7th Shot: Amerie Posted: 1/7/2008 5:54:41 AM by Souleo
If the third time is the charm, you can’t tell Amerie that. Somewhere in between the peak of success [who can forget her 2005 summer hit, 1 Thing?] and now, this Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, actress, producer, and entrepreneur seems to have fallen prey to the politics of an ever-changing and struggling recording industry.
Her third studio album, Because I Love It, seemed doomed from the start—not because of any lack of quality but instead due to virtually non-existent promotion from her record label. At the time of our interview I knew things weren’t looking too good after her first single, "Take Control", failed to find an audience.
Since then promotion for the album has reached a virtual standstill. Recently the album was finally released in Europe and other territories with the exclusion of the U.S. Amerie seems to be taking it all in stride as she is reportedly hard at work on a U.S. release. In the meantime, she can be heard on rapper Chingy’s single, Fly Like Me.
Before the hype surrounding the third album died down, Amerie spoke to Sixshot about the album’s absence of collaborator and friend producer Rich Harrison, how she likes a man to take control, growing up as a biracial child, why she refuses to dumb herself down, her fascination with reincarnatio n, and more.
The album is entitled, Because I Love It, what’s the “it” and what do you love most about “it?”Well the whole thing with the “it” was just basically the whole creative process. I love creating, whether that’s writing, thinking of melodies and laying it down in the studio or just the whole creation of music in general. It’s the creative process that I love so much and I love doing what I do. I love traveling, being able to perform, and meeting my fans. The whole thing is just a real blessing and I’m really happy about it. I’m really, really proud of the project and I’m so excited for everybody to hear it.
The single, "Take Control", is quite provocative with lines such as, “I need ya/I’ll do anything to please ya/I just want you to take control of me.” Tell us exactly how you want a man to take control when it comes to romance.I think it’s just one of those things that women don’t like to be specific about. [Laughs] The best way I could describe it is that I think everyone knows that women like to be in control, but the song is like I want you to take control of me. We want to be in control but we want to feel like we’re not. We want to be swept off our feet and feel like it’s a whirlwind romance kind of thing, but at the same time we’re in control of what’s going on.
I noticed that your long-time collaborator Rich Harrison didn’t produce any tracks for this record. Why is he absent from the record?It just so happened to be that way. We were thinking about doing something and he’s been working on a lot of projects. Plus, I was getting into the way I wanted this album to sound and the things I wanted to do creatively. So we were gonna get together and at the last minute we didn’t so that’s just about it.
Are you concerned about his absence being that he’s been very instrumental in your success including your biggest hit, "1 Thing"?No, just because creatively I had a vision for the album. I still do have some of the go-go elements on there. It’s like you keep going down a path and you don’t really worry about things; you just walk the path and see where it takes you.
Does your Korean heritage and the music of Korea like K-pop influence your sound?It doesn’t. I think just my Korean heritage shaped more of my personality and just more of who I am growing up ,which then in turn affects my music. So in that way I think it did shape it but musically it’s more so things that I grew up listening to like classical music, soul music, pop music, and heavy metal.
You rock out?That was a phase I was going through more so like in the 5th and 6th grade. I like to listen to a lot of things. What I can say about Korean music is that it is very rhythmic. It’s very drum heavy like African music—it’s different but it is drum heavy and very beat driven. So I can say that there are similarities.
Perhaps a little known fact about you is that you’re the first Asian-American to be on the cover of VIBE.Yeah that was cool!
Growing up how did people react to the fact that you’re Korean and African-American?People definitely had their curiosities, but I think that comes with anything growing up in general. People would always ask me what I am, am I more this or more that? Some people get really offended when people ask them [about] their ethnicity. I’ve seen people get really irritated but that never bothered me. I never knew why that bothered people.
So you didn’t have any identity issues as a result of being biracial? No, but everybody has their own experiences. Sometimes I feel like that stuff is overblown anyway. I know a lot of people who are mixed. My experience with black people is anytime you’re black and something else, you’re still black because all black people are mixed with something. That’s not to say that I don’t buy that whole thing. But sometimes when I hear that people go through all these things—I don’t know. I wasn’t there so I can’t say it was one way.
I think it’s refreshing and inspiring to hear someone say that I’m comfortable in my own skin being that there may be young biracial kids out there feeling insecure about their identity. Yeah you just have to be you! Everyone’s experience is different but what kid doesn’t get teased about something growing up? I won’t victimize myself. Of course I heard things and sometimes I got called names, but there’s overweight kids, people who are really short or really tall—who are called names too. I think it’s just part of growing up. Sometimes I think people have to toughen up!
One of the things that people gave you some issues about in the beginning of your career was the fact that you had a Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. Apparently they were scared that it would lessen your appeal as a singer. Since you’re attractive do you feel that people immediately assume that you’re not intelligent?I think sometimes people forget that women can be attractive and intelligent at the same time. I also find that although that is the case a lot of it is how a woman carries herself. I think these days a lot of men love the idea that a woman’s attractive and intelligent. The old stereotype is that guys don’t want a smart woman. I think a lot of guys—at least the guys I know—want somebody who has a brain. So I think it’s a good thing. I don’t think it was that people didn’t think I wasn’t going to be intelligent. I think it was that some people were concerned that having a degree might take away from my artistic credibility.
I’m like listen I’m not gonna dumb myself down for anybody! It is what it is and I just thought that was kind of ridiculous. It ended up not even being a big deal. It ended up being a good thing.
You once noted that if you weren’t in music you’d be researching the spiritual paranormal field. Are there any noteworthy encounters you’ve had from the other side?Well, actually, I am from the other side. Everybody just thinks I’m alive right now. [Laughs]
You scared me there. I was like Amerie’s kind of crazy! [Laughs][Laughs] I just think it’s really interesting. I’m fascinated by that whole realm. I think everyone to a certain extent has a fascination with it. I think most people wonder about where we were before we came here, where we’ll be after we leave here, the whole meaning of life, and the way everything got put together. You could dwell on it forever.
Do you believe in reincarnation?I kind of do believe in reincarnation. I’m still thinking about it but I’m open to it. To me it makes more sense that we’re reincarnated than only living once. I kind of lean more toward reincarnation but I don’t know. I have no idea. Anything is possible in this life.
If you could come back as some other form or animal what would it be?I definitely want to be a human. I have a dog and being a pet kind of sucks. They don’t speak English so you can’t do exactly what you wanna do. If we’re going out and we’re taking him he doesn’t have the option to say, “I wanna stay home” or “Hey, I want to come.” You kind of just have to be told what to do all the time. I was just thinking about that and I was like being a pet sucks sometimes. But I try to make it easy for [my dog].
What’s your dog’s name?John Pierre Sebastian.
Overall what do you want listeners to get from the record?When I create albums I never create them like this is a single, this is a single, and we’re gonna fill up the rest of it. I really don’t like fillers and I don’t think anybody really intentionally does fillers. I’m very meticulous about sequencing. Lenny [Nicholson] who is my manger and business partner—we’re really meticulous about sequencing the album. The goal is for someone to listen to it all the way through. That’s why we sequence it in a certain way so that one song flows into the other song. You feel like you’re having an experience. It’s not just an album with some songs on it. It’s an experience! That’s what I love about my favorite albums. I can put it in and get to go on this little journey with one of my favorite artists. So I would love for people to put it in their car, put it on in their house, and just go on the ride. That’s the goal.
For more information please visit:
www.amerie.net