May 8, 2024 • 37 mins
Carvin Haggins is a Grammy Award Winning and Multi-Platinum Selling Song Writer, Producer, Engineer, Co-Founder of Karma Productions, Co-Creator of Forever Music Inc, and the creator of Ethical Music Entertainment. The Philadelphia native, who is half of the producing duo "Carvin and Ivan," has written hit songs for Mary J. Blige, Jill Scott, Faith Evans, Justin Timberlake, Raheem DeVaughn, and Musiq SoulChild. Carvin took a moment to sit down with me to discuss a two-decade-long career, songwriting, producing, childhood dreams, musical legacy, upcoming projects and thoughts on today's music!
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(00:00):
Welcome to the Mother Nos Show.I am mother No's God is so good.
Thank you for rolling with me.I appreciate the love and support.
Man. Let me tell you wegot a special guest today. Carvin Hagen's
is a Grammy Award winning and multiplatinum selling songwriter, producer, engineer,
co founder of Karma Production, cocreator of Forever Music, Inc. And
(00:24):
the creator of Ethic Music Entertainment.Carvin and his musical partner Ivan Barriers have
worked with some of the great youhear me from Chris Brown to Music Soach
Out, Jill Scott, Justin,Timberlay, Kanye West. The list goes
on and on. It's an honorto have him on my podcast because I'm
(00:46):
a huge fan. Welcome to theMother Nos Show. The man of the
hour, mister Carvin Haga, what'sup? Corvid deil Man. Thank you
for having me a Carvin, thankyou so much for speaking with me today.
How are you fairl Man? I'malways good man. It's not a
time that I'm not good. Ilike that. We got to take it
(01:08):
all the way back, take usback to how did you get into music
and for how long have you beenproducing? For a Carvin Man so that's
two different stories. But the firststory is I used to be a rapper.
Yeah, back back in the eighties, I was a rapper. I
was a part of a rap groupcalled Crusader's a bass, me and my
partner, my cousin Andre Dandridge,and then another guy named Theodore Life,
(01:32):
which is Tea Life's son. TeaLife was a music producer, is a
music producer who did an Evelyn ChampagneKing. So it started there, had
a rap group and you know,being in the hip hop world, and
then eventually hip hop started changing intoa conversation that I didn't want to have,
you know, so I kind ofbacked out of that and got involved
in the production by way of UppingUp Productions out of Willingborough, New Jersey.
(01:57):
The owner was Hal Russell, andI started working in his company and
we were doing all the commercials forPower ninety nine and Q one O two,
Stanley T's commercials, like all ofthe DJ's commercials. And from that
I met DJ Jazzy Jeff through thatconnection, and then I locked in with
Jazzy Jeff and got involved with aTouch of Jazz Productions, which was myself
(02:20):
Andre Harris Vita Al Davis, KeithPelzer, Darren Henson, and my partner
Ivan Barriers, and then of coursevalven Rom who's my i'd say, my
teacher of songwriting. So all ofus was a part of the Touch of
Jazz movement. So that's where myprofessional career started. As a kid,
what did you want to be whenyou grew up? You know, that's
(02:45):
a great question. I always wantedto be in the music industry, Like
I had a love for music.I remember in the mornings waking up to
wake up everybody. My mom hadme sitting on the edge of the bed
with all of my coat and everythingready for school. And at a certain
age, I think I was aroundabout eleven ten and eleven, I Jimmy
(03:06):
this. We had a stereo system, but we had the speakers, but
the connectors of the speakers were broken. So I figured out how to make
the system work. Man, Iwould stay up all night, like when
the Quiet Storm would come on,ow me up all night till like four
in the morning, listening to allof the music. Man the way it
would move me. One of thesongs Me and Missus Jones was one of
(03:28):
the records that just moved me likeYeah, Billy paul Man that record,
the pain in his voice made melike, I want to do I want
to do that, you know whatI mean? So that was music has
always been in But I'm a historybuff too, So one of my thoughts
was in history classes, like whywhy is Benjamin Franklin in the history books?
(03:52):
You know what I mean? Whyare we talking about George Washington?
And I was like, yo,I want my name to go down in
history like that, I want myname to be written in history. So
those two things coupled together, itkind of propelled me to where I am
right now. Looking back to thebeginning of your career, Carvin, did
you know that you are going tobe where you are today? Here's the
crazy thing, right, I knewsuccess was coming. I didn't know how,
(04:17):
But what I did know was thatwhatever it was going to take,
I was going to figure it out. Right. So it's always that thing
that's in you that make you likeyou like, I know I'm going to
do it right. Like It's it'sthat God voice that tells you like,
this is it, this is whatyou're doing. And once you hear that
voice, it's it's up to you. At that point, to make the
(04:40):
decision of am I going to continuefiguring it out and failing along the way,
or am I going to quit atthe first failure. So for me,
it was like, whatever it is, I'm going to figure it out
because that's just the way my mindworked. So whatever success is, how
to get there, I'll figure itout. So yeah, I always felt
(05:00):
like I was going to figure itout. Who or what inspires you in
your career? Man, that's againanother question. I came ready for you.
I mean, you're shooting them Jonesoff like an ar right now.
But here's the thing, right So, God is my is my ultimate inspiration.
That that's the thing that drives me. My children inspire me to continue
(05:24):
to keep going forward because I believein legacy, so I'm always on that
mission. But also I'm all abouthelping and community, so not my success
is not only for me. Mysuccess is for how can I help my
community? How can I help mypeople? I'm all black, so it's
(05:46):
all about how can I help myblack brothers and sisters get to where they
need to get to or lead themor show them or provide whatever it is.
That's what I'm working for. Howdo I build up my community.
Because I build up my community,we built up the world community. And
that's really it for me. Whendid you first discover your gift of songwriting?
Wow? So man, bro,like for real with these questions,
(06:10):
come on with it. But allright, So I got an older brother
by the name of Leon. Right, So when we were kids, my
older brother, you know, Igrew up with my mom, and you
know, my mom will be outworking and sometimes we had to wait for
her to get home with the food. Right. She worked at burger King
at one point, so she wouldbring burger like the leftovers home for us
(06:32):
to eat. So to pass thattime, my brother would create all of
these games. Right. We hadthis one game called Shaki Luky Friends that
he invented, you know his shackLuky Friends. It's the Leon, the
mastermind of Leon created that game.And then also he would we would do
(06:53):
this this game of just making upsongs. So that's kind of where it
started. And then more than anything, when I got into the building of
a touch of Jazz, I feltlike I could do it. I know
I can do it. I rememberwe had a meeting and all of the
people were sitting around the tables likefifteen people, and they were talking about
(07:15):
what they do and how they doit. And then when it came to
me, I was like, hey, you know, I'm aspiring to be
a songwriter. I don't know howto write a song, but I'm sure
if you give me the opportunity,I'll figure it out. So again,
like I said, my belief isif man can do it, I can
do it. Amen, that's it. You know, what's the first artist
(07:39):
you wrote a song for? Wow? Jeezuz wheeze. So man, that's
a good question. Well, ValvinRome is actually the first artist I wrote
a song for. And then heand I wrote a song for a group
back Up and Up Productions. Theynever came out, but I was involved
with that, me and Dorsey Wesleyand Valve and Rome. After that,
(08:01):
I wrote a song for a rapgroup that Terry Lewis was producing out here
in Philadelphia. Following that, itwas like Teaments and then Ryan Toby and
then Blood and then Kenny Latimore.I'm giving you a list, she said,
who did the song? But anyway, sorry for ramblin man. It's
(08:22):
okay, It's okay, I'm arambling man. Bro. We got more
than enough time to ramble. Howlong does it take you normally to write
a song? All right? Soyeah, I don't want to say this
because it sounds like I'm being cockyor diminishing the value of what we do.
