line, you know what I'm saying.
It was him and it was static.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
So for my label, you know, even at Blackground, you
know what I'm saying, their go to was we need
static or we need John Tea. So I was in line,
just kind of waiting my turn to be sick, waiting
for my again, I would say, for my writing to
get on that level because I wasn't there yet, you
know what I'm saying. So these were the guys that
(33:34):
I was just kind of like watching, kind of in
awe of, you know what I'm saying. So when they
put me in the studio on that on that, I
didn't think nothing of it. But then you know, as
as it looks in twenty twenty three, wow, thank you.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
Absolutely, thank you, thank you. Yeah. Now okay, now give
us the before he gets to the studio. Okay, Yeah,
So we were in there she so Alia had cut
most of the record, and you know, hearing this part,
it's like okay, like you know, it's got to be
some somebody that asked, because she was like, I think
(34:07):
somebody else should do this. And so we was like okay, because.
Speaker 5 (34:11):
It was you know, the story of come On. So
she's calling you know, her dude, her dude, and so
it's like, okay, she just touched story wise right too.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Yeah, so yeah, yeah, so.
Speaker 5 (34:25):
We thought like okay, at this point of the story,
it's you know, him participating now, like you know what
I mean.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
And so it was like a call out back to her, okay.
And so it's like, you know, and who is saying
this ship like who you know?
Speaker 5 (34:41):
And we're going through like you know, I think Usher
might have come up. You know, we're throwing people out,
and then Tank walks in.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
And we're like like Tank can do it. That's crazy,
And we said I think we said g I think
we did say genuine. So it was like, but you
never walked check on your friend. I mean like, yeah,
it's crazy.
Speaker 5 (35:06):
But that's like such, that's the yeah, that's the juice
of the song, right, Like that's the you know that part,
Like that's the sing along part.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
That's the you know, that's the flavor and then what
two years ago, three years ago, you get another check
for it?
Speaker 5 (35:21):
Because Kaylannie, yeah yeah, can I absolutely which is k
Lonnie that you didn't call Chief to come and do
his part again?
Speaker 1 (35:31):
He might have done it for you. Yeah, come on
stage sometimes sold up shows, stole out show, yes, yeah no,
because that's and that leads me to my next question.
Speaker 5 (35:46):
How does it feel to be sampled at this younger
age that you are, like, you're not seventy eighty years
old when you got to clear the.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
Sam being like, oh, who want to like what he's singing?
I don't like what he's saying on that my wholesome
song into a whole song. Yeah, you know you're still
a young dude.
Speaker 6 (36:10):
Man, they're sampling your music, Kaylane Bryson Tiller, like they're
sampling your records already.
Speaker 5 (36:18):
Absolutely, No, it's a it's a great feeling. I mean
it makes me, you know, it like makes you feel
sing because it's like, okay, the younger generation. You know,
it's funny that you say, like the seventy year old guy, right,
because you like you don't.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Want to be that. I had to call a couple
of them stuff. So that's why. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 5 (36:37):
I'm sorry they feel like, you know, but I don't
want to be the person that's like, oh, you know,
you know music should be this way.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Yeah, you know, you got to have more respect than
blah blah blah.
Speaker 5 (36:51):
Because when I meet young writers, young artist, young producers,
what I've learned.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
Is they do respect it. They know it. They follow
it like they have nothing but respect and the admiration.
Speaker 5 (37:03):
That's why they're sampling like they they're paying you a compliment,
you know to me, so like and a check.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
So when it comes through, like you know, I'm like,
it's I always listen for the creativity of it, Like, wow,
have you ever not clear something I'm trying to see?
Speaker 5 (37:22):
I don't think so, yeah, I don't think so you
know what, No, I think there might have been like
an ed M version of I can't remember of something
I might not have cleared.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
I love EDM, but it wasn't for whatever reason. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (37:39):
Yeah, it felt like you know, something that I'm hearing
in just like a one way bar in Amsterdam, you know,
like off that, but not but not in the Flyway,
not the fly Amsterdam that we're talking.
Speaker 6 (37:54):
Nothing that I love going to sample John say as records.
Make sure it's fly, you know, make sure its music
is flying.
Speaker 3 (38:05):
Absolutely, absolutely, I want to talk about I want to
talk about your experience with Mariah Carey.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Okay, because that's you know, before we get to Maracay.
I do have to let y'all know for I don't
want to You know, Aliyah didn't want to cut that. No,
I did not know that. She didn't want to cut
that one. She wasn't sold and I don't want to.
She wanted to cut I Miss You. That was what
got us to New York.
Speaker 6 (38:31):
And you know, so how do you sell because now
the writers need to see this. How do you sell
a major superstar? How do you sell them the record
that they don't want but you know that they need.
Speaker 5 (38:45):
Right, So you know, I can't take credit for that.
That was all Chris Hicks who made that. He was like,
I tell you what, let's make a deal. You can
cut I Miss You, but you have to cut this
one as well.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
That's the deal. And she was like okay, And then
when she got on it, it was Chris has always
been good with conversations. Yea, I know, yeah, absolutely is
from the area. You know what this feels feels, right,
(39:26):
I like the way you're talking to me. Yeah, so
so you know, so that's how that's how we got
her on it. Wow, that was it. So Mariah Carey, Yes,
what is that call?
Speaker 4 (39:37):
Like?
Speaker 1 (39:40):
So the call comes from j D. Jay's like, you know,
come to uh, you know, come to studio tonight.
Speaker 5 (39:48):
At this point, you know, obviously JD has such a
long history with her, you know, starting would always be
my baby, going back to that, right and and you know,
now be Cox has done you know, songs with her,
so they're like a nucleus.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
And but I was excited.
Speaker 5 (40:06):
So he's like, you know, Mariah's gonna be here tonight,
you know, come down, and you know, she gets there
and Mariah doesn't show up till like midnight. That's her session.
Session starts at midnight. She likes to She's a night out,
absolutely likes to likes to write and work you know late.
So you know, at the time, I didn't I have
I've had to learn that.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
The first day I showed up, I was there at
like six p m. Just six hours. Yeah, what she had.
I mean, I'm like, you know, let me know, now,
let me know when she comes in, you know, let me.
Speaker 6 (40:43):
And this is levels right, because I'm sure at this
point you have massive records by this point, yeah, you
don't have a Mariah.
Speaker 5 (40:51):
We don't have them or this is still Mariah. So
what is interesting is that this is Mariah, I mean
off of Glitter movie in this.
Speaker 1 (41:04):
And so there were a couple of people around me
who were like, why are you gonna spend your time
on this? Like and they thought the ship itself, thought
the ship itself.
Speaker 5 (41:19):
I have a fast rule about legends, like legends stay legends,
you know what I mean. It's like that right, you've
earned that, You've earned that, and you're always one hit away.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
I don't care if you ain't.
Speaker 5 (41:32):
Had a hit in ten years if you call you
know what I mean. That's how I feel about legends.
And at that point, you know, this is once we
dy walking through the door, like what do you mean?
Speaker 1 (41:44):
We don't write and we're gonna look into these cameras.
That's what it should be.
Speaker 6 (41:51):
They've earned it, absolutely, and if you are a hit maker,
go give them that hit worker one hundred percent one
hundred percent.
Speaker 5 (41:58):
So Mariah gets there and I'm just sitting in the
corner just quiet her and Jamaine and Brian are catching
up and you fly on the wall, just fly on
the wall, just you know, just sitting because again this
is so, this is after Aliyah, this is after Chris Brown,
(42:19):
this is after you know what I mean, this is yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
This is only popping, this is yo yo yeah.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (42:27):
So you know, after about thirty minutes we're sitting there.
The first song that Jamaine played so can I get
your number? And they already had that him and Brian
already had that hook, and so he was like okay.
She was like, oh, I want to start with this,
like do some verses, and so then you know, she turns,
(42:47):
She's like, and who are you? Starts that way she
was like and she was like who are you? She
was like I'm guessing. She's like are you a part
of this? And I was like I look at Jamaine
and Jamaine is like yeah, yeah, he writes with us.
And she was like, okay, all right, let's rite. Let's
(43:11):
start like it wasn't no what have you done? Yeah,
you know, just like okay, I just need to know
who you were, and now we're good, and then you know,
we hit it off from there and Mariah is like
a brilliant songwriter in her own right, so, you know,
being able to collaborate with someone like so the experience
(43:34):
of someone who can write for themselves, like she doesn't
really need anyone to write, you know, but throwing out ideas,
the way that she hears things, the way that she
rhymes words and melodies.
Speaker 1 (43:47):
And then you're also hearing her sing, and so it's
like one of those moments.
Speaker 5 (43:53):
The first time I had a moment like that, we
go back to Tony Braxton, but it was like the
second time when I first worked with Tony and Tony
walks into booth and you like, hear that voice come
over the mic and you're like, I said, this is
Tony Brax and the same thing so before Mariah even won,
Like just her sitting there with the pad writing and
she's humming, and I'm like trying not to like smile,
(44:14):
but I'm like, damn, this is Mariah Carried.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
I think I had that moment when we worked on
ron Isley. Yeah, yeah, man, I was like, he hit
one of them. This is a dream come true. He's
really in the booth singing one of my records. When
did you have that moment any artist? For you?
Speaker 3 (44:39):
I'm like, I'm like the fan you are, you know,
so everybody when they get into yeah, because it's like,
I don't know, man, I don't It's an unexplainable feeling.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
It's just like to have these type of people singing
rect just to have.
Speaker 3 (45:01):
The voice, like you've heard this voice everywhere, You've heard
this voice on massive records. You're saying this voice, and
now this voice in a sense belongs to you.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
You're a part of this voice. Now you're sharing in this.
That's a great one. Yeah, that's a great one. That's Gladys.
Speaker 3 (45:23):
That was my first time where I was just like,
no way, Like, first of all, she's singing in one
take and that's literally one top to bottom.
Speaker 2 (45:34):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (45:35):
She studied it for about ten minutes, ten fifteen minutes,
played it over and over so and she said I'm ready, yes, yes,
will say it all, set it all up. She went
top two bottom, no auto tune stuff, you know, just
some slight verb raw top to bottom. What else would
(45:57):
you like?
