[img:$uid]http://i.imgur.com/FJeqe.jpg?1731[/img:$uid]

August 15, 2011

Link

After-school activities: Singer/songwriter Miguel didn't play sports. He wasn't into theater. He didn't join a vocal group at his San Pedro, Calif., high school.

Instead, after the bell rang, Miguel slipped away to a more unusual extracurricular, particularly for a 13-year-old: learning the ins and outs of a recording studio. After a friend of a friend introduced Miguel to a contact at Sony Music Publishing, the teen signed with production company Drop Squad. "Between the ages of 13 and 18, I was in the studio as much as possible," he says. "All I wanted to do was make songs that sounded like they should be on the radio."

Everyone relates to love: Miguel writes from the heart — and about the heart. "Music really is the great communicator — it's understood by everyone, regardless of creed, color, dialect," he says. "It's rooted in emotion, and love is the emotion that's the most relatable to the most people." In introducing himself as an artist, "I wanted to talk about the different kinds of love and the situations that I've been in because of it — in search of, in spite of, in rebellion against." But for his next album, he says he'll branch out beyond love.

A subtle reminder:Sure Thing ("a Polaroid of my perfect picture of love") represents Miguel's conscious decision to tackle all things amorous. "It's a way for me to refer back to what real love feels like or should feel like. I took real love for granted and realized it too late. So I decided to write a song that I could always listen to that's like, 'OK, is this what it feels like? Then you've got something special, dude. Don't (mess) it up.'"

Check the "Other" box: His mother is African American. His father, Mexican. But Miguel files himself under a less-restrictive category. "Because I had a mixture of the two, I was always kind of left to decide," he says. "Necessity opened me up to realizing that I can be who I want to be, and I don't have to talk like this or dress this way or make music like this. I am different — there is no box for me." When taking standardized tests in school — the singer did well in high school but dropped out of community college to focus on his career — bubbling in his ethnicity served as a statement. "None of those boxes had what I am. I was the 'other' and that's exactly how I live my life. I don't fit into the boxes that society expects of me."

An eclectic taste: His father's love of classic rock, funk, hip-hop and soul ("Queen and the Rolling Stones and The Police and Foreigner, all the way down to Kurtis Blow and Biggie Smalls") made an imprint on Miguel's music sensibilities. "He was just really open-minded," Miguel says. "My mom was more into soul music. If you listen to my music, you'll understand the dynamic of my influences." While their musical tastes inspire him, they aren't stage parents, he says. "They were about schooling. As long as I got that done and I kept my grades up, I was allowed to go to the studio."

Genre-bending: He writes his music for the "Other" box, too. "It has nuances that are very nostalgic and familiar. But the way they're put together and the way I deliver the message is very unique to who I am."

A record deal was a Sure Thing: Miguel caught the attention of Mark Pitts, president of urban music for Jive, after the record executive heard Sure Thing. Miguel's management had submitted the demo for consideration for Usher's Here I Stand album, and "Mark fell in love with the song and the voice behind the song." Pitts eventually signed Miguel (previously on indie label Black Ice) to ByStorm/Jive Records, where Miguel co-wrote material for Usher's Raymond V. Raymond while working on his own album. In the studio, Usher "took me in as a friend and mentor," says Miguel, who also wrote the Musiq Soulchild track If U Leave featuring Mary J. Blige and Asher Roth's His Dream. He added "Grammy nominee" to his resume last year after co-writing Jaheim's Finding My Way Back, which was up for best R&B song.

Life on the road: In the past year, Miguel has gone out as an opening act for Mary J. Blige's Music Saved My Life tour and Usher's OMG tour, learning from the superstars along the way. "They're dedicated to being the best them all the time. They don't make excuses, they don't complain. And I think that's what I love and respect about them the most." He's on the road for the rest of the year, including a string of House of Blues gigs, a college tour and a few dates in Canada. At the end of the year, "we're going to Europe. It'll be really, really dope. I'm excited about it. A lot of this has been in the trenches, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

Sure Thing is bad ass. I love it. Sexy, romantic, just enough beat to groove with on a dance floor and the lyrics are dope. This song has passion and soul and we need more of that from today's artists.

For some reason I thought he was part asian. Oh well.