But i'd say love the song Lovethat I did with music So Child.
(08:43):
It took us fifteen minutes to writethat song. Such a beautiful song.
Yeah, it's a great song.But you know, all of this
stuff is God inspired, right,So you know, I don't drink,
I don't smoke, I don't donone of that in the studio. Never
never, never had a drink.No, no, Well, I'm like
I did have a drink twice,Okay, so once was at Jazzy Jeff's
(09:05):
birthday party and then the second yearwas at Jazzy Jeff's birthday party. And
I think at my adult age,yeah that was it. Yeah, only
times I had a drink. ButI say all that to say that I
try to be extremely clear when I'mcreating, and I make sure that I'm
able to hear God speaking. SoI keep my mind open for when God
(09:30):
is talking, and I just translatefor whatever he's saying to me. So
that song Love came in fifteen minuteswith me with the minds of myself A
music's so old child. Yeah,man, we just talked about let's not
do a song. He didn't wantto do a love so he didn't want
to do a love sex song ora song that was more misogynistic, so
(09:52):
it was like the average love song. I was like, well, let's
write, let's talk to the emotion. He was like, that's dope.
So we started hashing out the idea. In fifteen minutes, the song was
done. Let me just say youand your writing partner, Ivan Barriers are
notable for introducing music soul child tothe world and giving him his staple sound
(10:16):
that We Love You guys are responsiblefor writing and producing the vast majority of
music's more popular charted singles such asJust Friends, Love Half Crazy, Don't
Change Buddy, Teach Me, Lovefor the Night, and others. I'm
(10:37):
gonna stand up, my brother andsalute you and say thank you for the
love, your commitment, and yourcontributions to R and B music because I
felt it. The songs that Ijust mentioned, they bring me so much
joy, Carvin, just like theybring o his joy. Thank you once
(10:58):
again, brilliant. The first albumalone, and we ain't get to the
second, third, and fourth,were just starting with that first album.
How did you meet Music Soul Childand what were those recording sessions? Like
my friend man, So I metMusic Soul Child by way of Jerome Hip
right, who was our manager,but he became our manager. But Jerome
(11:22):
Hips was a guy that would comedown to a touch of jazz and he
worked at the record store for thelabel. So Jerome Hips and Michael MacArthur
right, so they would come toa touch of jazz and just bring us
like all of the new CDs thatwas outright, So we all broke around
it. But they bringing us allthese CDs and just introducing us to stuff.
So he brought Aries down and wewere working on Aries, and Jerome
(11:46):
was like, listen, shout outto a Yan and a Yank. Yeah,
shout out to Aries. I likethat song. But you produced that
song. No, no, Ididn't produce anything on Aries recently. But
no, what's that song? Isit something a love Strangers to love?
Oh yeah yeah yeah, strangers loveyeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. Me
Ivan and Aries, yeah, weput that together, so shout out to
(12:07):
it. But Jerome Hips brought Uh. Brought them into the studio and we
were doing work on them, andhe said, man, I got this
kid. If I can find them, I'm gonna bring him here. He's
like, he's homeless, but Iknow he's around, so if I find
him, I'm bringing him. I'mlike, all right, bet So.
The day before Thanksgiving, I wasdoing a session with Aries and he brought
(12:31):
music and so music, singing backgrounds, and I'm like, Yo, I
need this kid. I'm like,Jay, you think he can come back?
He said, well, I don'tknow, because you know, I
don't know his his situation. SoI'm like, all right, cool in
a session and I'm asking him.I said, yo, man, can
you come back tomorrow? He's like, well, you know, man,
I'm I'll be all over. SoI was like, look, Jeff is
(12:54):
having Thanksgiving at his house. We'regonna go to Jeff's house, get Thanksgiving,
come back here, eat and cutsome music. He was like,
bet So, he came back onThanksgiving and that day we cut The L's
Going, and we cut the originalversion of the Ela is Going and it's
been on ever since. But ourwriting sessions was they all took place late
(13:18):
at night, right because At onepoint, Jeff was like, you know,
you're wasting your time with this kid, like he's not He's good,
but he's not what we're looking forat A Touch Jazz. So I'm like,
bro, listen, I'm trying tolearn how to write and produce and
engineer. I'm trying to learn thisstuff. This is the perfect person for
me. So he was like,all right, well, then y'all just
got to do it during the hoursthat nobody's working. So we would come
(13:41):
in the studio at ten o'clock atnight and work all the way till ten
in the morning. And in thattime, I'm figuring out how to produce,
how to make beats on the NPCand the ASR ten, and learning
how to work qbase and all ofthat stuff. So in the process,
music will be sleep while I'm figuringout stuff. And then once I get
us somewhat kind of track started that'sout of key and all wrong, We'll
(14:03):
write a song. And the songswere just coming out better and better every
night. So it was just likehim and I putting our brains together to
create greatness. So yeah, wedidn't know we were making history, just
we knew we was making something,but we didn't know it was history.
You know, how would you describehim back when he was just starting to
reach mainstream success. I mean musicis he's always been like a recluse,
(14:26):
you know what I mean music fameis not famous. He don't really like
fame. So I mean he's alwaysbeen in the tuck, like, you
know, let's get the job done. What you need me to do?
All right? Cool, I'm good, all right, We're done. All
right, Cool, I'm out.I'm in a touch. He just stayed
in the tuck. That's what heis. Yeah, I gotta say if
you leave by music, Soul Childand Mary J. Blige's probably one of
(14:50):
my favorite R and B duets.Oh man, y'all go to work on
that. I mean, you gotmusic straight out of Philly, you got
the Queen MJ BE. It's blessedby Carvin and Ivan. What was it
like being in the studio with MJB? Man, let me let me explain
something to people, and this forme, it was amazing. Right,
Like people normally talk about how Marycan't sing, and you know they you
(15:15):
know, it's always something we're youknow when they talk about Mary. Bro
Listen, we went to record thatrecord in New York. We had just
flew in from from from La sowe ended up taking all of our baggage
to New York. At the tothe hotel, Mary came in. She
sang her verse down the first Thefirst tape kilted, chilted, like emotion,
(15:35):
no tonality, everything chilted the firsttape. So I'm sitting there like,
uh, what are we supposed todo? She's like, now,
let me do it a couple moretimes. So she did it like at
least five more times, gave usthe ad libs out everything. The session
took no longer than forty five minutes, and she killed it. So Mary
(15:56):
Mary Jay can sing. And shewas not a joke in that booth,
So, you know, with everybodythinking of saying, she goes to work
for real, you know. Butit was good. It was a blessing,
you know. Now, after afew albums as a fan, I
noticed that music stopped working with y'all, and I was pissed off because I
loved everything about y'all. You guyswere like peanut butter and jelly fried chicken
(16:18):
and macaroni and Jeeves, Jimmy Jamand Janet. You get in the perfect
combination chemistry out this world. Whydid y'all stop working together? You know,
here's the thing, right, everybodyhas their own ambitions, right,
and you're talking about a nineteen yearold kid that's now growing into his manhood's
yeah, yeah, he was nineteenwhen he started. So yeah. So
(16:41):
it's like you got a nineteen yearold kid that's growing into his manhood and
feeling like he's being constrained, youknow what I mean. So you can't
fall a man for saying, listen, I want to do my own thing.
You raise a child to be ableto leave the house and be their
own man. So you know,it happens that way. You know,
you grow and you become what youbecome, and you want to express yourself
(17:04):
the way you want to express yourself, and those things have to be allowed
and permitted, and you know that'sthat's what it's supposed to be. You
know, you have written and producedso much for some of my faves letters
Jail Scott, Faith Evans, Philly'sOwn Jasmine Sullivan, Love Foolish Heart.