Speaker 1 (45:58):
That's how they I looked at it then there I
was like, you don't even know what to say, Like
maybe we should tell her to do it again. I
feel like I did something here, right, I'm gonna just
tell her. You're not gonna call me back. I'm gonna
tell her do it again?
Speaker 3 (46:15):
Great, great, Yes, let's just let's get one more, one more, like,
let's just get one more and and and you see
where we end up. See what we gotta She did
one more.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
Top to bottom, flawless. That's crazy. It come out, come on, out,
come on, thank you, coming by God, bless you. Yes,
that's crazy. Do you right? Shake it off? In that
first session, so we did. Can I get your number?
The first night? Second night was shake it off? Okay,
(46:49):
second night was shaking. So we had the mic on
the demo. It was me, Mariah and Mariah's assistant. Whose
idea was that? Was Mariah because that's the classic ship,
that's Mariah. I got to give her. I gotta give her.
(47:12):
I've never written a song with any of those old
like everybody in never written a song with that.
Speaker 5 (47:21):
I was like, yeah, man, that's all that's classic. M
see all day, all day. So can't I get your numbers?
Shake it off?
Speaker 1 (47:38):
It's like that. Yeah, and then and then we were
done like that. Those were all in those sessions. And
you know, so l A.
Speaker 5 (47:49):
Reid, you know who was ahead of death jam at
the time, he was like, listen, like, I feel like
we got something. I feel like, you know, shake it
Off can probably be our first single. But I think
y'all got one more in you, so I'm gonna send
her back down.
Speaker 1 (48:08):
And that was the We Belong Together session. That was
the you know, so it started with la It's like,
I think y'all got one more and sent her back down.
Speaker 2 (48:20):
You know.
Speaker 1 (48:22):
This time it was Manuel Seal for your Seal. Hey, listen, listen.
Speaker 6 (48:29):
Yeah, because unless unless you're in the music business, don't
really know that name. It's not like you know, he
never really came outside like that. No, but if you
in this music business.
Speaker 1 (48:40):
Man, you seal.
Speaker 5 (48:43):
It's fucking special. I hope you see this, brother, Absolutely,
you are, absolutely, yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:48):
You're special. That guy is special. Those records that he's
been a part of incredible, Yeah, incredible.
Speaker 6 (48:56):
So yeah, you know we we we give real have
to respect shoutouts flowers like yeah, man, yeah, we respect
the game up here.
Speaker 1 (49:05):
No, no, you have to.
Speaker 5 (49:06):
And that's why, I mean, that's why it's important for
me to bring him up too, like, you know, cause
it's there is you know, these big songs. I feel
like there could probably be some temptation to like want
to hoard credit for yourself, but there's enough for it.
Everybody made such a significant contribution. Like you know, I
(49:27):
tell people like, you know it's Mariah and I wrote
we Belong Together.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
Together, like you know what I mean. So like she
was just as much.
Speaker 5 (49:36):
You know, it wasn't like a word here, a word there.
No Mariah's in the studio writing the records. We wrote
a song together, Manuel and JD you know, produced it,
and so we worked on this record. It was like
we worked till like five six in the morning, and
I laid the demo for it and demo to there's
(49:58):
a John Te demo to we Belong Together.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
There is an n F T. I want.
Speaker 5 (50:07):
You know who probably has it is La because he
told me later he was like I knew she was
gonna have something because she left Atlanta from the studio,
landed in New York and l A was like she
woke me up and was like, you have to hear
this record. She came by and played him my demo
(50:30):
Like that's how excited she was about the record, Like
you got to hear this song.
Speaker 1 (50:45):
I'm gonna go pick up my son after this and
we're gonna roll today.
Speaker 2 (50:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:52):
Yeah, that guy is turning his piano.
Speaker 5 (51:03):
Yeah, were about to put some pressure on the pressure
man himself, because I mean he wrote that too. Oh
yeah yeah yeah, come on, like I don't know s
yeah yeah, we're still writing hits to this day.
Speaker 1 (51:16):
Yeah, look shout out to all right Lynx. That's the home.
You've written a lot of songs. Man, we haven't probably even.
Speaker 2 (51:29):
Got to have them.
Speaker 3 (51:30):
We haven't gotten to a third things you've done. There
were a lot of songs written before you. Oh yes,
it might have inspired you to become.
Speaker 1 (51:44):
The man you are.
Speaker 3 (51:50):
We would like to tap into the greatness that you
consider great. Oh yes, by understanding your.
Speaker 4 (52:00):
Top five, your top five, top five, your top five, horsing.
Speaker 2 (52:20):
All and be sold. You got to have, you got
to know you got John Yeah, Ron yeah, yeah, you
(52:46):
know with.
Speaker 1 (52:46):
The Teddy Teddy pindagras.
Speaker 2 (52:47):
Yeah you.
Speaker 8 (52:51):
Five, John, take Austin, your top five R and B singers,
(53:15):
Stevie Wonder start off, come on, come on, come on,
come on, come on.
Speaker 1 (53:20):
Otis Redding, whoa Sam Cook? No, come on now, come
on with anything like this, Whitney Houston. The voice, the voice, right,
the voice of all voices. Right, I'm riding with the
home team. I'm going usher come.
Speaker 2 (53:41):
On, I'm going with.
Speaker 1 (53:49):
Absolutely, I'm going with the squad, rocking with the squad. Absolutely,
not bad, not mad at you at all.
Speaker 2 (53:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (53:56):
Yeah. Top five R and B songs.
Speaker 5 (54:04):
As by Stevie Wonder kick it off absolutely, When a
Woman's fed up.
Speaker 1 (54:12):
Lot of now, yeah, I don't want to find had
Listen to the song. Listen to the song on the record, please. Yeah.
So let's see as when a woman's fed up. Michael
(54:37):
Jackson's Lady in My Life. Yes, yes, I think that's
that's made it to the top five a few times
it is.
Speaker 5 (54:48):
Yeah, I'm gonna give you the last two, but real quick.
I told I asked JD one time, if Michael came
to you to work, you know, would you work? When
he was like, man, nah, I tell him to go
back to quick see that's where he belongs. And he
I was like, you know, but we can do some
records for Michael. He was like, not like they can
do him. I say, you don't think we could do
(55:09):
like we've done a Lady in My Life. JD goes,
when the hell we did one of them?
Speaker 1 (55:17):
Every day? I haven't seen I ain't seen one of
them get out the door. When when they got out
of door, I said, oh ship just yeah, so uh,
lady in my life, never too much Luther Vandra Yeah yeah.
(55:37):
What's that sound in the beginning of that?
Speaker 4 (55:39):
So?
Speaker 2 (55:39):
What is that? What is it.
Speaker 1 (55:43):
Before kick in? It's this sound that comes in in
the beginning of that song. Could be as a basis
something like, man, it's the call out to me? Yeah,
and a door?
Speaker 2 (56:04):
What a song?
Speaker 1 (56:05):
What a record? An artist? But I got something else
for him, Chief, I got something else for him. We've
never done this. What haven't you done? I want to
know your top five songwriters because you are who you are, brother, Yeah,
I would like to know your top five songwriter.
Speaker 5 (56:25):
One of my pix is going to be controversial, so
we'll save him at the end.
Speaker 1 (56:31):
I've already named one of his songs, I guess, but
uh so Stevie Wonder babyface line. Now Richie the man
who bought Beverly Hills.
Speaker 6 (56:49):
Off the Pin, off the pin talking about Pimp and
your pen Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (56:54):
Pimp r Kelly yeah, m hm mm hmm.
Speaker 9 (57:01):
Jermaine Dupree, everybody in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1 (57:11):
Yeah, Hall of Fame, say what you won't.
Speaker 5 (57:14):
Absolutely, yes, that's a great list. Yeah, thank you, thank you,
because you know we're we're all fans. Yeah, no matter
what if we do it or not, we're all fans.
Speaker 1 (57:25):
Yeah. So for you as how I look at you.
Speaker 5 (57:27):
As a songwriter, for you to tell me who your
five guys are, five women, whatever it is, that's amazing, amazing.
Speaker 1 (57:33):
Okay, I like your list.
Speaker 3 (57:37):
We're gonna make the voltron Okay, Okay, We're gonna assemble
your R and B artists, the greatest, the super who
are getting the vocal from the performing style, from the styling,
from the passion of that artist, and who's gonna write
for that artist?
Speaker 1 (57:54):
Okay? Vocal vocal Stevie wonder again.
Speaker 5 (58:00):
Stevie is Temples, Steve Ballads, yes, right, achappella, straight ahead
vocal acrobatics, what however you want?
Speaker 3 (58:11):
Does it all performance style? Michael Jackson, that's gonna be fucking.
Speaker 1 (58:17):
Nuts voice Michael Nuts. Yeah, he's not gonna be He's
not gonna be alien.
Speaker 5 (58:24):
Because you also get Stevie playing to because his voice
play that's how he sings.
Speaker 1 (58:31):
Get on the hard mountain. Yeah, yeah, okay, it's the styling,
the styling Frank Sinatra. Yeah yeah, Frank was a my friend.
They called me, they call me absolutely absolutely yeah yeah.
(58:56):
The passion of the artist hard mm hmm mm hmm.
It's hard working. No one works hard.
Speaker 5 (59:03):
Dilegit absolutely, roller skates and things like well, how many
hours do you need to prepare?
Speaker 1 (59:10):
You need ten thousand hours?
Speaker 5 (59:12):
He's hitting the same handstanding the one time where the
one time where the dancer bumped into him and he
turned it into a move.
Speaker 1 (59:20):
Yeah, like no, I'm not gonna fall on these skates
like that. These people, I'm too nice. I'm about the
robots sweetness, sweetness, Yeah, I'm nice with it. Absolutely.
Speaker 5 (59:34):
I think he kind of turned into like a half split,
like I said, come on, I'm sick of all the point.
Speaker 1 (59:41):
Yeah, who's writing for this artist? I know who I
want to write that.
Speaker 5 (59:46):
So man, that's say you better not give it away.
That that's kind of, uh a toss up of what
but you know, can I say I'm writing.
Speaker 1 (01:00:06):
You get what you Listen. I was ready to fight you.
