Thursday, July 26, 2007

EQ Magazine talks Justin LP



Last week we had Danja in EQ and this week we have an article about the creation of Justin's Future Sex/Love Sounds. JImmy D talks about the chemsitry him and Timbaland share(d) and some interesting tid bits about making the album. The most interesting part of the article is that apparently Justin financed the whole album himself. Hmmm...

****Douglass says that the traditional role of the producer — at least in the hip-hop world — has taken a 180° turn: “Many of the traditional skills of a producer are no longer needed. Now a guy can walk in with a few beats, hand it to the songwriter, and when an artist is done, call himself a producer. In my day, this guy was called a programmer. He supplied that part on which the song would be built.”

Still, one cannot minimize the extraordinary gifts of a producer like Timbaland: “He sees the whole vision and has his finger on the pulse of what modern people want to hear,” Douglass says. “These days, a good producer brings the savvy to find the right sounds that will draw the people.” A good example of this, Douglass says, is the Roland TR-808, a piece of gear that experienced a massive resurgence in hip-hop and R&B long after its initial demise in popularity. “We passed on after it had its day — now, somebody looks at it and says, ‘Hey, this is really cool. The kids would like this!’ Suddenly it’s on every other record in hip-hop and R&B. A good producer brings that sensibility — that’s why you hire him,” says Douglass.

Throughout the production of FutureSex/LoveSounds, Douglass, Timbaland, Hills, and Timberlake all appreciated that there was no pressure coming from a record label because Timberlake financed the record himself. “Justin was like, ‘Here’s the record, take it or leave it.’ This was a great way to work, as the label wasn’t around saying ‘change this, change that.’ After all, the record company’s job is to keep the artist happy and keep selling those records — not to tell you how to create it!”*****

Full Article

Props to Big A for the link.

3 comments :

  1. this justin timberlake dude does what he wants and the labels are going with it. i wonder what he payed Timbaland for the entire album.

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  2. lol... But its areal kwl idea, dnt u think? No pressure, no limits & dats y the album is the best JT has ever had so far...

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  3. Financing an album yourself is probably the best way to go. Because you have full control over it and at the end of the day the label can't tell you "No. You can't work with that producer" because it's not their money that's financing the requested producer. At the end of the day though, the label can still turn around after you've submitted the record and say "Nope. We don't like it. Do it again, we're not releasing this shit". But because Justin Timberlake is who he is there's no way Jive would refuse to release a record he gives them. The same goes for Beyonce with 'B'Day'. Me personally I would've turned to her and said "You need to re-work this shit". But because Beyonce is as big as she is and she financed the album herself, Columbia gave her the green light. (pun not intended :P)

    That was a great read though Johnny Douglass does some kick arse interviews. It's also great reading about how a particular song or album came together. Inlays can only tell you so much.

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