(17:26):
We'll get to that, Joe KanyeWest. The list goes on. Can
you discuss your top three experiences overthe years. Wow. Okay, So
yeah, all right, So I'mgonna start first with Raheem Devon Hey Customer.
Yeah, So Raheem is he's oneof my top And here's why.
(17:49):
The first thing is, Raheem comesto work like he don't come in the
studio to do nothing but work.Raheem was in the studio with us.
We started at six pm. Wewere in the studio to six am.
Wow. Raheem left the studio,went to Power ninety nine, did an
(18:14):
interview, sang live on the radio, did everything he had to do,
left the station, and came backto the studio and we continue working.
Like his work ethic for me.Then, I've never seen the artist willing
to go that hard for his owncareer. Right. And the second part
of that is that when Customer hitand became what it became, Raheem called
(18:40):
me on a Saturday morning. Hewas like, hey, Carl Man,
what's going on? Bro? I'mlike, you know, what's going on?
Smoking? How you doing? Hewas like, man, I'm doing
good man. He said, well, y'all, I was calling and tell
you thank you. I was like, wow, he was the first artist
that said thank you. I waslike, wow, wow for what he
was like, Man, listen,I've never sold out the TLA by myself
and since that record, customer,I'm sold out for this weekend, so
(19:03):
I need you to come to theshow. But I wanted to tell you
thank you, and I was like, Wow, that's that's great. You
know what I mean, That's agreat thing. So Raheem is definitely one
of my top My second is FaithBro. Faith Evans. She's not like,
she's not nothing to play with.Like when we recorded those records with
Faith, we were literally so theway our studio was set up, there's
(19:26):
a table that sits behind the controlbooth right, and then there's the control
center where the mixing board is,and then there's the window where the artist
is in the booth. So whileFaith and I are writing a record and
she's recording behind me, Ivan isworking on accounter, creating another beat for
us to work on. Soon ashe finished the beat and we finished the
(19:48):
song, we load the next beatin and we're working like that. It
was like a factory with Faith andjust the way her again, her work
ethic amazing. Bro is nothing likeyou can't you can't argue with the way
Faith works like we put that albumtogether that that uh, the first Lady
(20:11):
album. The records we did,we did them all in a week,
are you kidding me? And oneStop and Go until you came again.
I don't need it one week,one week and it really was like not
even the whole week, it waslike four days. Amazing. Yeah,
So yeah, faith is is toptier. And then so let us See
(20:33):
is I say, are you saidthree? I'm gonna say four. Let
us See is in the top fourjust because let us Se is an incredible
vocalist. And then the two thatthat don't even line up with that category
that are amazing to me in everyway is music and Jail. That's just
it. Jill, I'm gonna tellyou right now. Jill penmanship, like
(20:56):
her skill in writing is is beyond, like the way she her perspective,
the way she writes in her perspective, and the on tendres that sending her
music like you'll still be figuring itout, like if everybody going crazy over
Kendred, Like go back and listento Jill's stuff, Like there's double and
(21:17):
triple on Tendra's that she's she's touchingon many different facets and you know and
we perceive it as just a song, but it's not. It's deeper than
that. And the same thing withmusic is like creating with music is we're
writing on three different levels. It'sit's for the person who's listening for hook
and catchy, it's for the intellect, and then it's for the artists.
(21:38):
So there's like three levels of peoplethat we are reaching in every song.
So, yeah, I love allof your songs, but of course there
are a couple that really speak tomy soul. We touched on Faith Evans.
The entire first Lady album was allthat You hear me Jill Scott family
(22:02):
Reunion. Carvin and You made mefeel like I was at a backyard family
reunion. That song works for summerparties, block parties. We at the
grill, we drinking, we lightingup. It just feels good. Carvin
and Bett at Home. I playedthat so many times. That's crazy that
(22:22):
Bet at Home goes hard, whatJill comes in like a tsunami. Yeah
yeah, And then of course letus see I Gotta get to You.
Oh, there is something so specialabout I get I Gotta get to You.
I love that song. Talk aboutcreating that man honestly, you know,
(22:42):
again, it's it's her, letus see Ivan and myself in the
room man, and and music isbeing created. I think Kurt Chambers was
around at that time and Johnny SmurthSmith was around while we were working on
that. But again, hearing yourmind up with these artists, you know,
(23:03):
and these are not people that youknew from childhood. So it's like
we meet on a common understanding thatwe love music, and then we we
we I guess we suck on theidea that we just want to create music
that can help heald and build.So with let us See, that's where
we were. We're like, let'sjust write a record that's talking about a
(23:26):
real love affair where it's something thatyou you can't you can't stay away from,
you know what I mean, andjust every moment you gotta get back
to it, you know what Imean. And just an insight on some
of the things that most times I'mwriting, I'm writing letters to God.
So you know, I just puthe and she in the record, but
I'm really having a conversation with God. Can you tell me the story of
(23:48):
how you collaborated with another one ofmy fabes, Jaim or Finding My Way
Back. Wait, hit another homerun, So all right, So so
let's let's I'm a double back doubleback. So If You Leave is written
with me and Miguel, and FindMy Way Back is me and Miguel.
(24:10):
So we just Miguel came to Phillyand we just did this whole writing camp
with him, me and Ivan,and we just started writing all of these
records. So If You Leave wasa record that he and I started,
and then me and music finished it, and then again, oh man,
Find My Way Back hands down hadto be like the most creative moment in
(24:36):
our writing experience. It was likeI was running back and forth the Bible
Study. So even in them working, I'm like, it was on a
Wednesday, so I'm like, yo, I gotta go to Bible studies.
So before I leave, me andKirk Chambers come up with the idea of
the hook of gotta find my wayback, way back to Kirk started playing
the guitar and making that movement tothat that hook idea. So we write
(24:59):
the out, I run the BibleStudy, I come back, and then
when I get back, Miguel isalready through the first verse. So I
get back in jump back in onthe second verse in the bridge. But
it was a great writing experience.Yeah, does it ever hit you how
much great music or how many timelessclassic songs you've created over the years carving
(25:22):
You know, I mean to tellyou, I don't. I don't really
think about that stuff. Man.This is God's stuff, Man, God,
this is this is all God's success, This is all his material.
So you know, I don't.I don't claim it, you know what
I'm saying. It's just it's it'sa blessing to be a part of it.
And it's always great to hear theresponse from the music, and it's
(25:42):
great to know that I was avessel that was used. But yeah,
I don't. I can't live inthat success because it's not mine. Is
God's stuff, you know what Imean. It's like I borrowed this car
for a minute, so I'm gonnakeep it clean, you know what I
mean. I'm gonna make sure Ireturn it back just the way he gave
it to me, but cleaner,full of gas. You know what I
mean. Well, you left theclean and the gas tank was on f
(26:07):
for s w V O MG loveunconditionally. Man, Listen, talk about
your work together with SWV. Inever win a Garvin. So all right,
so here's what that's. This isa long story. I'm gonna try
to make it short. So CoreyTaylor shout Tory who is there? Who
was their manager at the time.Corey Taylor hit me up on Facebook and
(26:33):
was like, Hey, if youhad the opportunity to work with SWV,
would you do it? I saidabsolutely. He said, okay, cool,
I'm gonna get back with you.Months go by, he hit me
up. He's like, yo,I talk with SWV. They would love
to come in and do some work. I'm like, cool, talk to
my manager, Mike Matt make ithappen. So I connect them with Mike.
(26:56):
For some reason, things weren't liningup. So Corey called me back.