You got this mega artist and you ain't gonna write
God do right? You better write it? Like, man, I
don't want to give away my song I'm starting to
frustrate man right before. Yeah, I'm writing for them, yeah.
Speaker 5 (01:00:28):
Man, yeah, writing an all timer all timer for the
third or fourth and third or fourth thank you?
Speaker 1 (01:00:34):
Yeah, what you got, Chief? What you got? I ain't
saying no, nat to pay. I ain't saying no nation.
I ain't saying no Nick, ain't saying no names. Where
you was?
Speaker 4 (01:00:52):
Who?
Speaker 2 (01:00:53):
What you did?
Speaker 1 (01:00:55):
Don't say she. I ain't saying no. Yeah, we hear that.
We're here, now, we hear now. Okay, so you know
(01:01:17):
you watched the show. You know you know how this
thing goes. Man, we're here.
Speaker 5 (01:01:22):
This is the I ain't saying no name segment. Will
you tell us your story? A story funny or fucked up?
A funny and fucked up in the travels in the
times of John T.
Speaker 1 (01:01:35):
Austin. Okay, here we go. Hold on, this is John T. Austin.
Kids Beat. Oh God, if you've ever.
Speaker 6 (01:01:49):
Met a young lady that you wanted to be a
sweet lady, jeez, he started with kids beat.
Speaker 5 (01:01:56):
Huh.
Speaker 1 (01:01:56):
Cocaine is involved in this story. Ship. Ship ain't be
without you. You know, you can't be without the you feel. So.
Speaker 5 (01:02:07):
I ain't saying no names, but so we're in well,
I'm gonna say a couple of names, but it has
nothing to do with you know. But we're in Vegas
working on the Raymond Versus Raymond album. This is the
formation of the whole Oceans thing and whatever. And I
was beefing with someone else in the music business. They
(01:02:27):
were not in Vegas with us beefing, though I was beefing.
Speaker 1 (01:02:35):
Old a lady. I was in my I was emotional.
I was Carl Thomas Thomas emotions.
Speaker 2 (01:02:42):
Look at me. I can't stop crying my hardest.
Speaker 1 (01:02:52):
I was reaching for rain. I'm grasp yes, you know,
Jess and I had you know, was in the you know,
the heights of just a really stellar drug problem. Uh,
you know, it's one for the books.
Speaker 5 (01:03:12):
I went through a period where I did enough cocaine
to probably kill a Kentucky Derby level thoroughbred horse.
Speaker 1 (01:03:19):
But so I'm, you know, just upset at this person.
And we go out to Dre's.
Speaker 5 (01:03:31):
And you high, I'm high, and I'm rifling shots someone
you know, and I'm just venting. I think j d
Or be Cox makes a joke about it. I storm
out of dres By myself. I've left everybody in there
(01:03:53):
and I and you can't just storm out of dres
because elevated.
Speaker 1 (01:03:59):
St the hallway a lot of breath.
Speaker 2 (01:04:01):
But I have.
Speaker 1 (01:04:04):
Stormed out of this place, but you also have performing
exactly exactly. I get it. So then I go to
the Spearmint Rhino. Why not?
Speaker 5 (01:04:16):
And I'm in the Spearmint Rhino, just me and my
lonesome in the vi P and you know, I start
to feel sick. I go to the bathroom and.
Speaker 1 (01:04:28):
I throw up, and then I feel better.
Speaker 5 (01:04:33):
And what would really make me feel better is if
you know, I did another bump, and that would like
get me back to where I was right And.
Speaker 1 (01:04:40):
So now I'm in the zone. And so this was
the era of two ways, not two ways blackberries. I
send off an email.
Speaker 5 (01:04:59):
H at about five o'clock Vegas time, and you know,
talking about how you know, I need people around me
who are solid.
Speaker 1 (01:05:13):
I need people arriving me who are going to ride
for me. And if you are not for me, then
you are against me. Send it to all of the
crew in Vegas. Send it to Mark Pitts. Send it
to Barry Weiss, who's that like a couple of other executives.
Speaker 5 (01:05:36):
Send it to everybody but the person I'm mad at
who has no idea that I'm mad at him, by
the way, and yeah, and then fired off of you
know that text. I won't say who the person was,
but and then the next day just rolled into the
studio like like nothing happened. Well, first I had to
(01:05:58):
the aforementioned black card. I left that in the spearmitt rhino,
so I had to.
Speaker 1 (01:06:01):
Go back and hit that.
Speaker 5 (01:06:04):
But I wasn't the only one because the person I
was like, you know, I left my MX here last night.
Speaker 1 (01:06:08):
You know which one is. I'm like, you know, it's
the black card that doesn't narrow it down.
Speaker 5 (01:06:13):
And I'm like wow, So there was there was. I
didn't feel bad. And so I go and see the
next day like nothing happens. Usher comes in and you know,
sits down. We're at the board and all he does
is he goes.
Speaker 1 (01:06:30):
Okay, and I'm like, yep, He's like okay. So that's
why I ain't gonna say you said. I ain't gonna
say I'm gonna say that somebody, Oh my gosh, what
(01:06:54):
was wrong with me? I was tripping matters of the heart.
Speaker 3 (01:06:56):
Man.
Speaker 1 (01:06:56):
It happened right, and cocaine and cocaine make the heart explode.
We're glad that your heart didn't explode me too. Yeah,
crazy enough. I never knew it was okay, brother, thank you.
I never knew that. I never knew that. Thanks. Thanks. Yeah, yeah,
(01:07:17):
welcome back, thank you? No, yeah, off it by the way,
just you know, for years, so there you go. We
need you, man.
Speaker 5 (01:07:26):
Yeah, brother, yeah, I'm and I'm running and doing jiu
jitsu so you know things.
Speaker 1 (01:07:33):
Yeah, things you need your heart for. So mister John T.
Speaker 3 (01:07:39):
Austin Sinatra, Yeah, now you really are you are Sinatra boy? Yes,
thank you, brother. I mean we've we've been great. We've
been doing this for too long, man, and you know,
just outside of friendships and brotherhood, man, just just what
(01:08:03):
you've done. Thank you as a peer, you know what
I mean, Like you are ship, you're him.
Speaker 1 (01:08:10):
Thank you so much. I appreciate you guys having me.
I've been looking forward to doing it. Yeah, you know,
we needed we needed to have. It's the R and
B Money Podcast, the authority on all things R and
B Absolute. How do we not have you? Thank you
so much. Thank you for having me. You're on the
You're on the board of authorities. Oh wow, I appreciate you,
aboy to start sending the names to you like yo.
You think they could come on there?
Speaker 5 (01:08:31):
It is.
Speaker 3 (01:08:34):
Right quite.
Speaker 1 (01:08:38):
That once wig that passed up on that record. You
can't come over here, Come come. I love you, guys,
you the greatest. Thank you, guys.
Speaker 3 (01:08:51):
My name is thank This is the R and B
Money Podcast, the authority on all things R and B
and we've just.
Speaker 1 (01:08:59):
Had our brother and one of the peace rating songwriters
of all time. It's John Tet. Thank God.
Speaker 3 (01:09:11):
R and B Money.
Speaker 6 (01:09:13):
R and B Money is a production of the Black
Effect podcast Network. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows. Don't forget to subscribe to and rate our show,
and you can connect with us on social media at
jy Valentine and at the Real Tank. For the extended episode,
(01:09:35):
subscribe to YouTube dot com, forward slash R and B
Money
R and B Money.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Honey, we are.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Take Valoti.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
We are the authorities on R and B ladies and Gentlemen's.
My name is Tank, I'm Jay Valentine.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
This it's the R and B Money Podcast authority on
all things R and B. Exquisite, exquisite. The level has
just gone regal.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
There's R and B Royalty in the building and Royal
Royalty in the building.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
One of the greatest songwriters of our generation ever walked
this ever walk this planet. You guys, ladies and gentlemen,
and mister John t oh.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Wow, yeah, really yeah, thank you. Yeah, he's here. We
believe it.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
No ship.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
You are than brother, Thank you you. I wore my
suit for you.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
Guys.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Man, you were doing this when I was trying. I
was trying.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
I was I saw you you know when when uh,
I remember, I remember when one of your your first
big checks. You got one of your first big checks.
This is probably ninety eight maybe was it ninety eight? Yeah,
and you you got the Jaguar, the jack Jaguar four door.
Did everybody wants No, it was the Bens. No the
(01:44):
Jaguar bubble Eye.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
No, Jazzy had the bubble Lie. I had the five fifty,
the five fifty. Why did I think you had the No,
I had the five fifty and I had dubs in
the ninety ninety eight.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Right, yeah, I remember your car was way better than
anything i'd ever Thank you. I get and I'm just watching.
I was just like, yeah, thank you too. If you
keep writing these songs, man, you too can be like John.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
I want to be like John. Now I'm washing legs,
then be on the fries.
Speaker 5 (02:18):
It's like the nigga I was. I was just moping
you had your own McDonald's.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Absolutely early, yeah, early.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I mean, I think, you know, we gotta go back there.
We got to go back to the beginning, even even
before the Sweet Ladies and all these things. Let's go
back to the beginning.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Where are you from, bro, I'm from Atlanta. You from
from the southwest.
Speaker 5 (02:49):
Atlanta, from the Swats. I am from the Swats.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Is that what it's called. They call it the Swats?
The Swats? Swats?
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Absolutely well, let's let's go back to the Swats. Okay,
let's do when somebody said, what up? What John Tey
brought up? Ben boy boy got something special, something on them.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Yeah. Yeah, I started out in church. I think just
probably like most.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
Of us did, singing, and you know, I was doing
television stuff like commercials and singing on television.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
No, just like acting. Oh shit, okay, you kids incorporated, right,
Kids Beat?
Speaker 5 (03:24):
I had Kids Beat and real News for kids on
Turner Broadcasting on TBS, seeing inn and you know that's
when Ted Turner was still the head of the company
and I was thirteen. Yeah, so I did it from
like thirteen to seventeen.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
How'd you get in that? It was? So I initially
landed it on open audition.
Speaker 5 (03:44):
My mom just took me, like she saw it, and
you know, I'd already had a couple of commercials under
my belt and she took me, you know, to do that.
