If somebody had told me that I would be meeting and greeting an acclaimed singer-songwriter-musician within the week, I would have simply scoffed and went on about my business. But lucky for me, that is just what happened to me within the span of 2 days. On Monday, I was informed that I would have the opportunity to meet and ask questions to the artist who held the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart of the previous week – Musiq Soulchild. Being no stranger to his work, I immediately jumped at the opening. Before I know it, 2 days pass and I’ve interviewed one of the few R&B musicians out there that can still produce a solid and decent album these days.
I arrived at the radio station promptly at 2PM, nearly an hour before Musiq would officially arrive. There was a buzz throughout the entire building, ranging from the employees, to the DJs and the contest winners – to which there were probably a dozen. When word got around to the contest winners that Musiq was in the building, there was a short game of “Where’s Musiq?” amongst them for about 5 minutes. I must have won that game, since I spotted Mr. Soulchild walk into the DJ booth with his Rick Ross-look-alike bodyguard in tow and proclaimed, “There’s the man of the hour.” Within 10 minutes, I was ushered in to ask my questions in the radio airtime allotted – 3 minutes.


Me: I noticed in your liner notes that you mentioned James Brown as being one of your inspirations. In what way did he inspire you to become a musician?

Musiq: Well, James Brown really inspired me as an entertainer. James Brown really helped me to be inspired as far as finding ways to present myself and handle myself on stage. I mean, as a singer, a lot of times you just want to sing your songs and call it a day, but when you’re on-stage you gotta understand there’s an audience waiting there to be entertained, so the more that you can do to make it more of an experience for them - the better. And definitely James Brown was one of the masters, if not the master of, you know, taking that stage, owning that stage, and making it more than just a show. Whenever you go see James Brown, it’s an experience. I’m doing my best to live up to that.


Me: For the last couple of years, people have said that Hip-Hop and R&B, in general, have experienced a downward spiral in terms of quality. Do you have anything to say on that subject?

Musiq: Well, I guess it’s safe to say that I agree with that. However, the potential for it to be better is still there. It just depends on the people that – not only the people involved in it, but the listeners and supporters of Hip-Hop music and Soul music put into to do what they can contribute to it being better. By supporting people who do what they can to contribute to it being better. Like myself, not to single out myself, but I know myself I’m doing what I can to contribute to the creativity, to the uplifting and the enhancement and creative substance of soul music, and hopefully soon in my career to Hip-Hop music - whatever I can do. But just support whatever it is that you feel should be supported that much more. Not to discredit anybody else or what they’re doing, but there needs to be a balance. I think what people are sensing is the imbalance of what’s going on. Something is being supported and promoted way too much than something else. So, it just needs to be balanced out. If people would just support, you know, other things out there, it would help to balance stuff out.



Me: Do you have any advice for any aspiring musicians?

Musiq: Yeah, don’t do it. (laughs) Nah. Basically just, you know, pretty much like most successful people will say, “Don’t quit, stay true to yourself, keep God first, try to stay humble and grounded.” But I’m gonna say this that a lot of people don’t usually say – educate yourself on what it is that you’re doing. If you want to be a singer, educate yourself on what it means to be a good singer. If you want to be a producer, if you want to be a musician, if you want to be an MC, if you want to be a writer – whatever it is that you’re doing, educate yourself on the history of it. Do your homework. Find out who did it before you, who have contributed to this thing that’s made possible for you to even have something to do. There’s a lot of people who came before you that contributed to the house that Soul built, that contributed to the house that Hip-Hop built and whatever else. Just because you want to get in the music industry doesn’t mean anything. Everybody’s not the best singer in the world, everybody’s not the best MC in the world. You might find another avenue of expressing yourself. Maybe it might be in writing, maybe it might be in producing, maybe it might be in being a manager, and maybe it might be in being a promoter. You never know. But don’t restrict yourself. Stay true to yourself and be honest with yourself. But for the most part, educate yourself on what it is that you’re getting yourself into – so that you know what it is, not what you think it is.