He was like carving, listen,man, I'm really trying to get
this done. I said, listen, we don't need to keep going back
and forth because I'm not that typeof person. If I say I'm doing
it, let's get it done.We don't need to back and forth.
I said, look, just cometo my house. And I was living
in New Jersey, said just bringhim to my house, bro, and
we'll get the work done. Sohe packed everybody up and brought him to
(27:21):
the house. So what was happeningwas me and Jane Baylor, Jeene Beller
and Marcus Beller was working together atthat time and we wrote these records.
So Unconditionally was one of the recordsthat we wrote. So SWV came in,
they heard the songs and they werelike, yo, we love these
three records. So we cut Unconditionallyand it was great, Like it was
(27:44):
great seeing Coco and Taj and I'mgonna tell you right now, yo,
they first of all, they allcan sing, don't. I don't know
why people get it twisted like youknow, Coco. No, they all
can sing, and they all gotgreat voices, and they are sisters with
s WV is that's WV. AndYeah, it was a great time.
I enjoyed it. Have fun.What inspires you and what makes you want
(28:07):
to keep producing music? Here's what'scrazy. I don't think there's nothing else
I want to do, you knowwhat I mean? So and creating songs
is like it's like creating a newinvention daily, right, It's like I'm
inventing something something out of I'm grabbingall of this stuff out of nowhere.
(28:30):
Right, we go in this studiowith not an idea, not anything,
and this is what we create everytime we go in right now, all
right with Stephanie Chambers and I havea company called The Ring. So I
have Stephanie Chambers, Yante Strickland,Dilemma, Lenny ab Liva, Sean Penn
(28:55):
Range, It's a it's a slewof us in the studio and we're constantly
working Shaney Savage, We're constantly workingon music. So it's it's almost it's
exciting now to watch the younger cats, because all these people are younger than
me, to watch us create musictogether and to see their response to how
(29:18):
the music is affecting people, becausethis is their first experience. So now
I get to see me all overagain in them to have a first experience.
So yeah, it's amazing. Youget to work with the krim Dela
Kram got to touch on to Mia, love to Miya, loved what you
guys did, would still love you. How did that collaboration come about?
(29:42):
Again? Tamiya is when I say, she is like the the nicest person
I know. She is. Yeah, she's sweet, like she called her
sugar little sugar. No, butI mean we went to Miami, Ivan
and myself and we got a chanceto work with Tamiya and the energy was
(30:04):
so great. She was like,yo, I got to bring y'all back
to the house because y'all need tomeet my husband. So we get back
to the house, we meet Horace. Horace is working on he's like making
beats and stuff. We're like,yo, him and I even started sharing
information and I haven't given him sounds, and I mean it was a great
time. Man, It was areally great And of course to Mia vocally
(30:25):
is you know, it's nothing tosay. She she's a powerhouse. Man.
She killed that record. She wentin there and knocked that joint out.
I was like, so what elsewe're doing, you know what I
mean? So, yeah, itwas great. Love the work that you
guys did on sat Michelle's album too. Two thumbs up. I hope y'all
get the chance to work with heragain. Yeah. I just have that
(30:48):
chemistry. Yeah, you know whatit is. I think we just take
the time to know the person,you know what I mean. It's not
a We're not We're not a manufactorerthat's manufacturing the same product. We are
tailors, right, and everything wedo is we tailor the suit to fit
you and it's only you can wearit. So I think that's what works
(31:11):
best for us. We get toknow the artists and know things about them,
and then we tailor make our musicto fit that artist, versus having
a collection of songs to be like, oh, sing this. It's like
no, no, no, We'regonna create something specifically for you that when
when you sing it, it's yours. Nobody else can sing it. Can
you share a project that you areparticularly proud of? And why many everything
(31:38):
I work on I'm proud of on, proud of I don't. I don't
do anything that doesn't line up withmy character and my belief So there's nothing
I'm disappointed in. Every single artistis amazing. The way they create create
their art with our art, andthe way we collaborate is like, I'm
(32:00):
proud of all of it. Youknow. Again, this is God's work,
man. I'm just I'm in aweevery time it's done. So you
know, yeah, I'm proud ofall of it. What are you currently
working on or who are you currentlyworking with that you can share with me?
Carvin? Okay, So currently again, we I have a company called
The Ring and in this company,I gave you the names of ADLVA.
(32:22):
Carmen Lorenz is one of the peoplethat's a part of it. Calvin,
he's a part of it. Butwe are building that Philadelphia soul thing all
over again. And in building that, we had the opportunity to work with
Kenya Vaughan. We had the opportunityto work with Jay Brown. We are
(32:49):
now working. We had the opportunityto do a movie for Homemark Nice for
the movie for Homemark. We're currentlyworking with PBS and we're doing five documentary
scoring five documentary. Yes, thedocumentary series is the American Masters series,
and in American Masters there's a seriescalled Renegades, so we're doing that the
(33:15):
music for that. And then also, yeah, we just finished Joe Scott's
project Nice Man. I can't waitto hear it. This album is amazing,
Like I don't even want to hypeit up. It's like, if
you've ever seen The Wiz, thisalbum feels like the Wiz, right,
(33:38):
if you've ever seen it, itfeels like this's just it's amazing. It's
amazing. And then there's some otherpeople that we're working with I can't talk
about right now. But yeah,it's gonna be the world's gonna be excited
about it. What are your thoughtson how R and B and hip hop
has changed over the course of yourthree decade career, right, So,
(34:00):
you know, I came in onthe hills of mister Gamble, mister huff
and so you know, my goalwith my partner Ivan, our goal was
to make sure that we made ourpredecessors proud, and we wanted to make
sure we complimented their work that phillUp and the International gave the world.
(34:22):
We wanted to make sure we suppliedthe world with that same thing. So
we just followed in the footsteps thatwere already made. I think that in
that too, of course, youget criticized because you're not it's not all
our musicianship and you're sampling and youknow, so you know, you get
ridiculed until it all makes sense.Right. So for the new generation,
(34:45):
it's the same thing, right,because they are an extension of what we
created. Granted, I'm not sayingI'm a fan of the content, because
I respect women at a high leveland I just respect our people at a
high level. And I think thatyou know, in delivering song, that
song affects the soul, and thatsoul creates an action that acts out in
(35:08):
society, in our community. SoI think it's necessary for us to be
responsible. But I understand the rebellionof the youth. I understand the music
that they create, and I thinkit. You know, it's just evolution.
Now we are working to get itback to some good old fashioned morals
(35:29):
and standards and love and you know, honesty. You know, we're trying
to get it back that. Weare getting it back to that. So
I love that. So I respecteverybody in their creative space. You know,
hip hop the same thing, youknow, you know, it got
a little outrageous again, it's alittle intregious. I don't I get.
I don't stand for what they standfor, so I can't support the negativity
(35:54):
that's in the music. But Iunderstand what the you know, society creates
these things and and and the machinepromotes these things. So if you want
to get paid, then you gotto promote what the machine is promoting.
So you know, yeah, finalthoughts, Uh, final thoughts. I
think that in the world of creativity, create from your soul, make the
(36:19):
world better, and standards of chasingyour dream if it's your dream, then
why give up on it? Right? I believe that failure is necessary because
failure is just education, It's compressededucation and information. Right, failure is
the thing you remember to move.So if you remember how you feel,
(36:42):
then you'll succeed easier. Right,Spirituality, finding God and trust in them,
you know. I mean I foundJesus, you know, and I
trusted it. And yeah, Idon't. I don't have a fear at
all, because you know, Idon't fear no man, I fear God.