And I got the audition and you know, and landed
the gig. Yeah, and so I was on yeh Saturday
mornings like so it started with like these little news
blurbs and you know, like you Ryan Cameron always makes
fun of me when he sees me. He's like, you know,
(04:05):
this is John Jay Austin for Kids Be and so
because that was like the sign off and then you
were buying out yep.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Right early and so from there.
Speaker 5 (04:15):
But I always had a passion for music, and I
was interviewing all these people on the show, you know,
sports people, entertainment people, and then I ended up being
able to go on our Senior Hall and he asked me,
you know what if I wanted to do anything else
in addition to what I was doing. I said I
wanted to sing, and so he had me sing with
(04:35):
the band and then he kept me around for the
whole show, like I come back from commercial, I'm singing
with the band and he let me hang out.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Dave Chappelle was on that night, which is a you know,
you are pouring champagne. Yeah, you know. Yeah, Man's.
Speaker 5 (04:52):
That he did this before us to not just the
writing thing, but this as well, Like, yeah, I was
interviewing people.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
I'm like, this is kind of what we're doing. Yeah,
he did this, I was doing that. I was doing that.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
It was you know, like Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan's, all
of these people.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
You interviewed all of them. Yes, people absolutely came through
your show. Absolutely absolutely. We got to find the archives man. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (05:18):
So if you see my Instagram, every year on Michael
Jackson's birthday, I post a picture of me and him
and it's this, you know, I'm like thirteen.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
These I wore glasses back then, had a silk shirt
on coming. He was doing the silk shirts then. Yeah,
you know that's crazy.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Yeah, and from and from there on our Senio Tease Williams,
who was absolutely Tease Williams saw it and she called
up to Turner and was like, you know who is
like got ine And you know, went up to New
York and met Kenny Ortisse who was at RCA Records
(05:59):
that was back, and that he had just signed s WV.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Not just signed, he signed.
Speaker 5 (06:03):
Him and they had done well, like so they had
done great, and so he was looking to sign you know,
someone else and so he you know, they flew me
up and you know, Tease had made that introduction and
I got my first record deal with RCA Records. I
was thirteen, you were thirteen. That was before I was.
That was and that preceded the writing. I was just
you know, all about the singing. It was, you know,
(06:26):
and New York back in those days, you know, to
see it, you know, walk through the office. At the time,
Rob Walker, who managed the Neptunes, was an assistant to
this cat named Dino, who was another an R. Steve
Stout was up there working for Loud under Steve Rifkins.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Yeah. Yeah, just the all of these people back in
those times.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
Yeah, that's incredible, bro, Yeah, that's incredible.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
So you signed first to RCA or you signed to
which one?
Speaker 5 (06:52):
I signed the RCA Yeah, OK, yeah, because it was
RCIVE at that time. No, it was just yeah, everything
was separate back then. That was before for it kind
of you know exactly exactly. So I signed and you
know was recording. That was back when, you know, that's
that's how I hooked up with you know, the like
(07:15):
Joe and the Neptunes, like Kenny Kenny Ortiz had founded
Neptunes earlier. This was back like you know, Chad had
to leave the sessions because he was still in school,
like he was going back to college and flying out,
and you know that was back when.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
You know, so do they work on your first album?
They worked on the first album.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
I still have like the demo of like a couple
of the songs and with like with like Joe.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Singing the demos but to Neptunes.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
Yeah that Pharrell had written for me at Dallas, Austin
at Dark and they and they were here and this
is back when I mean they had them staying in
like this holiday inn that was like around it. It
was like a kick door hotel. This is this, So
this is early Neptune. That's how I'm giving you the
picture of out early Neptunes.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
This is and you know, and then you know they
go on there And how did that process go though?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
I mean, because it's like, you know, you as an
artist at thirteen, like, yeah, you know, you probably have
some expectations too. I'm getting ready to I'm getting ready
to go there, you know, I'm ready to be him.
I'm getting ready, man, I am.
Speaker 5 (08:19):
I'm thinking like I'm gonna be you know huge, I'm
about to do this album.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
It's about to drop.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Because at the same time, you know, a childhood friend
that I had met around twelve usher, you know, was
already out doing He had called me a macout. So
it's like okay, and then he's you know, he's about
to drop. Can you get with it? It's like, oh man,
I'm getting you know, I'm next. I'm right behind my guy.
And then I went through a voice change and then
(08:49):
the administration that brought me in the acts new administration.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Came in, like y'all know how y'all. Y'all know how
that goes. Y'all know how I knew it?
Speaker 5 (09:00):
All right, kids, we got another kid we want to sign,
and that kid was Tyres. That was so that's how,
that's how we get.
Speaker 6 (09:09):
To Okay, let's get there. Let's get there, because now
you are faced with the music business absolutely right, where like, hey,
we got this new kid, and we want your song
for this new kid.
Speaker 5 (09:25):
Yeah, and it wasn't my so sweet lady. Troy Taylor
when he was with Charles Farah when they were the characters,
they also worked on my album as well, and so
and Carl Thomas was writing, and so you know, we
had had a bunch of songs. So Troy is the
one who really kind of pushed me into like, yo,
(09:47):
you ever thought about writing? And I was like, you know,
I mean, you know, he was like, you should try.
I hadn't written any song yet, and really, you know,
I kind of played around with it, but for yourself, no, no,
like I hadn't you know, all of the songs I
recorded other people.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Wrote and the problem yeah right right, I mean didn't
right for himself. Shit, you know that's where it starts.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Yeah, And so you know, Troy pushed me, and then
we like landed a couple of things on Jason Weaver
on seven O two, and so then I get, you
get deal after I get out of my deal, you know,
because that was now my way of just staying around
the business, like you said, the music business, and I
just wanted to be around it, you know, biding my
time until I could maybe get another shot at being
(10:33):
an artist. And so I'm writing and it's you know,
it's I'm getting some placements here and there, and you know,
then I get a publishing deal, you know, Valerie Patten
signs me to Chrysalis. I think I'm like fifteen at
the time, Like my mom had to sign the contract.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Everything exactly exactly.
Speaker 5 (10:52):
So, uh but then fast forward, so I'm home and
you know, I get a call from Troy and he's like,
you know, listen, I got an opportunity for you, and
if you're smart, you'll do it.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
And he was like, you know, if you're emotional, you
won't do it.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
And I was like, okay, but you don't try setting
up y'all.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Don't try you know what I mean, Troy setting it up.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
And so he's like, uh, you know, he's like, you know,
the you know, the record because we had the hook
for Sweet Lady. He's like, you're a sweet Lady and
I was like yeah yeah. He was like, you know,
I need some verses for I need you to, you know,
finish the verses and.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
We're gonna do it. They wanted for tyres.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
And I'm like, I don't want to help that nigga.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
He took my spot.
Speaker 5 (11:50):
Yeah right, you know, but then after you go, after
you get that out for about ten minutes, realize that,
you know, he he in Tyreese's mind, this is my spot.
Like I'm trying to I'm trying to be an artist.
I'm trying to be successful, just like you had.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Nothing to do.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
I don't know, you bro, Like yeah right, but you
know I got a deal. I'm popping, you know what
I mean, from the commercials to the deal. And so
I was like, okay, I'm gonna write the verses. I
wrote the verses. And that was back when you know,
this is before text.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
You couldn't you know, send songs.
Speaker 5 (12:30):
Nothing, nothing over the phone, right, you couldn't record nothing
on your phone. So, you know, Troy called me and
like my answer machine, pick up and let it play
and so I could hear it on the answer machine,
and then I wrote the verses and I called back
(12:51):
and left the melody of the verses on his answering
machine with the lyrics like that's how we did songs
over them, That's how we did songs over the.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Phone back then. Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
So Sweet Lady was written, you know, the verses, the
hook was done, but it was done on an answer absolutely,
and that's your first legitimate hit record, absolutely, absolutely. So
before that, let's let rewind a little bit. You do
your first publish, your fifteen What was that deal?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Like? Do you remember that deal? Do you remember like
the terms of that deal with the type of bridge
you got absolute fifteen? I remember.
Speaker 5 (13:27):
So I gotten that deal based on my first commercial
release was Mona Lisa's Can't be wasting my time going
to the Wayne's Brother's soundtrack with the Lost Boys. So
I signed my first publishing deal.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Was it was for eighty K.
Speaker 6 (13:44):
Okay, fifteen eighty K, all right, how much you got
it up front?
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Eighty I got on Lady K eighty K up front.
I got small set of twenty five. Yeah I didn't.
Speaker 6 (14:00):
I made it though, I'm gonna have to sell some
more dope.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
Yeah, so you know I got that up front. It
was three years, and you know, you have to meet
your song delivery commitment to get the exactly you know
what I mean.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
So it was.
Speaker 5 (14:20):
Four holy written songs, which if you write fifty percents,
that's eight songs. People never people never do that math, right,
because it's in It's twelve exactly, it's in the contract,
holy written song.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Like it's only five songs. I'm about to kill them, like,
no you're not.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
No, you're not. You need ten.
Speaker 5 (14:39):
You need fifteen released released, not just.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
Release. See we're giving them label on a major label, right.
Speaker 5 (14:51):
Yeah, So I went into suspension my first I did.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I didn't mean the commitment, right, I didn't need the
commit Yeah, you know she.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
Guy over here who was actually putting out on his
own album too, and you.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Gotta love this, you know, I love it now. It's amazing.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
But my best clause in the contract was I got
the reversion clause. So everything came back to me in
ten years.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Yeah, you're only fifteen anyway, So it's ten years after,
you know, because I read up with them a few times,
you know, Valerie and I stayed in business for a
while over there at Chrysalis, and but yeah, everything came
back to me.
Speaker 5 (15:30):
I don't know, I guess about twenty eighteen. Yeah, so
all of the yeah stuff stuff happens when you're not
emotional exactly exactly. No, I learned that early. I had
to relearn it, of course, over and over and over again.
So sweet Lady drops, Sweet Lady drops.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
I'm newly hanging out with Tyres at that time. Yeah,
because RCA had signed a group called Elements of Life
that was on the same production company I was signed to.
