Contemporary soul queen, Ledisi's new album, "Turn Me Loose", sees the Oakland, Ca based singer working with a select group of name producers. However, as the explosive vocalist explains, the adjustment was mostly on their part not hers.
Jeff Lorez: I’ll start cracking off questions about the album, as that’s the obvious place to start. They’ve got a lot of different producers working on this album. What was the idea behind that?
Ledisi: Well, the point of having all the different producers was the label’s idea. They wanted me to stretch out a little more, and this time around I was a little more open to allow other ideas in the process of the album, of making the CD. I’m just like everybody else who can’t stand changes a lot, so it could be uncomfortable, but I decided to take this time, and that’s why when you hear the album, there are a lot of change topics, because that’s what I was really going through, in the process of making this album. I became more open, and it was a lot of fun, doing that, but it was also a lot of different energy, that I had to adjust to a whole bunch of other people.
JL: I think it’s sometimes fun when one artist has one producer, like in the old days when they just come up with one concept, and that’s the album. I know a lot of record labels often want to play it safe, and 'get one song from him, and one song from him, and then we can take it in so many directions'. My personal favourites on this album are the Raphael Saadiq songs, and Rex Rideout, he brings a sort of grittier production style. How difficult was it for you to adapt?
Ledisi: They were really adapting to me. There was a lot of figuring out what I want. A lot of people think that I just come in, sit back and sing, but I have a lot of input with what goes on, especially in this album, with the imagery, as well as the music, how I’m singing, the order of the songs, the different types of songs, I mean their input was huge, but also they were wrapped around whatever I felt.
If you look at the body of my career, every album I’ve ever done is completely different from the next. It’s never been one solid way. The thread has always been my vocals. It’s never been one way. Even Rex said, “What, you want to do a Buddy Miles song? Are you crazy?” I was like, “Yeah! I definitely want to do that.” He asked why, and I explained it to him, and the stuff he had for me was a little different. With Rex, I wanted to do a completely different sound from anybody else, and that’s what we did. What’s great about Rex, what makes him a great producer, is the fact that he really moves out of the way and lets the artist create as well, and he doesn’t push on anything. It’s like hanging out with my big brother.
I love working with Rex. He’s one of my favourites. He understands how to get out of the way. Some producers have their own style, their own vibe, and they want it. I’m not seeing that happen on this album. I think the producers were more open to me. It was really cool. Raphael, that was like hanging out with an older cousin; the same thing. All the songs that are naturally bluesy and R&B, that’s safe. Those to me are safer than the other songs. The other songs are an eclectic taste for whomever. That’s the kind of album I wanted. I wanted something on there for everyone. The last album was one way, and it was fun and great, and I know you prefer it, but for me, I like to stretch myself and be open to different things. That’s the problem. I talk about it so much. It’s hard for people to be open to change. They hate it (laughs), but if I do it, if I take risks, I’ll never be stuck in a box.
JL: I understand. I think some artists need a lot of producers, but with you, I think in some ways, you could sing the phone book and it would sound good! It’s almost like you don’t need to be produced. Do you find some people are somewhat intimidated because of your vocal ability? It’s like, 'she can go in so many ways, so many different directions and it all sounds good, so how do we tell her what to do? How do we work with her?'
Ledisi: I’ve gotten that a lot through my life, especially as I study more and more and become something different every time. I don’t think I got it from these producers, and you know why? I hung out with them first. I hang out with everybody first, before I work with them, and get to know them first, because if we can have a conversation, then we can do music. If we can hang out, then we can do music. I found that they were just like me. I was more intimidated than they were. They were excited, and couldn’t wait to work, and I’m going “uhhhhhh”. You know what I mean? (laughs). I mean, they worked with Mary J Blige, and D’Angelo, so my face is like, ‘Wow!’ I’m still a little nerd, really. But what I found is that we’re all a bunch of nerds, and it’s fun. I loved doing the music. I don’t want to make it sound like Disneyland, but it was like that. I get that whole feeling throughout the other parts of my career, being around other singers, or being onstage performing with other performers. I get it more there than I do in the studio.