So if you live your life withoutfear, then your express your life
with love. And that's the wayto close this interview. Carvin Hagens,
(37:07):
thank you from the bottom of myheart for pulling up to the Mother Note
show. You should know by nowwe spend forty minutes together. I got
nothing but love for you, mybrother. Appreciate you. I thank you,
and I appreciate you. And I'mhappy to give you your flowers because
you deserve form. My brother,thank you. I appreciate you as well
muchal for you, and don't bea stranger. Won't be. This is
(37:28):
where we're at. Amen. Amen,
Welcome to the Mother Nos Show.I am mother No's God is so good.
Thank you for rolling with me.I appreciate the love and support.
Man. Let me tell you wegot a special guest today. Carvin Hagen's
is a Grammy Award winning and multiplatinum selling songwriter, producer, engineer,
co founder of Karma Production, cocreator of Forever Music, Inc. And
(00:24):
the creator of Ethic Music Entertainment.Carvin and his musical partner Ivan Barriers have
worked with some of the great youhear me from Chris Brown to Music Soach
Out, Jill Scott, Justin,Timberlay, Kanye West. The list goes
on and on. It's an honorto have him on my podcast because I'm
(00:46):
a huge fan. Welcome to theMother Nos Show. The man of the
hour, mister Carvin Haga, what'sup? Corvid deil Man. Thank you
for having me a Carvin, thankyou so much for speaking with me today.
How are you fairl Man? I'malways good man. It's not a
time that I'm not good. Ilike that. We got to take it
(01:08):
all the way back, take usback to how did you get into music
and for how long have you beenproducing? For a Carvin Man so that's
two different stories. But the firststory is I used to be a rapper.
Yeah, back back in the eighties, I was a rapper. I
was a part of a rap groupcalled Crusader's a bass, me and my
partner, my cousin Andre Dandridge,and then another guy named Theodore Life,
(01:32):
which is Tea Life's son. TeaLife was a music producer, is a
music producer who did an Evelyn ChampagneKing. So it started there, had
a rap group and you know,being in the hip hop world, and
then eventually hip hop started changing intoa conversation that I didn't want to have,
you know, so I kind ofbacked out of that and got involved
in the production by way of UppingUp Productions out of Willingborough, New Jersey.
(01:57):
The owner was Hal Russell, andI started working in his company and
we were doing all the commercials forPower ninety nine and Q one O two,
Stanley T's commercials, like all ofthe DJ's commercials. And from that
I met DJ Jazzy Jeff through thatconnection, and then I locked in with
Jazzy Jeff and got involved with aTouch of Jazz Productions, which was myself
(02:20):
Andre Harris Vita Al Davis, KeithPelzer, Darren Henson, and my partner
Ivan Barriers, and then of coursevalven Rom who's my i'd say, my
teacher of songwriting. So all ofus was a part of the Touch of
Jazz movement. So that's where myprofessional career started. As a kid,
what did you want to be whenyou grew up? You know, that's
(02:45):
a great question. I always wantedto be in the music industry, Like
I had a love for music.I remember in the mornings waking up to
wake up everybody. My mom hadme sitting on the edge of the bed
with all of my coat and everythingready for school. And at a certain
age, I think I was aroundabout eleven ten and eleven, I Jimmy
(03:06):
this. We had a stereo system, but we had the speakers, but
the connectors of the speakers were broken. So I figured out how to make
the system work. Man, Iwould stay up all night, like when
the Quiet Storm would come on,ow me up all night till like four
in the morning, listening to allof the music. Man the way it
would move me. One of thesongs Me and Missus Jones was one of
(03:28):
the records that just moved me likeYeah, Billy paul Man that record,
the pain in his voice made melike, I want to do I want
to do that, you know whatI mean? So that was music has
always been in But I'm a historybuff too, So one of my thoughts
was in history classes, like whywhy is Benjamin Franklin in the history books?
(03:52):
You know what I mean? Whyare we talking about George Washington?
And I was like, yo,I want my name to go down in
history like that, I want myname to be written in history. So
those two things coupled together, itkind of propelled me to where I am
right now. Looking back to thebeginning of your career, Carvin, did
you know that you are going tobe where you are today? Here's the
crazy thing, right, I knewsuccess was coming. I didn't know how,
(04:17):
But what I did know was thatwhatever it was going to take,
I was going to figure it out. Right. So it's always that thing
that's in you that make you likeyou like, I know I'm going to
do it right. Like It's it'sthat God voice that tells you like,
this is it, this is whatyou're doing. And once you hear that
voice, it's it's up to you. At that point, to make the
(04:40):
decision of am I going to continuefiguring it out and failing along the way,
or am I going to quit atthe first failure. So for me,
it was like, whatever it is, I'm going to figure it out
because that's just the way my mindworked. So whatever success is, how
to get there, I'll figure itout. So yeah, I always felt
(05:00):
like I was going to figure itout. Who or what inspires you in
your career? Man, that's againanother question. I came ready for you.
I mean, you're shooting them Jonesoff like an ar right now.
But here's the thing, right So, God is my is my ultimate inspiration.
That that's the thing that drives me. My children inspire me to continue
(05:24):
to keep going forward because I believein legacy, so I'm always on that
mission. But also I'm all abouthelping and community, so not my success
is not only for me. Mysuccess is for how can I help my
community? How can I help mypeople? I'm all black, so it's
(05:46):
all about how can I help myblack brothers and sisters get to where they
need to get to or lead themor show them or provide whatever it is.
That's what I'm working for. Howdo I build up my community.
Because I build up my community,we built up the world community. And
that's really it for me. Whendid you first discover your gift of songwriting?
Wow? So man, bro,like for real with these questions,
(06:10):
come on with it. But allright, So I got an older brother
by the name of Leon. Right, So when we were kids, my
older brother, you know, Igrew up with my mom, and you
know, my mom will be outworking and sometimes we had to wait for
her to get home with the food. Right. She worked at burger King
at one point, so she wouldbring burger like the leftovers home for us
(06:32):
to eat. So to pass thattime, my brother would create all of
these games. Right. We hadthis one game called Shaki Luky Friends that
he invented, you know his shackLuky Friends. It's the Leon, the
mastermind of Leon created that game.And then also he would we would do
(06:53):
this this game of just making upsongs. So that's kind of where it
started. And then more than anything, when I got into the building of
a touch of Jazz, I feltlike I could do it. I know
I can do it. I rememberwe had a meeting and all of the
people were sitting around the tables likefifteen people, and they were talking about
(07:15):
what they do and how they doit. And then when it came to
me, I was like, hey, you know, I'm aspiring to be
a songwriter. I don't know howto write a song, but I'm sure
if you give me the opportunity,I'll figure it out. So again,
like I said, my belief isif man can do it, I can
do it. Amen, that's it. You know, what's the first artist
(07:39):
you wrote a song for? Wow? Jeezuz wheeze. So man, that's
a good question. Well, ValvinRome is actually the first artist I wrote
a song for. And then heand I wrote a song for a group
back Up and Up Productions. Theynever came out, but I was involved
with that, me and Dorsey Wesleyand Valve and Rome. After that,
(08:01):
I wrote a song for a rapgroup that Terry Lewis was producing out here
in Philadelphia. Following that, itwas like Teaments and then Ryan Toby and
then Blood and then Kenny Latimore.I'm giving you a list, she said,
who did the song? But anyway, sorry for ramblin man. It's
(08:22):
okay, It's okay, I'm arambling man. Bro. We got more
than enough time to ramble. Howlong does it take you normally to write
a song? All right? Soyeah, I don't want to say this
because it sounds like I'm being cockyor diminishing the value of what we do.
But i'd say love the song Lovethat I did with music So Child.
(08:43):
It took us fifteen minutes to writethat song. Such a beautiful song.