You know what I'm saying, What was my guy that
was over there, Kevin.
Speaker 5 (16:09):
Oh gosh, gosh, Kevin, because that's who dropped me, Kevin,
Kevin Evans, Kevin Kevin Evans, and Anthony oh gosh, who
was right up under him. I can't remember Anthony Morgan.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Kevin Kevin Evans when he signed EO Element's Life. Then
he was like I went and sang and performed for him.
Was like, we want you to next.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Him.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Yeah, I mean not to fast forward. But then then
when Kevin got pushed out, I was I got pushed
out too. So anyway, you know, it slice two times.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
So this drops.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
It was a meeting Tyreees for the first time. I'm like,
this dude is different. That's when you had the thing
right here. And he was mad at because everybody thought
he was Tyson Beckford.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Yes he was.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
He was angry, like we were. We was walking the
streets in New York and oh my god, Tyson man,
no fucking Tyson.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I was like, it's not a bad remind me to
tell you. Let's go.
Speaker 5 (17:21):
We're at a New Year's party, uh for the you know,
the the Christmas part at the Mayor of Atlanta throws.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
This was in during Cassimes.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
You know.
Speaker 5 (17:30):
Era and a friend of my wife's, my wife had
a bachelor party in Vegas and they went to go
see Tyson Beckford, you know, when he was doing the Chippendale.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
She goes up.
Speaker 5 (17:45):
My wife's goes up to Tyres and it was like, also,
good to see you. We we loved the show last week.
You were amazing.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
And Tyres is like looking at her, like, you know,
she was like in Vegas, we wed to show in
Vegas and you know in this she goes off. He
leans over to me. He's like, she thinks I'm Tyson
Beckford after all, this was old Casinia. Yeah, not too
long ago, twenty sixteen. Maybe after all these movies still
(18:16):
haunting him, Tyson back is still haunting you. Just obabe.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
You not?
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Yeah, so so so sweet lady drops it's a smash
because I can tell by the way ty is walking.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
He's walking he has a smash He's talking smashy. Yeah, yeah,
what changes?
Speaker 3 (18:45):
I know everything changes, but what but what what can
you pick out at that moment when it didn't get
you out of suspensions.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
That by that time I had, Yes, I had had
a couple of other songs come out, and yeah, so
I was out of suspension.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
You know.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
I think by that time I hooked up with Noontime.
You know, we were you know, still like getting our
collaborations together.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
So it was like a we you know, it felt good.
Speaker 5 (19:15):
It was like a validation cause it's like, man, like
now I'm turning on the radio all the time, and
then you watch the song crack the top ten, you know,
R and B and it's like, you know, I think
it made it to like number eight and I'm seven
number eight something.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Like that, and it's like, wow, this is a real
bona fide you know record, and.
Speaker 5 (19:35):
You know, I think from there it just it motivated
me more to want to, you know, put more songs
on the radio. Then it kind of became about you know,
you go from I want to write, so I want
to get placements, then so I want to get placements.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
To now I want to get singles. Yea.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
Now it's like, you know, it goes from I want
to get singles to now I want to get first
singles the second you know what I mean, like I
want to be you know, and then from there it's
like I want us to be the go to guys,
Like now you come to us, Yeah, Because.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
It's like before you actually have a hit record.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Even sometimes when you do have that first hit record
one or two, you're a guy that people will listen
and accept records for. But there becomes a point in
time when it's like, okay, let's book the session. Yes, right,
there's a process. That's a real process. If John Tay
in with X, Y and Z.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Because Johntay's record is going.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
To be he's going to deliver, it's going to deliver
something exactly. And when did that change? When did that
happen for you?
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Ah? Man?
Speaker 5 (20:39):
I think that happened, man, it was because it was
post Sweet Lady. I think we started to get those opportunities.
It was it was two records when be Cox and
I did Get Gone for Ideal, Hm, I love thank you.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
That was, you know, I think Lee, yeah alone, pack
your bags, Yes, get the hell on. Yeah, because I
don't want you no, no, Yeah, that was the record
was great.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
I was inspired by a real person. I bet it was.
It absolutely was, absolutely was before you could block people.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Yes, this was you know.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
She she also inspired I Miss You for Lee.
Speaker 5 (21:29):
But you know, back in the day when she used
to try to bring that up, I would be quicker,
you know, I inspired I miss you.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
I would also be like, you also inspired Get Gone.
So there's that feel because I married Min I'm not
even gonna do it. Just just let's keep going.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (21:49):
So so it was Get Gone that because that record
showed like these guys can do records on new artists
and get a new artist happen, you know what I mean.
So that's one thing, you know, And then for me
it was like the second time because we had ty
rees and now we have Ideal.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
But then yeah, be Cox did Get Gone. Yeah, the
guy one of the guys from ideal is his cousin
or something? Right?
Speaker 4 (22:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (22:20):
Yeah, yeah, who produced I don't want to, Donnie and
Jazzy Fair producer.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
I don't want to.
Speaker 5 (22:28):
And then when I don't want to came then it
was like, Okay, these guys are for real. They're doing
real hits because you like, I don't want to win
number two on the charts with no video, and you know,
and we all from the era of like how important
videos were and you had to have a video, you know,
(22:49):
and you know, number two it was on the Next
Friday soundtrack before it was on Romeo Must Die Socks.
It was on two soundtracks. It was on Next Friday.
First you was getting paid? Yeah, yeah, ship, what did
you buy?
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Man? What's the first? What's the first? Crazy John Ta?
It might have been that Bens. I mean it might
have been that Ben. It was not on the streets, No,
it was yeah, it was brand new. Yeah, I think
that was it. Yeah, I have to pay the overage
to be the first. No, no, no, man.
Speaker 5 (23:26):
I found a guy in Athens, Georgia who got one
for me, and I drove up to Athens and and
you know, I drove it back.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
I was killing that noontime parking lot. Same way you'll
travel for a woman, you'll travel for a car. I
flew to LA to pick up a car once you
should and shipped it back. But I like, you know,
I need to see it. Yeah, fly out there.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
When your money get different.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Even rich for a long time money and your money
get different, you know you have particular taste.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Ye, I need I need to Yeah, I need all
new cars don't smell the sad. I wanted to see
(24:23):
how because I had just gotten the Black card, and so.
Speaker 5 (24:27):
I wanted to heavy one, the heavy one, right, the
one that made Now now a lot of cards are
made out of that, but like the black was the first.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
One, and I just I was just like I wanted
to see if I can do the whole thing. And
I handed them and they swipe it, and I'm like, wow,
that's cool that the whole car. That was a whole
I need to know this. Oh, were you with a
Black card? And for people that don't understand, he's talking
(24:57):
about the American Express Vorian right, smell that Centurion.
Speaker 6 (25:06):
Yeah, and it's the unlimited you can you can go
purchase a jet. Yeah, they gonna want that jet, like
they want to jet. Yeah, well, but you go purchase one.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
By the time I got this, I was like twenty five.
Oh wow, small, small set twenty five, small, twenty five.
This is you know, we Belong Together is out. This
is all of it everything. I mean he wrote we
Belong Together at twenty four Yeah what yeah, around Yeah,
(25:38):
I think we were around that time.
Speaker 7 (25:40):
Yeah, yeah, at that time it was yeah know I
was yeah know, he was in it. I was in
it for the good and for the bad, for the
good and for the bad.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
My question, as we go through these progressions with you know,
so many records, what are you feeling as what is
the artist John T. Austin feeling like, because there has
to be moments all of this where you're like.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
These are my children could be this could be broke
my career as an artists. Yeah, maybe I should.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
Absolutely. I said it a hundred times. I said it
a hundred times. I you know, I'm conflicted about, you know,
giving records away. You know, I'm conflicted about it.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Was almost like.
Speaker 5 (26:30):
You ever see the movie Happy Gilmour, Yes, you know,
how like he started doing really well at golf, but
he kept telling people he was a hockey player. Like
you know what I mean, I'm like, I'm an artist
and you know, but I'm like, I want to hold
on to something. And my manager, Chris Hicks, you know,
he would always have to talk me out, he would,
(26:52):
you know, but he would say, listen, the only reason
you hang on to records is if you are not
confident that you can make another one. But I believe
you can make another one. So let's give that we
have an opportunity to place these records and put these
records on people who are coming out. You'll get your shot.
(27:13):
I don't know when it's gonna happen, but yes, So,
like it's it is frustrating. It was frustrating because like
even though I'm making all of these hits, I'm like,
you know, man, I you know I can do this,
Like you know, I'm.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Singing the demos. They're you know, they're doing my demo
note for note no for you know, right, So it's
like you're hearing yourself right the radio. Absolutely absolutely a
version of yourself. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
So it's you know, like to the point where like
when we were talking about when can't help but Wait
came out for Trey songs, like getting calls like.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
You wrote that, didn't you. I can tell like it's.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Your even what you're talking about, because I didn't know. Yeah,
we were just talking about it. I was like, I'm
replaying the record of my mind and I just hear
you you have vibrato. I hear the whole thing. I
was like, that's for damn sure, John T. Austin record.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
John T. Austin could have diad yes, yeah, could have
put out easily.
Speaker 7 (28:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
And it's so it becomes.
Speaker 5 (28:18):
Right right, and you're happy for that, Like you're not
like I'm I'm not happy that anybody else got to hit.
It's just kind of like your own personal war that
you're fighting. It's like, man, what do I have to do?
You know, like I'm because I'm celebrating their success and
not jealous of it. But man, I would like to
be an artist as as well.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
You know.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
But you know, we kept writing, what's the record that
you didn't want to give away? Is there one that
you just like, fuck.
Speaker 5 (28:51):
Man, I'm trying to what's a Then there's one that
stands out. I'm just trying to think if that's the
one I want to go with. I think it might
have been. No, it wasn't can't help but wait because
we did that specifically for Trey with Stargate.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
I think I don't want to.
Speaker 5 (29:20):
Like at the time because it wasn't for Aaliyah. Okay,
you know we did it and then Chris heard it.
Chris Hicks heard it and was like, oh, this is
this is getting played you know for Aleah.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
I was there too. Yeah, yeah, you were in there
on a Sony Studios in New York.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
We was like that make a cold man, oh man,
than you fucking rits. You need to write like that.
