Some people may prefer Georgia peaches to Philly cheesesteaks, but that’s not why Musiq Soulchild left his native Northeast hometown for the Down South music mecca that is Atlanta. GIANTmag.com recently caught up with Musiq at the “Soul Power” photo shoot to talk about his move to the ATL, his new album and more.
GIANT: Tell me about the new album.
Musiq Soulchild: The new album is supposed to come out November 25th. Actually, it was supposed to come out in September but I made some changes, brought some cameos… so I just want to make sure everything is correct. So, it should be out in November and it is titled OnMyRadio. The first single off of that album is entitled “Radio.” It kind of shocked a few people because of the sound. I guess people are not used it coming from me, but its nothing different from what T.I. or anyone else from the South has been doing for the last past five, six or seven years – that Atlanta, Southern 808s and high hats sound.
GIANT: What inspired you to delve into that sound?
MS: A number of things. Well, for one, I just moved to Atlanta. So, it’s like a big “what’s good” to Atlanta. It’s what I hear a lot on the radio. I have been listening a lot to the radio a lot and I hear a lot of that on the radio. And I feel as though since I am in this industry and I am in this industry to entertain people its best if you entertain people according to what they like to listen to. And if that’s considered at least part of what’s popular in music then I want to do what’s popular-what everybody is listening to or at least what’s being played a lot. Another reason is because I get it a lot from mix-show DJs and club DJs about how they dig my music a lot but they can’t find anywhere to put it in their playlists so I figured I would do something for them that hopefully they dig. That song has a better chance of getting into their playlist than a “dontchange” or a “halfcrazy” unless it’s AC [adult contemporary]. Another reason is just that. I didn’t want to be perceived as just an adult contemporary artist. I love making ballads. I love making R&B music but there is more to making music than just R&B music. There are a lot of other reasons but those are just a few.
GIANT: You were such a fixture on the Philadelphia R&B music scene. What prompted the move to Atlanta?
MS: I just wanted to move. There’s really no deep reason. There are reasons… There’s a lot going on in Atlanta. The music scene is pretty busy out there. The weather is nice. The cost of living is cool. There’s a lot reasons but no significant reason like this is the reason why I moved to Atlanta.
GIANT: So, you mentioned cameos earlier. Who are some of the guests on the album?
MS: I actually would rather not. I would actually rather wait till the album comes out and let people get it for themselves. I don’t want to create no big hype around it. I just want it to come out and be appreciated.
GIANT: What was the inspiration lyrically for the project?
MS: Change. So many people try to stick to the same thing… and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing wrong with consistency but I just started seeing a pattern and in that pattern I was just being placed in one perspective when it comes to music. I have never been genre specific, but in this industry you sort of end of up that way because of how things are set up. Everyone needs to be shipped inside of a box, on a shelf, or labeled or in some kind of slot or one lane. I don’t want to be that kind of artist, so on this project I am doing a lot of things that may not be for everybody, you know, however I pray that at some point people will be able to respect the work or at least the intent that was put behind it. The intention is to broaden people’s perspective of what to expect from black music, or at least what people call “black music.” Anytime you hear “black music” you always think either R&B or rap, there’s more to [our] music than R&B and rap. I want entertain those things. I want to be able to entertain those things and hopefully people will be entertained by that. But it will be a challenging thing to accomplish if people see you as a certain way all the time. So I am taking my steps with it. I didn’t go too extreme with it – whatever that means. Just keeping in minds and being considerate of people’s expectations.
Check out the video for Musiq’s new duet with Mary J. Blige, “IfULeave” below:
And for even more “Soul Power,” click here to see the exclusive behind-the-scenes video!