Yeah, it's a great song.But you know, all of this
stuff is God inspired, right,So you know, I don't drink,
I don't smoke, I don't donone of that in the studio. Never
never, never had a drink.No, no, Well, I'm like
I did have a drink twice,Okay, so once was at Jazzy Jeff's
(09:05):
birthday party and then the second yearwas at Jazzy Jeff's birthday party. And
I think at my adult age,yeah that was it. Yeah, only
times I had a drink. ButI say all that to say that I
try to be extremely clear when I'mcreating, and I make sure that I'm
able to hear God speaking. SoI keep my mind open for when God
(09:30):
is talking, and I just translatefor whatever he's saying to me. So
that song Love came in fifteen minuteswith me with the minds of myself A
music's so old child. Yeah,man, we just talked about let's not
do a song. He didn't wantto do a love so he didn't want
to do a love sex song ora song that was more misogynistic, so
(09:52):
it was like the average love song. I was like, well, let's
write, let's talk to the emotion. He was like, that's dope.
So we started hashing out the idea. In fifteen minutes, the song was
done. Let me just say youand your writing partner, Ivan Barriers are
notable for introducing music soul child tothe world and giving him his staple sound
(10:16):
that We Love You guys are responsiblefor writing and producing the vast majority of
music's more popular charted singles such asJust Friends, Love Half Crazy, Don't
Change Buddy, Teach Me, Lovefor the Night, and others. I'm
(10:37):
gonna stand up, my brother andsalute you and say thank you for the
love, your commitment, and yourcontributions to R and B music because I
felt it. The songs that Ijust mentioned, they bring me so much
joy, Carvin, just like theybring o his joy. Thank you once
(10:58):
again, brilliant. The first albumalone, and we ain't get to the
second, third, and fourth,were just starting with that first album.
How did you meet Music Soul Childand what were those recording sessions? Like
my friend man, So I metMusic Soul Child by way of Jerome Hip
right, who was our manager,but he became our manager. But Jerome
(11:22):
Hips was a guy that would comedown to a touch of jazz and he
worked at the record store for thelabel. So Jerome Hips and Michael MacArthur
right, so they would come toa touch of jazz and just bring us
like all of the new CDs thatwas outright, So we all broke around
it. But they bringing us allthese CDs and just introducing us to stuff.
So he brought Aries down and wewere working on Aries, and Jerome
(11:46):
was like, listen, shout outto a Yan and a Yank. Yeah,
shout out to Aries. I likethat song. But you produced that
song. No, no, Ididn't produce anything on Aries recently. But
no, what's that song? Isit something a love Strangers to love?
Oh yeah yeah yeah, strangers loveyeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. Me
Ivan and Aries, yeah, weput that together, so shout out to
(12:07):
it. But Jerome Hips brought Uh. Brought them into the studio and we
were doing work on them, andhe said, man, I got this
kid. If I can find them, I'm gonna bring him here. He's
like, he's homeless, but Iknow he's around, so if I find
him, I'm bringing him. I'mlike, all right, bet So.
The day before Thanksgiving, I wasdoing a session with Aries and he brought
(12:31):
music and so music, singing backgrounds, and I'm like, Yo, I
need this kid. I'm like,Jay, you think he can come back?
He said, well, I don'tknow, because you know, I
don't know his his situation. SoI'm like, all right, cool in
a session and I'm asking him.I said, yo, man, can
you come back tomorrow? He's like, well, you know, man,
I'm I'll be all over. SoI was like, look, Jeff is
(12:54):
having Thanksgiving at his house. We'regonna go to Jeff's house, get Thanksgiving,
come back here, eat and cutsome music. He was like,
bet So, he came back onThanksgiving and that day we cut The L's
Going, and we cut the originalversion of the Ela is Going and it's
been on ever since. But ourwriting sessions was they all took place late
(13:18):
at night, right because At onepoint, Jeff was like, you know,
you're wasting your time with this kid, like he's not He's good,
but he's not what we're looking forat A Touch Jazz. So I'm like,
bro, listen, I'm trying tolearn how to write and produce and
engineer. I'm trying to learn thisstuff. This is the perfect person for
me. So he was like,all right, well, then y'all just
got to do it during the hoursthat nobody's working. So we would come
(13:41):
in the studio at ten o'clock atnight and work all the way till ten
in the morning. And in thattime, I'm figuring out how to produce,
how to make beats on the NPCand the ASR ten, and learning
how to work qbase and all ofthat stuff. So in the process,
music will be sleep while I'm figuringout stuff. And then once I get
us somewhat kind of track started that'sout of key and all wrong, We'll
(14:03):
write a song. And the songswere just coming out better and better every
night. So it was just likehim and I putting our brains together to
create greatness. So yeah, wedidn't know we were making history, just
we knew we was making something,but we didn't know it was history.
You know, how would you describehim back when he was just starting to
reach mainstream success. I mean musicis he's always been like a recluse,
(14:26):
you know what I mean music fameis not famous. He don't really like
fame. So I mean he's alwaysbeen in the tuck, like, you
know, let's get the job done. What you need me to do?
All right? Cool, I'm good, all right, We're done. All
right, Cool, I'm out.I'm in a touch. He just stayed
in the tuck. That's what heis. Yeah, I gotta say if
you leave by music, Soul Childand Mary J. Blige's probably one of
(14:50):
my favorite R and B duets.Oh man, y'all go to work on
that. I mean, you gotmusic straight out of Philly, you got
the Queen MJ BE. It's blessedby Carvin and Ivan. What was it
like being in the studio with MJB? Man, let me let me explain
something to people, and this forme, it was amazing. Right,
Like people normally talk about how Marycan't sing, and you know they you
(15:15):
know, it's always something we're youknow when they talk about Mary. Bro
Listen, we went to record thatrecord in New York. We had just
flew in from from from La sowe ended up taking all of our baggage
to New York. At the tothe hotel, Mary came in. She
sang her verse down the first Thefirst tape kilted, chilted, like emotion,
(15:35):
no tonality, everything chilted the firsttape. So I'm sitting there like,
uh, what are we supposed todo? She's like, now,
let me do it a couple moretimes. So she did it like at
least five more times, gave usthe ad libs out everything. The session
took no longer than forty five minutes, and she killed it. So Mary
(15:56):
Mary Jay can sing. And shewas not a joke in that booth,
So, you know, with everybodythinking of saying, she goes to work
for real, you know. Butit was good. It was a blessing,
you know. Now, after afew albums as a fan, I
noticed that music stopped working with y'all, and I was pissed off because I
loved everything about y'all. You guyswere like peanut butter and jelly fried chicken
(16:18):
and macaroni and Jeeves, Jimmy Jamand Janet. You get in the perfect
combination chemistry out this world. Whydid y'all stop working together? You know,
here's the thing, right, everybodyhas their own ambitions, right,
and you're talking about a nineteen yearold kid that's now growing into his manhood's
yeah, yeah, he was nineteenwhen he started. So yeah. So
(16:41):
it's like you got a nineteen yearold kid that's growing into his manhood and
feeling like he's being constrained, youknow what I mean. So you can't
fall a man for saying, listen, I want to do my own thing.
You raise a child to be ableto leave the house and be their
own man. So you know,it happens that way. You know,
you grow and you become what youbecome, and you want to express yourself
(17:04):
the way you want to express yourself, and those things have to be allowed
and permitted, and you know that'sthat's what it's supposed to be. You
know, you have written and producedso much for some of my faves letters
Jail Scott, Faith Evans, Philly'sOwn Jasmine Sullivan, Love Foolish Heart.
(17:26):
We'll get to that, Joe KanyeWest. The list goes on. Can
you discuss your top three experiences overthe years. Wow. Okay, So
yeah, all right, So I'mgonna start first with Raheem Devon Hey Customer.