You see how you writing like that will copy your
doubles like view that.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
I need to repeat some stuff, right, okay, and then
you would you would do the telephone, and so you
need the telephone.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Telephone, man, the telephone like all that stuff. Phone kind
of was like an early auto tune thing. I think
I was the because when you get excited about the telephone,
but the telephone, the telephone, the telephone on the telephone. Right,
(30:23):
I got that from you.
Speaker 6 (30:24):
So I'm telling to interview y'all real real quick, real quick,
come over, come over. I got I got both, I
got both of you guys in the room, and for
a long time, people did not know that that was
Tank's voice.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
People didn't know that. And because I want to were
you even credited on there?
Speaker 3 (30:53):
I didn't get credited on there till late That's what
I'm saying, Like, so people people found out right and
then they I think people themselves just credited me and
then ended up as but it's not on the project.
As a fan right now, I need I need the backstory.
I have to have the backstory. So we give you
my perspective because this perspective more important.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
But I heard him telling it.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
I love it because this is more important. We're at
another studio recording, ye me.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
I think Jerry's with me. I don't know if Cliff
is with me.
Speaker 5 (31:25):
You down at Chunk King right, because we were at
Son of you guys worrying probably probably, and he was like, uh,
he was like uh, he's like a leave recording recording
around the corner.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
I was like, oh, shoot, let's go over there, you
know what I'm saying, check on her and see what's
going on. And so, you know, we walking the streets
in New York, run into the LEA session. As soon
as we walk in, She's like, oh, Tank can do it.
And then Johntay's like, can do it?
Speaker 1 (31:52):
You have no music out at this point. No, okay,
but we knew he was a sang right, but my
background singer anymore?
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Are you still a back kind for genuine? I'm fighting
to be you still want to do it? I'm damn right.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
I mean to this day you still I still want
to sing backgrounds?
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Right?
Speaker 1 (32:12):
I want to sing background And Johnny was like getting
the booth, I was like, this is wow. I just
want to say here right, yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Getting the booth and John Tay of course, John Tay sings.
He gives me the notes, just think me, give me,
give me the.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
And sing that. I think we spent about like five
ten minutes or that sing that like that's a stack
head because he then he put like a mid no,
it's mad crazy.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
I just come out the booth and I'm like, that's
it cool and we're just talking and listen of it.
Liz is talking to me about my style and what
I need to do and you need to dress like
and you know you're like a one man Josy and
you better and john Day's like, yeah, you're do the thing.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
But Johnsy was like, you know when we listen to
the record like I'm in there taking notes because I
had already heard this record. I'd already heard the record.
And then when she's when he put her on it,
I was just like this, Ninka is cold.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
Because I was in line, you know what I'm saying.
It was him and it was static.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
So for my label, you know, even at Blackground, you
know what I'm saying, their go to was we need
static or we need John Tea. So I was in line,
just kind of waiting my turn to be sick, waiting
for my again, I would say, for my writing to
get on that level because I wasn't there yet, you
know what I'm saying. So these were the guys that
(33:34):
I was just kind of like watching, kind of in
awe of, you know what I'm saying. So when they
put me in the studio on that on that, I
didn't think nothing of it. But then you know, as
as it looks in twenty twenty three, wow, thank you.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
Absolutely, thank you, thank you. Yeah. Now okay, now give
us the before he gets to the studio. Okay, Yeah,
So we were in there she so Alia had cut
most of the record, and you know, hearing this part,
it's like okay, like you know, it's got to be
some somebody that asked, because she was like, I think
(34:07):
somebody else should do this. And so we was like okay, because.
Speaker 5 (34:11):
It was you know, the story of come On. So
she's calling you know, her dude, her dude, and so
it's like, okay, she just touched story wise right too.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Yeah, so yeah, yeah, so.
Speaker 5 (34:25):
We thought like okay, at this point of the story,
it's you know, him participating now, like you know what
I mean.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
And so it was like a call out back to her, okay.
And so it's like, you know, and who is saying
this ship like who you know?
Speaker 5 (34:41):
And we're going through like you know, I think Usher
might have come up. You know, we're throwing people out,
and then Tank walks in.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
And we're like like Tank can do it. That's crazy,
And we said I think we said g I think
we did say genuine. So it was like, but you
never walked check on your friend. I mean like, yeah,
it's crazy.
Speaker 5 (35:06):
But that's like such, that's the yeah, that's the juice
of the song, right, Like that's the you know that part,
Like that's the sing along part.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
That's the you know, that's the flavor and then what
two years ago, three years ago, you get another check
for it?
Speaker 5 (35:21):
Because Kaylannie, yeah yeah, can I absolutely which is k
Lonnie that you didn't call Chief to come and do
his part again?
Speaker 1 (35:31):
He might have done it for you. Yeah, come on
stage sometimes sold up shows, stole out show, yes, yeah no,
because that's and that leads me to my next question.
Speaker 5 (35:46):
How does it feel to be sampled at this younger
age that you are, like, you're not seventy eighty years
old when you got to clear the.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
Sam being like, oh, who want to like what he's singing?
I don't like what he's saying on that my wholesome
song into a whole song. Yeah, you know you're still
a young dude.
Speaker 6 (36:10):
Man, they're sampling your music, Kaylane Bryson Tiller, like they're
sampling your records already.
Speaker 5 (36:18):
Absolutely, No, it's a it's a great feeling. I mean
it makes me, you know, it like makes you feel
sing because it's like, okay, the younger generation. You know,
it's funny that you say, like the seventy year old guy, right,
because you like you don't.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Want to be that. I had to call a couple
of them stuff. So that's why. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 5 (36:37):
I'm sorry they feel like, you know, but I don't
want to be the person that's like, oh, you know,
you know music should be this way.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Yeah, you know, you got to have more respect than
blah blah blah.
Speaker 5 (36:51):
Because when I meet young writers, young artist, young producers,
what I've learned.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
Is they do respect it. They know it. They follow
it like they have nothing but respect and the admiration.
Speaker 5 (37:03):
That's why they're sampling like they they're paying you a compliment,
you know to me, so like and a check.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
So when it comes through, like you know, I'm like,
it's I always listen for the creativity of it, Like, wow,
have you ever not clear something I'm trying to see?
Speaker 5 (37:22):
I don't think so, yeah, I don't think so you
know what, No, I think there might have been like
an ed M version of I can't remember of something
I might not have cleared.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
I love EDM, but it wasn't for whatever reason. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (37:39):
Yeah, it felt like you know, something that I'm hearing
in just like a one way bar in Amsterdam, you know,
like off that, but not but not in the Flyway,
not the fly Amsterdam that we're talking.
Speaker 6 (37:54):
Nothing that I love going to sample John say as records.
Make sure it's fly, you know, make sure its music
is flying.
Speaker 3 (38:05):
Absolutely, absolutely, I want to talk about I want to
talk about your experience with Mariah Carey.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Okay, because that's you know, before we get to Maracay.
I do have to let y'all know for I don't
want to You know, Aliyah didn't want to cut that. No,
I did not know that. She didn't want to cut
that one. She wasn't sold and I don't want to.
She wanted to cut I Miss You. That was what
got us to New York.
Speaker 6 (38:31):
And you know, so how do you sell because now
the writers need to see this. How do you sell
a major superstar? How do you sell them the record
that they don't want but you know that they need.
Speaker 5 (38:45):
Right, So you know, I can't take credit for that.
That was all Chris Hicks who made that. He was like,
I tell you what, let's make a deal. You can
cut I Miss You, but you have to cut this
one as well.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
That's the deal. And she was like okay, And then
when she got on it, it was Chris has always
been good with conversations. Yea, I know, yeah, absolutely is
from the area. You know what this feels feels, right,
(39:26):
I like the way you're talking to me. Yeah, so
so you know, so that's how that's how we got
her on it. Wow, that was it. So Mariah Carey, Yes,
what is that call?
Speaker 4 (39:37):
Like?
Speaker 1 (39:40):
So the call comes from j D. Jay's like, you know,
come to uh, you know, come to studio tonight.
Speaker 5 (39:48):
At this point, you know, obviously JD has such a
long history with her, you know, starting would always be
my baby, going back to that, right and and you know,
now be Cox has done you know, songs with her,
so they're like a nucleus.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
And but I was excited.
Speaker 5 (40:06):
So he's like, you know, Mariah's gonna be here tonight,
you know, come down, and you know, she gets there
and Mariah doesn't show up till like midnight. That's her session.
Session starts at midnight. She likes to She's a night out,
absolutely likes to likes to write and work you know late.
So you know, at the time, I didn't I have
I've had to learn that.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
The first day I showed up, I was there at
like six p m. Just six hours. Yeah, what she had.
I mean, I'm like, you know, let me know, now,
let me know when she comes in, you know, let me.
Speaker 6 (40:43):
And this is levels right, because I'm sure at this
point you have massive records by this point, yeah, you
don't have a Mariah.
Speaker 5 (40:51):
We don't have them or this is still Mariah. So
what is interesting is that this is Mariah, I mean
off of Glitter movie in this.
Speaker 1 (41:04):
And so there were a couple of people around me
who were like, why are you gonna spend your time
on this? Like and they thought the ship itself, thought
the ship itself.
Speaker 5 (41:19):
I have a fast rule about legends, like legends stay legends,
you know what I mean. It's like that right, you've
earned that, You've earned that, and you're always one hit away.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
I don't care if you ain't.
Speaker 5 (41:32):
Had a hit in ten years if you call you
know what I mean. That's how I feel about legends.
And at that point, you know, this is once we
dy walking through the door, like what do you mean?
Speaker 1 (41:44):
We don't write and we're gonna look into these cameras.
That's what it should be.
Speaker 6 (41:51):
They've earned it, absolutely, and if you are a hit maker,
go give them that hit worker one hundred percent one
hundred percent.
Speaker 5 (41:58):
So Mariah gets there and I'm just sitting in the
corner just quiet her and Jamaine and Brian are catching
up and you fly on the wall, just fly on
the wall, just you know, just sitting because again this
is so, this is after Aliyah, this is after Chris Brown,
(42:19):
this is after you know what I mean, this is yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
This is only popping, this is yo yo yeah.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (42:27):
So you know, after about thirty minutes we're sitting there.