JL: It’s interesting to see you work with Jam & Lewis on this album. How was that experience for you?
Ledisi: It was incredible. It was like boot camp for songwriting. On that song, towards the end, I’m basically crying for most of it. It was incredible. That song, for me was about my reflection being the reflection of God, so it was great. I had just brought it up as we were talking about it, but to make it into a song, it was amazing to me. I knew that anyway, but not to that degree; the way they put it. It really is love words, and love music, so it was fun. I had a great experience with them.
JL: You said it was like boot camp for songwriters. What was the biggest thing that you learned about the art of songwriting?
Ledisi: I learned that a storyteller has to craft it more so they get more out of the words. I like simplistic and general. I don’t try to go too deep like most singers and songwriters. I just keep things a little more simple. If you hear ‘Love Never Changes’, that was so simple, and Raphael liked it the same way, not that anything’s wrong with that, I’m just saying that a lot of artists like going deep, and sometimes people don’t want to think too heavily about music. That’s where I come in. I feel like that’s my part and a lot of other people I know write like that, but to write with them, I have to go deeper in my writing.
JL: How did they react to your vocal ability?
Ledisi: (laughs) I made them laugh. I don’t mean to laugh, but if you saw us in the studio, there was a lot of jumping around. The response to my voice is always the same response. It’s that look, like ‘Wow’. It’s not me. I’m not bragging. It’s my God-given gift. They didn’t hold me back, and that’s why it’s called "Turn Me Loose". If anything, they pushed me further.
JL: I remember interviewing them years and years ago, and they told me when they worked with Patti Austin on "The Heat of Heat"…
Ledisi: Oh, I love that song!
JL: Well, they told me that she came in and sang, and after the first day, they had run out of ideas, because she was so good, and she sang everything they asked her to, that they said ‘What do we do next?’ and I kind of thought that some producers would have a similar experience working with you. When they have a particular song in mind, ‘Okay we’ve done that. Now what do we do? We have to come up with something else for her.’ When you write songs, and I notice you’re a co-writer on all of these songs, do people come up with a template of a song, or just a groove, and then you write over the top, or how does it work with you co-writing with people?
Ledisi: It’s a lot of different ways. Like with Rex, we craft a song together, a lot of the time. We’re going through the whole part together. We do the music, and then we build on the arrangement, and the lyrics, and we go back and forth. We’re like dancing with each other, like with Ivan and Carvin, and Rapheal, except for one song, ‘Love Never Changes’, he was just playing guitar, and the words came out like water. We hadn’t even tracked anything. He said ‘Do you want to do another one?’ and I said ‘Cool. Let’s do another song.’ I told him what I wanted, and he came with a track and did it, and the next time, he just started playing on guitar next to me, and I just started singing words, to ‘Love Never Changes’.
We’d do a dance with a tennis racquet, like a tennis game, you throw it back at somebody. That’s what I loved about writing with everybody. Normally it’s me doing all the writing, but this time it was more like a tennis game, just throwing it back and forth with each other, or we’d write different words and such, and the first people I did that with was Ivan and Carvin. That was fun, and I was a little afraid, because I don’t let people in that far. I had to really let people in, so it depends on each person, how it felt. Chucky came in and said, ‘What do you think of this?’ and I said ‘Turn the mic on’. That was on "Trippin", and everybody looks back, and they’re like, ‘We can’t believe you could do that!’ (laughs) I was different, you know?
JL: Talking to you, you’re easy-going and laid back, but onstage, you’re very fierce and dynamic. It’s almost like the moment you’re onstage, you take control of the audience. There’s nothing laid-back or easygoing about you at all onstage. I find that, anyway. You’re very captivating. Is it a persona that you’ve built up over the years? I’ve seen you saying, ‘No cameras! Who’s taking photos of me? Put the camera away!’
Ledisi: (laughs) I have 3 friends who make so much for of me with that. I stopped doing that a while back. I realized that you can’t control it. I still don’t like it. In London, it’s sold. In Europe, the bootlegging is ridiculous. I remember them taping a whole show, and the next thing I know, it’s bootlegged all over the internet, but you can’t control those things now. I just do my show. But, yeah, I was just not comfortable with the camera at all. Like, ‘Take that off. I don’t like the way I look here.’ There’s always something. Now, I’m more comfortable.