Yeah, So Raheem is he's oneof my top And here's why.
(17:49):
The first thing is, Raheem comesto work like he don't come in the
studio to do nothing but work.Raheem was in the studio with us.
We started at six pm. Wewere in the studio to six am.
Wow. Raheem left the studio,went to Power ninety nine, did an
(18:14):
interview, sang live on the radio, did everything he had to do,
left the station, and came backto the studio and we continue working.
Like his work ethic for me.Then, I've never seen the artist willing
to go that hard for his owncareer. Right. And the second part
of that is that when Customer hitand became what it became, Raheem called
(18:40):
me on a Saturday morning. Hewas like, hey, Carl Man,
what's going on? Bro? I'mlike, you know, what's going on?
Smoking? How you doing? Hewas like, man, I'm doing
good man. He said, well, y'all, I was calling and tell
you thank you. I was like, wow, he was the first artist
that said thank you. I waslike, wow, wow for what he
was like, Man, listen,I've never sold out the TLA by myself
and since that record, customer,I'm sold out for this weekend, so
(19:03):
I need you to come to theshow. But I wanted to tell you
thank you, and I was like, Wow, that's that's great. You
know what I mean, That's agreat thing. So Raheem is definitely one
of my top My second is FaithBro. Faith Evans. She's not like,
she's not nothing to play with.Like when we recorded those records with
Faith, we were literally so theway our studio was set up, there's
(19:26):
a table that sits behind the controlbooth right, and then there's the control
center where the mixing board is,and then there's the window where the artist
is in the booth. So whileFaith and I are writing a record and
she's recording behind me, Ivan isworking on accounter, creating another beat for
us to work on. Soon ashe finished the beat and we finished the
(19:48):
song, we load the next beatin and we're working like that. It
was like a factory with Faith andjust the way her again, her work
ethic amazing. Bro is nothing likeyou can't you can't argue with the way
Faith works like we put that albumtogether that that uh, the first Lady
(20:11):
album. The records we did,we did them all in a week,
are you kidding me? And oneStop and Go until you came again.
I don't need it one week,one week and it really was like not
even the whole week, it waslike four days. Amazing. Yeah,
So yeah, faith is is toptier. And then so let us See
(20:33):
is I say, are you saidthree? I'm gonna say four. Let
us See is in the top fourjust because let us Se is an incredible
vocalist. And then the two thatthat don't even line up with that category
that are amazing to me in everyway is music and Jail. That's just
it. Jill, I'm gonna tellyou right now. Jill penmanship, like
(20:56):
her skill in writing is is beyond, like the way she her perspective,
the way she writes in her perspective, and the on tendres that sending her
music like you'll still be figuring itout, like if everybody going crazy over
Kendred, Like go back and listento Jill's stuff, Like there's double and
(21:17):
triple on Tendra's that she's she's touchingon many different facets and you know and
we perceive it as just a song, but it's not. It's deeper than
that. And the same thing withmusic is like creating with music is we're
writing on three different levels. It'sit's for the person who's listening for hook
and catchy, it's for the intellect, and then it's for the artists.
(21:38):
So there's like three levels of peoplethat we are reaching in every song.
So, yeah, I love allof your songs, but of course there
are a couple that really speak tomy soul. We touched on Faith Evans.
The entire first Lady album was allthat You hear me Jill Scott family
(22:02):
Reunion. Carvin and You made mefeel like I was at a backyard family
reunion. That song works for summerparties, block parties. We at the
grill, we drinking, we lightingup. It just feels good. Carvin
and Bett at Home. I playedthat so many times. That's crazy that
(22:22):
Bet at Home goes hard, whatJill comes in like a tsunami. Yeah
yeah, And then of course letus see I Gotta get to You.
Oh, there is something so specialabout I get I Gotta get to You.
I love that song. Talk aboutcreating that man honestly, you know,
(22:42):
again, it's it's her, letus see Ivan and myself in the
room man, and and music isbeing created. I think Kurt Chambers was
around at that time and Johnny SmurthSmith was around while we were working on
that. But again, hearing yourmind up with these artists, you know,
(23:03):
and these are not people that youknew from childhood. So it's like
we meet on a common understanding thatwe love music, and then we we
we I guess we suck on theidea that we just want to create music
that can help heald and build.So with let us See, that's where
we were. We're like, let'sjust write a record that's talking about a
(23:26):
real love affair where it's something thatyou you can't you can't stay away from,
you know what I mean, andjust every moment you gotta get back
to it, you know what Imean. And just an insight on some
of the things that most times I'mwriting, I'm writing letters to God.
So you know, I just puthe and she in the record, but
I'm really having a conversation with God. Can you tell me the story of
(23:48):
how you collaborated with another one ofmy fabes, Jaim or Finding My Way
Back. Wait, hit another homerun, So all right, So so
let's let's I'm a double back doubleback. So If You Leave is written
with me and Miguel, and FindMy Way Back is me and Miguel.
(24:10):
So we just Miguel came to Phillyand we just did this whole writing camp
with him, me and Ivan,and we just started writing all of these
records. So If You Leave wasa record that he and I started,
and then me and music finished it, and then again, oh man,
Find My Way Back hands down hadto be like the most creative moment in
(24:36):
our writing experience. It was likeI was running back and forth the Bible
Study. So even in them working, I'm like, it was on a
Wednesday, so I'm like, yo, I gotta go to Bible studies.
So before I leave, me andKirk Chambers come up with the idea of
the hook of gotta find my wayback, way back to Kirk started playing
the guitar and making that movement tothat that hook idea. So we write
(24:59):
the out, I run the BibleStudy, I come back, and then
when I get back, Miguel isalready through the first verse. So I
get back in jump back in onthe second verse in the bridge. But
it was a great writing experience.Yeah, does it ever hit you how
much great music or how many timelessclassic songs you've created over the years carving
(25:22):
You know, I mean to tellyou, I don't. I don't really
think about that stuff. Man.This is God's stuff, Man, God,
this is this is all God's success, This is all his material.
So you know, I don't.I don't claim it, you know what
I'm saying. It's just it's it'sa blessing to be a part of it.
And it's always great to hear theresponse from the music, and it's
(25:42):
great to know that I was avessel that was used. But yeah,
I don't. I can't live inthat success because it's not mine. Is
God's stuff, you know what Imean. It's like I borrowed this car
for a minute, so I'm gonnakeep it clean, you know what I
mean. I'm gonna make sure Ireturn it back just the way he gave
it to me, but cleaner,full of gas. You know what I
mean. Well, you left theclean and the gas tank was on f
(26:07):
for s w V O MG loveunconditionally. Man, Listen, talk about
your work together with SWV. Inever win a Garvin. So all right,
so here's what that's. This isa long story. I'm gonna try
to make it short. So CoreyTaylor shout Tory who is there? Who
was their manager at the time.Corey Taylor hit me up on Facebook and
(26:33):
was like, Hey, if youhad the opportunity to work with SWV,
would you do it? I saidabsolutely. He said, okay, cool,
I'm gonna get back with you.Months go by, he hit me
up. He's like, yo,I talk with SWV. They would love
to come in and do some work. I'm like, cool, talk to
my manager, Mike Matt make ithappen. So I connect them with Mike.
(26:56):
For some reason, things weren't liningup. So Corey called me back.
He was like carving, listen,man, I'm really trying to get
this done. I said, listen, we don't need to keep going back
and forth because I'm not that typeof person. If I say I'm doing
it, let's get it done.We don't need to back and forth.
I said, look, just cometo my house. And I was living
in New Jersey, said just bringhim to my house, bro, and
we'll get the work done. Sohe packed everybody up and brought him to
(27:21):
the house. So what was happeningwas me and Jane Baylor, Jeene Beller
and Marcus Beller was working together atthat time and we wrote these records.