The first song that Jamaine played so can I get
your number? And they already had that him and Brian
already had that hook, and so he was like okay.
She was like, oh, I want to start with this,
like do some verses, and so then you know, she turns,
(42:47):
She's like, and who are you? Starts that way she
was like and she was like who are you? She
was like I'm guessing. She's like are you a part
of this? And I was like I look at Jamaine
and Jamaine is like yeah, yeah, he writes with us.
And she was like, okay, all right, let's rite. Let's
(43:11):
start like it wasn't no what have you done? Yeah,
you know, just like okay, I just need to know
who you were, and now we're good, and then you know,
we hit it off from there and Mariah is like
a brilliant songwriter in her own right, so, you know,
being able to collaborate with someone like so the experience
(43:34):
of someone who can write for themselves, like she doesn't
really need anyone to write, you know, but throwing out ideas,
the way that she hears things, the way that she
rhymes words and melodies.
Speaker 1 (43:47):
And then you're also hearing her sing, and so it's
like one of those moments.
Speaker 5 (43:53):
The first time I had a moment like that, we
go back to Tony Braxton, but it was like the
second time when I first worked with Tony and Tony
walks into booth and you like, hear that voice come
over the mic and you're like, I said, this is
Tony Brax and the same thing so before Mariah even won,
Like just her sitting there with the pad writing and
she's humming, and I'm like trying not to like smile,
(44:14):
but I'm like, damn, this is Mariah Carried.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
I think I had that moment when we worked on
ron Isley. Yeah, yeah, man, I was like, he hit
one of them. This is a dream come true. He's
really in the booth singing one of my records. When
did you have that moment any artist? For you?
Speaker 3 (44:39):
I'm like, I'm like the fan you are, you know,
so everybody when they get into yeah, because it's like,
I don't know, man, I don't It's an unexplainable feeling.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
It's just like to have these type of people singing
rect just to have.
Speaker 3 (45:01):
The voice, like you've heard this voice everywhere, You've heard
this voice on massive records. You're saying this voice, and
now this voice in a sense belongs to you.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
You're a part of this voice. Now you're sharing in this.
That's a great one. Yeah, that's a great one. That's Gladys.
Speaker 3 (45:23):
That was my first time where I was just like,
no way, Like, first of all, she's singing in one
take and that's literally one top to bottom.
Speaker 2 (45:34):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (45:35):
She studied it for about ten minutes, ten fifteen minutes,
played it over and over so and she said I'm ready, yes, yes,
will say it all, set it all up. She went
top two bottom, no auto tune stuff, you know, just
some slight verb raw top to bottom. What else would
(45:57):
you like?
Speaker 1 (45:58):
That's how they I looked at it then there I
was like, you don't even know what to say, Like
maybe we should tell her to do it again. I
feel like I did something here, right, I'm gonna just
tell her. You're not gonna call me back. I'm gonna
tell her do it again?
Speaker 3 (46:15):
Great, great, Yes, let's just let's get one more, one more, like,
let's just get one more and and and you see
where we end up. See what we gotta She did
one more.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
Top to bottom, flawless. That's crazy. It come out, come on, out,
come on, thank you, coming by God, bless you. Yes,
that's crazy. Do you right? Shake it off? In that
first session, so we did. Can I get your number?
The first night? Second night was shake it off? Okay,
(46:49):
second night was shaking. So we had the mic on
the demo. It was me, Mariah and Mariah's assistant. Whose
idea was that? Was Mariah because that's the classic ship,
that's Mariah. I got to give her. I gotta give her.
(47:12):
I've never written a song with any of those old
like everybody in never written a song with that.
Speaker 5 (47:21):
I was like, yeah, man, that's all that's classic. M
see all day, all day. So can't I get your numbers?
Shake it off?
Speaker 1 (47:38):
It's like that. Yeah, and then and then we were
done like that. Those were all in those sessions. And
you know, so l A.
Speaker 5 (47:49):
Reid, you know who was ahead of death jam at
the time, he was like, listen, like, I feel like
we got something. I feel like, you know, shake it
Off can probably be our first single. But I think
y'all got one more in you, so I'm gonna send
her back down.
Speaker 1 (48:08):
And that was the We Belong Together session. That was
the you know, so it started with la It's like,
I think y'all got one more and sent her back down.
Speaker 2 (48:20):
You know.
Speaker 1 (48:22):
This time it was Manuel Seal for your Seal. Hey, listen, listen.
Speaker 6 (48:29):
Yeah, because unless unless you're in the music business, don't
really know that name. It's not like you know, he
never really came outside like that. No, but if you
in this music business.
Speaker 1 (48:40):
Man, you seal.
Speaker 5 (48:43):
It's fucking special. I hope you see this, brother, Absolutely,
you are, absolutely, yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:48):
You're special. That guy is special. Those records that he's
been a part of incredible, Yeah, incredible.
Speaker 6 (48:56):
So yeah, you know we we we give real have
to respect shoutouts flowers like yeah, man, yeah, we respect
the game up here.
Speaker 1 (49:05):
No, no, you have to.
Speaker 5 (49:06):
And that's why, I mean, that's why it's important for
me to bring him up too, like, you know, cause
it's there is you know, these big songs. I feel
like there could probably be some temptation to like want
to hoard credit for yourself, but there's enough for it.
Everybody made such a significant contribution. Like you know, I
(49:27):
tell people like, you know it's Mariah and I wrote
we Belong Together.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
Together, like you know what I mean. So like she
was just as much.
Speaker 5 (49:36):
You know, it wasn't like a word here, a word there.
No Mariah's in the studio writing the records. We wrote
a song together, Manuel and JD you know, produced it,
and so we worked on this record. It was like
we worked till like five six in the morning, and
I laid the demo for it and demo to there's
(49:58):
a John Te demo to we Belong Together.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
There is an n F T. I want.
Speaker 5 (50:07):
You know who probably has it is La because he
told me later he was like I knew she was
gonna have something because she left Atlanta from the studio,
landed in New York and l A was like she
woke me up and was like, you have to hear
this record. She came by and played him my demo
(50:30):
Like that's how excited she was about the record, Like
you got to hear this song.
Speaker 1 (50:45):
I'm gonna go pick up my son after this and
we're gonna roll today.
Speaker 2 (50:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:52):
Yeah, that guy is turning his piano.
Speaker 5 (51:03):
Yeah, were about to put some pressure on the pressure
man himself, because I mean he wrote that too. Oh
yeah yeah yeah, come on, like I don't know s
yeah yeah, we're still writing hits to this day.
Speaker 1 (51:16):
Yeah, look shout out to all right Lynx. That's the home.
You've written a lot of songs. Man, we haven't probably even.
Speaker 2 (51:29):
Got to have them.
Speaker 3 (51:30):
We haven't gotten to a third things you've done. There
were a lot of songs written before you. Oh yes,
it might have inspired you to become.
Speaker 1 (51:44):
The man you are.
Speaker 3 (51:50):
We would like to tap into the greatness that you
consider great. Oh yes, by understanding your.
Speaker 4 (52:00):
Top five, your top five, top five, your top five, horsing.
Speaker 2 (52:20):
All and be sold. You got to have, you got
to know you got John Yeah, Ron yeah, yeah, you
(52:46):
know with.
Speaker 1 (52:46):
The Teddy Teddy pindagras.
Speaker 2 (52:47):
Yeah you.
Speaker 8 (52:51):
Five, John, take Austin, your top five R and B singers,
(53:15):
Stevie Wonder start off, come on, come on, come on,
come on, come on.
Speaker 1 (53:20):
Otis Redding, whoa Sam Cook? No, come on now, come
on with anything like this, Whitney Houston. The voice, the voice, right,
the voice of all voices. Right, I'm riding with the
home team. I'm going usher come.
Speaker 2 (53:41):
On, I'm going with.
Speaker 1 (53:49):
Absolutely, I'm going with the squad, rocking with the squad. Absolutely,
not bad, not mad at you at all.
Speaker 2 (53:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (53:56):
Yeah. Top five R and B songs.
Speaker 5 (54:04):
As by Stevie Wonder kick it off absolutely, When a
Woman's fed up.
Speaker 1 (54:12):
Lot of now, yeah, I don't want to find had
Listen to the song. Listen to the song on the record, please. Yeah.
So let's see as when a woman's fed up. Michael
(54:37):
Jackson's Lady in My Life. Yes, yes, I think that's
that's made it to the top five a few times
it is.
Speaker 5 (54:48):
Yeah, I'm gonna give you the last two, but real quick.
I told I asked JD one time, if Michael came
to you to work, you know, would you work? When
he was like, man, nah, I tell him to go
back to quick see that's where he belongs. And he
I was like, you know, but we can do some
records for Michael. He was like, not like they can
do him. I say, you don't think we could do
(55:09):
like we've done a Lady in My Life. JD goes,
when the hell we did one of them?
Speaker 1 (55:17):
Every day? I haven't seen I ain't seen one of
them get out the door. When when they got out
of door, I said, oh ship just yeah, so uh,
lady in my life, never too much Luther Vandra Yeah yeah.
(55:37):
What's that sound in the beginning of that?
Speaker 4 (55:39):
So?
Speaker 2 (55:39):
What is that? What is it.
Speaker 1 (55:43):
Before kick in? It's this sound that comes in in
the beginning of that song. Could be as a basis
something like, man, it's the call out to me? Yeah,
and a door?
Speaker 2 (56:04):
What a song?
Speaker 1 (56:05):
What a record? An artist? But I got something else
for him, Chief, I got something else for him. We've
never done this. What haven't you done? I want to
know your top five songwriters because you are who you are, brother, Yeah,
I would like to know your top five songwriter.
Speaker 5 (56:25):
One of my pix is going to be controversial, so
we'll save him at the end.
Speaker 1 (56:31):
I've already named one of his songs, I guess, but
uh so Stevie Wonder babyface line. Now Richie the man
who bought Beverly Hills.
Speaker 6 (56:49):
Off the Pin, off the pin talking about Pimp and
your pen Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (56:54):
Pimp r Kelly yeah, m hm mm hmm.
