Real Music Still Exits; It Goes By The Name Rahsaan Patterson

By Margena A. Christian, ... for EBONY

Not many singers know how to make sweet love when performing a song. Then there is Rahsaan Patterson, one of those people who make a song scream and holler, while passionately caressing his mellifluous vocals around each lyric. You don’t stay in the game this long if you haven’t mastered the basics. Patterson cut his teeth long before there was a show like Glee. The veteran performer won fame on the teen musical show called Kids Incorporated where a young Patterson, known as “The Kid,” performed alongside then baby-faced singers like Fergie and Martika. Patterson is serving up his latest offering, Bluephoria, which drops on Tuesday, July 19. EBONY.com spoke with him about his sixth album and the one song you’ll never hear him perform live.

EBONY: How did you come up with the album’s name and what’s the concept?Patterson: The title just came one day a couple of years before I even started working on the music. That tends to happen for my records. I come up with the title first before I ever get into the studio for it. But ultimately it’s about love and the depth of it.

EBONY: How long did it actually take you to complete the project?Patterson: Maybe, like, almost two and a half years.

EBONY: Why nearly three years? Were you going through label changes? Patterson: No, I was just living life and having experiences. Then I would write about them, and then I’d have to go have some more experiences and come back and write about those.

EBONY: Were those experiences good, bad, all of the above?

Patterson: Ultimately every experience ends up being necessary.

EBONY: Does being in the spotlight make it easier for you to live life and to deal with friends/relationships or does it complicate things?

Patterson: I think it can complicate things and when it does, it’s complicated because of maybe an individual who may not be secure.

EBONY: Do you play instruments?

Patterson: I do program and play after sitting there and figuring [a song] out, because I don’t naturally play and I haven’t taken lessons. But as a singer I’m able to hear it, so I can find it on a keyboard. I can figure it out. On this record I did more of that.

EBONY: You write your own lyrics, correct?

Patterson: Oh, yeah.

EBONY: Who are some of the people you worked with on Bluephoria?

Patterson: I have André Crouch and his singers, who fortunately came and blessed the album. I have Tata Vega, who was the voice of Shug Avery in The Color Purple, Jody Watley, Faith Evans, Lalah Hathaway, and Shanice.

EBONY: Some real flat-footed singers, as one would say.

Patterson: Yeah, absolutely.

EBONY: Did you have a hand in selecting those you worked with?

Patterson: Oh, yeah.

EBONY: You made certain to choose people who could hang with you vocally. Patterson: Well, you know, they are all phenomenal singers and artists and in a lot of ways each of them set a certain standard for a certain style in the realm of soul and R&B. And with Jody, you know her history with Shalamar and her vocal tone. It’s extremely distinctive. You hear that voice; you know who it is. They’re all quite iconic in their own way, and for people who have followed their careers individually, I think they’ll understand what I mean when I say that.

EBONY: People sometimes describe your sound and put it into certain genres within a subgenre. How would you describe it?

Patterson: I don’t know.

EBONY: Would you say more neo soul?

Patterson: Maybe my first record and second record could be easily defined as neo, but this record I wouldn’t say that in terms of production style. But I don’t know what to call it other than soul music, because that’s where it comes from.

EBONY: What’s been your greatest challenge thus far, and how have you grown and used it toward your craft?

Patterson: My greatest challenge, as with anyone who resides on planet earth, is overcoming fear and all of those obstacles and blockages that create the fear. So for me it’s been the same thing. I just do it all on record for people to hear and witness.

EBONY: What were you fearful about? Did you ultimately face it head on and it worked to your advantage?

Patterson: The fear of writing a song 100 percent by myself and producing a song 100 percent by myself without the security of the great producers that I’ve worked with in past. I’ve learned so much from them. They contributed so much to the productions on all of my records, but “Wines and Spirits” was the first time I actually kind of stepped out there for the world to see that part, that aspect of me and my creativity. And this one just goes further in that direction.

EBONY: What’s going to be the lead song?

Patterson: The first teaser that we have put out was “Easier Said Than Done.” And we’re in the process of picking the single that will be the next one. So I can’t necessarily say it right now because we haven’t made a decision.

EBONY: You’ve had a storied career. You’ve been in the industry for a while.

Patterson: Twenty-seven years.

EBONY: Do you feel frustration at times? You’re one of the great voices. Do you feel like you’ve gotten your just due or that you’ve ‘made’ it?