JL: You look great onstage and you carry yourself so well, and your band is extremely confident. Some bands just play the songs, but you have total control over the band, like the littlest movement of your hand, and they’ll do something else or go somewhere else. How long did it take you to build up that type of rapport with your band?
Ledisi: Now I have a band I use in D.C., and the singers are from Oakland, and I also have a horn section from Baltimore, and it’s even more fun calling cues. What I do with the music, and what I think most performers should do, and I’m not saying they don’t, but the newer era that’s coming up have to study even more. How the greats did it, like James Brown, and Prince, and the Motown era, all those people did steps and moves and everything. I’ve studied that, and now I’ve incorporated that into my set. I watched how the greats do it, and I’m thinking “Wow! I need to do that more”. I did it a little bit in my beginning, but now it’s really a big thing. It’s my style. I come out doing dances, and the shimmy dresses, and rockin’ in high heels. You remember the old Ledisi, she wouldn’t have heels on too long. Now I wear them the whole show.
JL: It’s a real highlight of the show actually; the way you interact with your band.
Ledisi: I love my band.
JL: You talked earlier about the record label, and them wanting to have a say in how this album was done. How has your relationship with the label changed as time has gone on? I remember when "Soulsinger" came out, and I remember seeing you at SOB’s in New York, and the talk was, 'would you see someone as eclectic as Ledisi get signed to a major?' I know it was such a big underground soul album in England and everywhere else, but I didn’t think the corporate major label would get it. Now, you’ve turned into a staple for some of these major labels, I mean you’ll go out on tour, and sell out shows.
Ledisi: My relationship with the label is like I am still a thinker, like an independent artist, so I’m really always thinking about things in an independent way, and they’re always thinking about how they normally do it. Before this album, I really told everyone that this is what I need to happen. I need people to know my name, I need to be branded, and I need you to go at it like this. The fact is that they are open to at least listen to the artist and what they need, and they don’t bother me as much with how I create my music. They just assist me. They’ve been really great. Most people complain, or have problems with their labels, but I came into this deal already knowing what my audience was, and the audience that I need to get, and that it’s a business. I think that helped. I’m so grateful for my time doing it independently. I can always go back to that, no matter what happens, and I appreciate it, because it grounded me for the next level.
Of course there are things I don’t like, but you have to understand that this is how they do business, and you have to adjust to make it fit for you. Nothing is perfect, not even independently. It’s like, why am I eating cup of noodle in the hotel when my show is sold out? You know what I mean? (laughs) So, it’s a catch-22 on both ends, but our relationship, really I can call and say what I don’t like, and they’re really supportive. They’ve always been, even the people that were there before, to the people now. They know that I know my audience, and I cater to that.
JL: I’m interested in the artwork on your album. On the back, with the old beat-up car and you in a dress.
Ledisi: Isn’t that cool? Do you like it?
JL: Yeah! It’s very eye-catching, especially the turquoise-blue colour. What was the idea behind that?
Ledisi: I don’t know. I thank the photographer, Jack Guy, who is excellent. I told him what I wanted, my style, and they had it down to how I look. This car, they walked around and it was just sitting there, and I had the perfect dress, the perfect day, the perfect look for that raggedy car. It was just sitting on the street, and I absolutely loved it. It was rusty and beat-up, and everything. I said ‘Wow! That goes with my dress!’
JL: The colours on the car are pretty dynamic, actually. The rust and the turquoise.
Ledisi: What’s great about it is that it’s old and new mixed together, and that’s what I told everybody. I want to mix it. I want to keep that flavour, because that’s going to grab all of my different audiences. I have an eclectic audience.
JL: I’m going to ask you some quick-fire questions, and I know they always bring a smile to your face.
What one single thing do you think would improve the quality of your life?