Speaker 9 (57:01):
Jermaine Dupree, everybody in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1 (57:11):
Yeah, Hall of Fame, say what you won't.
Speaker 5 (57:14):
Absolutely, yes, that's a great list. Yeah, thank you, thank you,
because you know we're we're all fans. Yeah, no matter
what if we do it or not, we're all fans.
Speaker 1 (57:25):
Yeah. So for you as how I look at you.
Speaker 5 (57:27):
As a songwriter, for you to tell me who your
five guys are, five women, whatever it is, that's amazing, amazing.
Speaker 1 (57:33):
Okay, I like your list.
Speaker 3 (57:37):
We're gonna make the voltron Okay, Okay, We're gonna assemble
your R and B artists, the greatest, the super who
are getting the vocal from the performing style, from the styling,
from the passion of that artist, and who's gonna write
for that artist?
Speaker 1 (57:54):
Okay? Vocal vocal Stevie wonder again.
Speaker 5 (58:00):
Stevie is Temples, Steve Ballads, yes, right, achappella, straight ahead
vocal acrobatics, what however you want?
Speaker 3 (58:11):
Does it all performance style? Michael Jackson, that's gonna be fucking.
Speaker 1 (58:17):
Nuts voice Michael Nuts. Yeah, he's not gonna be He's
not gonna be alien.
Speaker 5 (58:24):
Because you also get Stevie playing to because his voice
play that's how he sings.
Speaker 1 (58:31):
Get on the hard mountain. Yeah, yeah, okay, it's the styling,
the styling Frank Sinatra. Yeah yeah, Frank was a my friend.
They called me, they call me absolutely absolutely yeah yeah.
(58:56):
The passion of the artist hard mm hmm mm hmm.
It's hard working. No one works hard.
Speaker 5 (59:03):
Dilegit absolutely, roller skates and things like well, how many
hours do you need to prepare?
Speaker 1 (59:10):
You need ten thousand hours?
Speaker 5 (59:12):
He's hitting the same handstanding the one time where the
one time where the dancer bumped into him and he
turned it into a move.
Speaker 1 (59:20):
Yeah, like no, I'm not gonna fall on these skates
like that. These people, I'm too nice. I'm about the
robots sweetness, sweetness, Yeah, I'm nice with it. Absolutely.
Speaker 5 (59:34):
I think he kind of turned into like a half split,
like I said, come on, I'm sick of all the point.
Speaker 1 (59:41):
Yeah, who's writing for this artist? I know who I
want to write that.
Speaker 5 (59:46):
So man, that's say you better not give it away.
That that's kind of, uh a toss up of what
but you know, can I say I'm writing.
Speaker 1 (01:00:06):
You get what you Listen. I was ready to fight you.
You got this mega artist and you ain't gonna write
God do right? You better write it? Like, man, I
don't want to give away my song I'm starting to
frustrate man right before. Yeah, I'm writing for them, yeah.
Speaker 5 (01:00:28):
Man, yeah, writing an all timer all timer for the
third or fourth and third or fourth thank you?
Speaker 1 (01:00:34):
Yeah, what you got, Chief? What you got? I ain't
saying no, nat to pay. I ain't saying no nation.
I ain't saying no Nick, ain't saying no names. Where
you was?
Speaker 4 (01:00:52):
Who?
Speaker 2 (01:00:53):
What you did?
Speaker 1 (01:00:55):
Don't say she. I ain't saying no. Yeah, we hear that.
We're here, now, we hear now. Okay, so you know
(01:01:17):
you watched the show. You know you know how this
thing goes. Man, we're here.
Speaker 5 (01:01:22):
This is the I ain't saying no name segment. Will
you tell us your story? A story funny or fucked up?
A funny and fucked up in the travels in the
times of John T.
Speaker 1 (01:01:35):
Austin. Okay, here we go. Hold on, this is John T. Austin.
Kids Beat. Oh God, if you've ever.
Speaker 6 (01:01:49):
Met a young lady that you wanted to be a
sweet lady, jeez, he started with kids beat.
Speaker 5 (01:01:56):
Huh.
Speaker 1 (01:01:56):
Cocaine is involved in this story. Ship. Ship ain't be
without you. You know, you can't be without the you feel. So.
Speaker 5 (01:02:07):
I ain't saying no names, but so we're in well,
I'm gonna say a couple of names, but it has
nothing to do with you know. But we're in Vegas
working on the Raymond Versus Raymond album. This is the
formation of the whole Oceans thing and whatever. And I
was beefing with someone else in the music business. They
(01:02:27):
were not in Vegas with us beefing, though I was beefing.
Speaker 1 (01:02:35):
Old a lady. I was in my I was emotional.
I was Carl Thomas Thomas emotions.
Speaker 2 (01:02:42):
Look at me. I can't stop crying my hardest.
Speaker 1 (01:02:52):
I was reaching for rain. I'm grasp yes, you know,
Jess and I had you know, was in the you know,
the heights of just a really stellar drug problem. Uh,
you know, it's one for the books.
Speaker 5 (01:03:12):
I went through a period where I did enough cocaine
to probably kill a Kentucky Derby level thoroughbred horse.
Speaker 1 (01:03:19):
But so I'm, you know, just upset at this person.
And we go out to Dre's.
Speaker 5 (01:03:31):
And you high, I'm high, and I'm rifling shots someone
you know, and I'm just venting. I think j d
Or be Cox makes a joke about it. I storm
out of dres By myself. I've left everybody in there
(01:03:53):
and I and you can't just storm out of dres
because elevated.
Speaker 1 (01:03:59):
St the hallway a lot of breath.
Speaker 2 (01:04:01):
But I have.
Speaker 1 (01:04:04):
Stormed out of this place, but you also have performing
exactly exactly. I get it. So then I go to
the Spearmint Rhino. Why not?
Speaker 5 (01:04:16):
And I'm in the Spearmint Rhino, just me and my
lonesome in the vi P and you know, I start
to feel sick. I go to the bathroom and.
Speaker 1 (01:04:28):
I throw up, and then I feel better.
Speaker 5 (01:04:33):
And what would really make me feel better is if
you know, I did another bump, and that would like
get me back to where I was right And.
Speaker 1 (01:04:40):
So now I'm in the zone. And so this was
the era of two ways, not two ways blackberries. I
send off an email.
Speaker 5 (01:04:59):
H at about five o'clock Vegas time, and you know,
talking about how you know, I need people around me
who are solid.
Speaker 1 (01:05:13):
I need people arriving me who are going to ride
for me. And if you are not for me, then
you are against me. Send it to all of the
crew in Vegas. Send it to Mark Pitts. Send it
to Barry Weiss, who's that like a couple of other executives.
Speaker 5 (01:05:36):
Send it to everybody but the person I'm mad at
who has no idea that I'm mad at him, by
the way, and yeah, and then fired off of you
know that text. I won't say who the person was,
but and then the next day just rolled into the
studio like like nothing happened. Well, first I had to
(01:05:58):
the aforementioned black card. I left that in the spearmitt rhino,
so I had to.
Speaker 1 (01:06:01):
Go back and hit that.
Speaker 5 (01:06:04):
But I wasn't the only one because the person I
was like, you know, I left my MX here last night.
Speaker 1 (01:06:08):
You know which one is. I'm like, you know, it's
the black card that doesn't narrow it down.
Speaker 5 (01:06:13):
And I'm like wow, So there was there was. I
didn't feel bad. And so I go and see the
next day like nothing happens. Usher comes in and you know,
sits down. We're at the board and all he does
is he goes.
Speaker 1 (01:06:30):
Okay, and I'm like, yep, He's like okay. So that's
why I ain't gonna say you said. I ain't gonna
say I'm gonna say that somebody, Oh my gosh, what
(01:06:54):
was wrong with me? I was tripping matters of the heart.
Speaker 3 (01:06:56):
Man.
Speaker 1 (01:06:56):
It happened right, and cocaine and cocaine make the heart explode.
We're glad that your heart didn't explode me too. Yeah,
crazy enough. I never knew it was okay, brother, thank you.
I never knew that. I never knew that. Thanks. Thanks. Yeah, yeah,
(01:07:17):
welcome back, thank you? No, yeah, off it by the way,
just you know, for years, so there you go. We
need you, man.
Speaker 5 (01:07:26):
Yeah, brother, yeah, I'm and I'm running and doing jiu
jitsu so you know things.
Speaker 1 (01:07:33):
Yeah, things you need your heart for. So mister John T.
Speaker 3 (01:07:39):
Austin Sinatra, Yeah, now you really are you are Sinatra boy? Yes,
thank you, brother. I mean we've we've been great. We've
been doing this for too long, man, and you know,
just outside of friendships and brotherhood, man, just just what
(01:08:03):
you've done. Thank you as a peer, you know what
I mean, Like you are ship, you're him.
Speaker 1 (01:08:10):
Thank you so much. I appreciate you guys having me.
I've been looking forward to doing it. Yeah, you know,
we needed we needed to have. It's the R and
B Money Podcast, the authority on all things R and
B Absolute. How do we not have you? Thank you
so much. Thank you for having me. You're on the
You're on the board of authorities. Oh wow, I appreciate you,
aboy to start sending the names to you like yo.
You think they could come on there?
Speaker 5 (01:08:31):
It is.
Speaker 3 (01:08:34):
Right quite.
Speaker 1 (01:08:38):
That once wig that passed up on that record. You
can't come over here, Come come. I love you, guys,
you the greatest. Thank you, guys.
Speaker 3 (01:08:51):
My name is thank This is the R and B
Money Podcast, the authority on all things R and B
and we've just.
Speaker 1 (01:08:59):
Had our brother and one of the peace rating songwriters
of all time. It's John Tet. Thank God.
Speaker 3 (01:09:11):
R and B Money.
Speaker 6 (01:09:13):
R and B Money is a production of the Black
Effect podcast Network. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows. Don't forget to subscribe to and rate our show,
and you can connect with us on social media at
jy Valentine and at the Real Tank. For the extended episode,
(01:09:35):
subscribe to YouTube dot com, forward slash R and B
Money
Hosts And Creators
Tank
J. Valentine
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!