Patterson: My thought is that I may not have yet received my just due in terms of accolades that are given to me in the public sense. I have succeeded because I have maintained my integrity and my vision for who I am and my artistry, and I’ve succeeded because I have been able to do this for 27 years straight.

EBONY: How do you keep going? I’m sure you’ve had times when you felt like stopping.

Patterson: I keep going because there’s always people who give me encouragement to continue. And whenever I just so happen to have those moments and thoughts of, you know what, ‘I’m a little bit tired and maybe need to find some other creative outlet and maybe just put this on hold for a minute,’ every time I think or have that thought, I go on Twitter or I go on Facebook and people send me messages that confirm that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing, at least for this time.

EBONY: Having been a child star, do you feel this is your destiny? If you weren’t doing this, what else would it be?

Patterson: I have no idea what I would be doing if I didn’t do this. I’ll say that up until this point, it’s been my destiny. I’ll also say that at any point from this moment that I choose for it to be something else, that too will a part of my destiny.

EBONY: Who are two old-school artists who really inspire you musically and why?Patterson: Chaka Chan, of course. Why? Because, the presence of her vulnerability and insecurity, she was fearless in it.

EBONY: Who else?

Patterson: Hmm, who else? I guess the same could be said for Prince. A similar reason could be said for all of the old-school artists who really influenced me like Billie Holiday and Donny Hathaway. There was strength in being vulnerable and Donny possessed a foresight and a clairvoyance that not many have. He had the ability to see in that way and he was just like an ultimate talent. His honesty was one of a kind really. His heart was so present and obvious and in that there’s fearlessness, which I totally respect and admire.

EBONY: Who are you listening to at the moment?

Patterson: I have this one song of Faith’s from her album that I play a lot. It is called “Worth It.” I like that one a lot. I like Miguel’s song, “All I Want Is You.” There’s an act called Frances and the Lights that I like a lot. There’s a group called of Montreal that I like a lot. Outside of that I still listen to old stuff.

EBONY: What is it that people would be surprised to learn about Rahsaan Patterson?

Patterson: [Laughs]. That the friendships that I have with other artists who are respected, like Lalah, like Rachelle (Ferrell), like Chaka, like Ledisi, those friendships are kinships. It’s like we’re all from a distant planet, and we just so happen to be here together. Those relationships are that deep.

EBONY: Oh, really?

Patterson: Uh-huh.

EBONY: How do you fine tune your instrument, your voice?

Patterson: I’ll sing a little bit around the house sometimes. I’ll have outbursts, I’ll say. They’re more outbursts. They’re not necessarily me singing a song. I’ll just feel something and have to hit a note.

EBONY: Do you ever sing or listen to your own music when you aren’t performing?Patterson: I listen to my own music more than I sing it. I do this just walking around or whenever, particularly whatever I’m currently working on at the time.

EBONY: What song stands out most because it has such a special meaning or signals something significant in your life?

Patterson: There are quite a few of those, but there are some that I don’t sing live because they are so emotional.

EBONY: Such as?

Patterson: One is “Don’t Run So Fast” from [the album] After Hours.

EBONY: What is it about that song?

Patterson: It just takes me back to my childhood with my grandparents and the lessons that I was taught that I didn’t necessarily get until I got older. You know at the time you think it’s always about being ridiculed, ‘Don’t touch that. Don’t go over there and don’t do that and don’t do this.’ But when you get older, you realize there was a reason for all those ‘don’ts.’ So that song really just holds a special place for me, because it takes me back to that time with my grandparents when I was little. It takes me back to growing up in my house with my mom and my father. My father is no longer here. So it just creates a very emotional space.

EBONY: And it’s difficult for you to sing it?

Respondent: And it’s difficult, yeah.

EBONY: What’s the best advice you received from one of your kindred friends?Patterson: Let’s see. It’s interesting because, you know, there’s so many things. One of the things was when I first started touring for my first album. I remember Chaka telling me that you have to pay for what you want and if you want a full band, you’re just going to have to pay for it. And if you want great players, you just have to pay for them.

EBONY: Hmm.

Patterson: You know what I mean?

EBONY: Right.

Patterson: It’s going to cost you, but ultimately you’ll get what it is that you’re looking for.

EBONY: Anything else that you’d like to add or share that you want people to know?

Patterson: I would say that I am blessed and grateful to do what I do and have people want to listen.