Ledisi: If I had more sleep, I could dream even bigger, and I could have more space to relax, I could listen better because I’ll be calmer when I wake up. Now it’s like in little spurts, and there’s always something going on. My brain won’t shut off. I think also, if more people knew me, they’d accept the difference in me, that I’m different. I’m not doing anything new. I’m just doing my interpretation of what’s old school. I’m bringing it how I want to do it. If people accept that, “Well this is a Ledisi album. This is different,” that would totally help my life. Those two things are big for me.
JL: If you could have any Super Power in the world, what would it be?
Ledisi: To stop any kind of abuse to children. If I could run and stop it, I would love to have that.
JL: What parts of your personality do you think you owe to your parents? What did you get from each parent?
Ledisi: Going for risks. The fact that I take risks. I get that from my mom & dad. They really take risks. They did it with their lives more so, but I do it with my music a lot.
JL: How do you think they did it with their lives? In what way?
Ledisi: They lived, and saw things that I would never do (laughs) that I’m not going to mention in an interview, but the fact that they did those things created the people that they are now. They have great stories, they lived through it, and they’re resilient and fun. My parents are like parents that are on the road all the time. They understand what I’m living. I could call them, and they know exactly how I feel that day; both of them; my mom and my dad. They lived life for real, so I loved that artsy part of them, and that hippy part of them, and the vagabond in them. I have that in my music, and I love that. I take more risks in my music than I do in my regular life. If I did that in my regular life, I’d have a lot more fun.
JL: Do you think that holds you back? In your personal life, the fact that you’re not a risk-taker, you’re more conservative in your personal life. Do you wish you could be more of a risk-taker?
Ledisi: No, I’m glad I’m that way, because it balances the crazy girl onstage out. I get a balance (laughs). On the road, I’m the crazy girl, but in my personal life, I like structure. I need it, or I couldn’t handle all the stuff that goes on. My whole life growing up, I had to take care of everything. That’s just how I am. I never got a chance to be a crazy girl, until I sing (laughs).
JL: Who would you most like to say ‘Sorry’ to, and why?
Ledisi: I would probably like to say sorry to my nieces and nephews that I don’t spend enough time with. I haven’t watched them fully grow up all the way, just in spurts, because I’m always gone, or moving, or going. That’s who I would probably like to say sorry to. I always say sorry to everybody if I have offended them, and if I forget, as soon as I see them, they remind me. I’m the first one to admit to whatever. I worry about people too much.
JL: You know what? You’re very good at keeping in touch. It was nice, after the last interview when we were emailing each other back and forth. That’s surprising in artists that you have a lot of empathy, to reach out, and you do keep in touch with people.
Ledisi: If you send me an email, I’ll be like 'Hey Jeff, it’s me. Blah blah blah blah blah'. We talk like we just talked last week, and we haven’t. It’s been 2 years. That’s how people know Led. That’s Led. The people that surround me, my true friends, are the people that know my lifestyle, they know I’m not purposefully doing things to not keep in touch.
JL: If you could edit anything about your past, what would you change?
Ledisi: I wouldn’t change a thing. I said it in a song. ‘If I could change my world, things would be the same. There would still be joy and pain, because without it, I would never change”. There is one thing that I wish I could have said to my friend Dexter, one of my best best friends, and he died 2 years ago. I would have talked to him longer on the phone. I talked to him the night he died, and that to me was probably the one thing; I wish I could go back to say ‘I love you’ again and again. That would probably be it. Everything else, all the abuse I went through, and all the things I went through, it’s what it is.
JL: Heaven forbid, let’s say you had 1 year left to live, and you had to tick off the things on your list, that you wanted to get done, what would be left in your life, like 'I have to do these things', and money wasn’t an object?
Ledisi: I have to spend time with my family, I have to make sure there is a foundation set up for these particular women and children with AIDS, HIV, or who are abused in the home, I would probably be recording my butt off, all kinds of songs, to keep some more music around. I probably would do it with Rex and Lorenzo, because I love working with them, and Ivan and Carvin. Then, I don’t know, I would probably think of more and more stuff. It would never end. I would probably go out singing, or writing, or doing something. They’d be like, 'Ma’am, you have to sleep' and I’d be like, 'Where’s my book? I need to write!' (laughs) I’d croak onstage. 'She was onstage singing in a wheelchair.'