So Unconditionally was one of the recordsthat we wrote. So SWV came in,
they heard the songs and they werelike, yo, we love these
three records. So we cut Unconditionallyand it was great, Like it was
(27:44):
great seeing Coco and Taj and I'mgonna tell you right now, yo,
they first of all, they allcan sing, don't. I don't know
why people get it twisted like youknow, Coco. No, they all
can sing, and they all gotgreat voices, and they are sisters with
s WV is that's WV. AndYeah, it was a great time.
I enjoyed it. Have fun.What inspires you and what makes you want
(28:07):
to keep producing music? Here's what'scrazy. I don't think there's nothing else
I want to do, you knowwhat I mean? So and creating songs
is like it's like creating a newinvention daily, right, It's like I'm
inventing something something out of I'm grabbingall of this stuff out of nowhere.
(28:30):
Right, we go in this studiowith not an idea, not anything,
and this is what we create everytime we go in right now, all
right with Stephanie Chambers and I havea company called The Ring. So I
have Stephanie Chambers, Yante Strickland,Dilemma, Lenny ab Liva, Sean Penn
(28:55):
Range, It's a it's a slewof us in the studio and we're constantly
working Shaney Savage, We're constantly workingon music. So it's it's almost it's
exciting now to watch the younger cats, because all these people are younger than
me, to watch us create musictogether and to see their response to how
(29:18):
the music is affecting people, becausethis is their first experience. So now
I get to see me all overagain in them to have a first experience.
So yeah, it's amazing. Youget to work with the krim Dela
Kram got to touch on to Mia, love to Miya, loved what you
guys did, would still love you. How did that collaboration come about?
(29:42):
Again? Tamiya is when I say, she is like the the nicest person
I know. She is. Yeah, she's sweet, like she called her
sugar little sugar. No, butI mean we went to Miami, Ivan
and myself and we got a chanceto work with Tamiya and the energy was
(30:04):
so great. She was like,yo, I got to bring y'all back
to the house because y'all need tomeet my husband. So we get back
to the house, we meet Horace. Horace is working on he's like making
beats and stuff. We're like,yo, him and I even started sharing
information and I haven't given him sounds, and I mean it was a great
time. Man, It was areally great And of course to Mia vocally
(30:25):
is you know, it's nothing tosay. She she's a powerhouse. Man.
She killed that record. She wentin there and knocked that joint out.
I was like, so what elsewe're doing, you know what I
mean? So, yeah, itwas great. Love the work that you
guys did on sat Michelle's album too. Two thumbs up. I hope y'all
get the chance to work with heragain. Yeah. I just have that
(30:48):
chemistry. Yeah, you know whatit is. I think we just take
the time to know the person,you know what I mean. It's not
a We're not We're not a manufactorerthat's manufacturing the same product. We are
tailors, right, and everything wedo is we tailor the suit to fit
you and it's only you can wearit. So I think that's what works
(31:11):
best for us. We get toknow the artists and know things about them,
and then we tailor make our musicto fit that artist, versus having
a collection of songs to be like, oh, sing this. It's like
no, no, no, We'regonna create something specifically for you that when
when you sing it, it's yours. Nobody else can sing it. Can
you share a project that you areparticularly proud of? And why many everything
(31:38):
I work on I'm proud of on, proud of I don't. I don't
do anything that doesn't line up withmy character and my belief So there's nothing
I'm disappointed in. Every single artistis amazing. The way they create create
their art with our art, andthe way we collaborate is like, I'm
(32:00):
proud of all of it. Youknow. Again, this is God's work,
man. I'm just I'm in aweevery time it's done. So you
know, yeah, I'm proud ofall of it. What are you currently
working on or who are you currentlyworking with that you can share with me?
Carvin? Okay, So currently again, we I have a company called
The Ring and in this company,I gave you the names of ADLVA.
(32:22):
Carmen Lorenz is one of the peoplethat's a part of it. Calvin,
he's a part of it. Butwe are building that Philadelphia soul thing all
over again. And in building that, we had the opportunity to work with
Kenya Vaughan. We had the opportunityto work with Jay Brown. We are
(32:49):
now working. We had the opportunityto do a movie for Homemark Nice for
the movie for Homemark. We're currentlyworking with PBS and we're doing five documentary
scoring five documentary. Yes, thedocumentary series is the American Masters series,
and in American Masters there's a seriescalled Renegades, so we're doing that the
(33:15):
music for that. And then also, yeah, we just finished Joe Scott's
project Nice Man. I can't waitto hear it. This album is amazing,
Like I don't even want to hypeit up. It's like, if
you've ever seen The Wiz, thisalbum feels like the Wiz, right,
(33:38):
if you've ever seen it, itfeels like this's just it's amazing. It's
amazing. And then there's some otherpeople that we're working with I can't talk
about right now. But yeah,it's gonna be the world's gonna be excited
about it. What are your thoughtson how R and B and hip hop
has changed over the course of yourthree decade career, right, So,
(34:00):
you know, I came in onthe hills of mister Gamble, mister huff
and so you know, my goalwith my partner Ivan, our goal was
to make sure that we made ourpredecessors proud, and we wanted to make
sure we complimented their work that phillUp and the International gave the world.
(34:22):
We wanted to make sure we suppliedthe world with that same thing. So
we just followed in the footsteps thatwere already made. I think that in
that too, of course, youget criticized because you're not it's not all
our musicianship and you're sampling and youknow, so you know, you get
ridiculed until it all makes sense.Right. So for the new generation,
(34:45):
it's the same thing, right,because they are an extension of what we
created. Granted, I'm not sayingI'm a fan of the content, because
I respect women at a high leveland I just respect our people at a
high level. And I think thatyou know, in delivering song, that
song affects the soul, and thatsoul creates an action that acts out in
(35:08):
society, in our community. SoI think it's necessary for us to be
responsible. But I understand the rebellionof the youth. I understand the music
that they create, and I thinkit. You know, it's just evolution.
Now we are working to get itback to some good old fashioned morals
(35:29):
and standards and love and you know, honesty. You know, we're trying
to get it back that. Weare getting it back to that. So
I love that. So I respecteverybody in their creative space. You know,
hip hop the same thing, youknow, you know, it got
a little outrageous again, it's alittle intregious. I don't I get.
I don't stand for what they standfor, so I can't support the negativity
(35:54):
that's in the music. But Iunderstand what the you know, society creates
these things and and and the machinepromotes these things. So if you want
to get paid, then you gotto promote what the machine is promoting.
So you know, yeah, finalthoughts, Uh, final thoughts. I
think that in the world of creativity, create from your soul, make the
(36:19):
world better, and standards of chasingyour dream if it's your dream, then
why give up on it? Right? I believe that failure is necessary because
failure is just education, It's compressededucation and information. Right, failure is
the thing you remember to move.So if you remember how you feel,
(36:42):
then you'll succeed easier. Right,Spirituality, finding God and trust in them,
you know. I mean I foundJesus, you know, and I
trusted it. And yeah, Idon't. I don't have a fear at
all, because you know, Idon't fear no man, I fear God.
So if you live your life withoutfear, then your express your life
with love. And that's the wayto close this interview. Carvin Hagens,
(37:07):
thank you from the bottom of myheart for pulling up to the Mother Note
show. You should know by nowwe spend forty minutes together. I got
nothing but love for you, mybrother. Appreciate you. I thank you,
and I appreciate you. And I'mhappy to give you your flowers because
you deserve form. My brother,thank you. I appreciate you as well
muchal for you, and don't bea stranger. Won't be. This is
(37:28):
where we're at. Amen. Amen,
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