After making his solo debut in 2004 with his Ashanti accompanied single “Southside,” Lloyd has yet to yield to the marker of R&B crooner. Juxtaposing R&B vocals with street savvy flavor, he appropriately covets the self given title of “walking controversy.” In his newest release, King of Hearts, the heart throb makes a daring move with his first album under his new label home of Interscope.
Under Polow da Don’s creative watch, Lloyd pushes the boundaries of consistency, with an album that at times sings of love and sensual escapades, yet shows no shame while chanting the contagious phrase “that vajayjay,” and painting sonic imagery of strip club bravado. Walking controversy indeed.
It’s daring, it’s bold, it’s rebellious, it’s honest and it’s dangerous. I love it for those reasons,”says Lloyd reflecting on “Dedication To My Ex.” With guest features from Lil Wayne and Andre 3000, the song quickly gained favor over the internet, released shortly before the album’s due date.. During an appearance on BET’s 106 & Park, Lloyd clarified that the “P” word was said 52 times.
Maybe it was that rebellious chant that made it so appealing, or its unique structure reminiscent of 1950’s rhythm.
“Me and Polow da Don went to Atlanta to record a few records and a friend of ours was working on a song and we just fell in love with it and started recording it and it ended up coming off pretty cool.”
While the digital world is still salivating over “Dedicating To My Ex,” Lloyd has his focus on his next single, “Be The One,” which the video was recently shot for on the West coast.
“We just shot [it] in Los Angeles with Trey Songz and Jeezy the day after the BET Awards. It took six hours to shoot it, everyone was kind of hungover.”
In addition to his R&B counterpart Trey Songz, Lloyd also brought in Chris Brown and his childhood inspiration R. Kelly for some collaborative work. It seems an unlikely move to bring in his fellow singing competitors, but Lloyd assured that a competitive atmosphere only makes the music better.
“I just wanted to showcase what I considered the upper echelon of my genre,” he says of the guest features. “I think people are really quick to compare me and Trey Songz and Chris, but when you hear the songs you get to hear how unique and different we really are. By working with each other we bring out the best because we are very competitive.
You can kind of hear us trying to out do each other. It makes for the best music. Lloyd also mentions of other artists he would like to work with in the future. “Timbaland, Pharrell. Me and Pharrell would make some dope music.”
According to Lloyd, Polow da Don’s sonic touch made it possible for him to experiment with various tones while maintaining accord.
“I credit the cohesion to Polow da Don. He’s a helluva producer. His job is to capture my character through the music, to magnify what is my persona and my attitude through a song and I think he’s done a real good job of that.” He adds, “It’s really hard to capture both extremes on one album.”
While a good portion of King of Hearts screams of boldness and sexual innuendo, the singer gravitates more-so towards the softer records, which embrace a calmer side of him. “I like those [other] songs a lot but I also like “Angel” and “World Cry” which is probably my favorite.”Even the most daring of records doesn’t keep Lloyd from exploring his vulnerable side, especially when it comes to the matters of love and intimacy.
With sultry records such as “Naked,” there’s no avoiding the fact that Lloyd has mastered the art of bedroom music. When contemplating if he makes love to his own songs, he responds
“I sure do. Whatever she wants, if that’s what she wants then sure, why not. It may feel awkward at first but once I reach my destination I’m sure I’ll feel right at home. It’s myself, so its almost like making love to yourself.”
Though the R&B star has stayed discreet enough to keep away from scandalous headlines, he has no shame in revealing his preferences in (and in this case outside of) the bedroom.
“I’m adventurous, but I’m not too adventurous, there’s certain things I don’t want to do and then certain things that I don’t really mind doing. My philosophy is if she likes it, I love it,”he says with a chuckle. Lloyd justifies his reasoning adding, “I’m young, I’m rebellious, I like to do things that are borderline crazy sometimes. I’ll try new places, I’ve always wanted to do it on an airplane.”
Revisiting the sexual fantasy gives Lloyd a refreshing thought for a moment, but it’s only brief as his mind shifts back to his schedule. Only his first interview of the day, long hours are ahead for the star as he mentally prepares himself for the mundane, or worse, the abrasive. For now however, there will be none of that.
Of even bigger magnitude, is his set on Lil Wayne’s I’m Still Music Tour. This will fill up his schedule for the next few months, followed by another tour outside of the states.
“I plan on doing a little overseas touring after me and Lil Wayne get off the road and I plan on King of Hearts being just as impactful this time next year. I’m gonna take my time with this one. I’m gonna ride it out.”
This isn’t the first time Lloyd and Young Money mogul Lil Wayne have brought their creative forces together. Wayne carries guest features on every single solo album since Lloyd’s Southside debut. Not to mention Lloyd took part in the Young Money collective track “Bedrock,” which peaked at the top of the Billboard charts. Lloyd’s involvement with the Young Money release led many to believe he would be the next addition to the roster.
With colossal acts like Nicki Minaj and Drake under the label imprint, it may have not been a bad move for the singer. There was some noted hesitation when the subject was brought up.
“Polow’s a great producer, and I’m a singer. A singer needs a great producer,” he says after revisiting the possibility. But Lloyd admits it was a consideration, “[Young Money] was an option, but I really like Interscope. I like the way they get down, the fact that they’re always on the forefront of music culture, I like the way that they brand Hip-Hop. I wanted to go where I felt I would have the best music possible.”
Perhaps the signee list was a bit overcrowded, especially with Drake steering the singer-slash-rapper movement. Although acclaimed for his singing abilities, Lloyd possess a knack for the lyrical arts. He attributes those skills to purely wanting to connect with his peers in his younger days.
“Elementary though the beginning of high school I went to a performing arts school and it was pretty private,” Lloyd begins. “Then I took myself out so I could go to public school because I wanted to know what it was like to go to school with all my friends. I wanted to be like everyone else, I didn’t want people to know that I could sing so I would just rap, let people hear me freestyle.”
Lloyd’s multi-faceted talents have certainly merited some noted accomplishments. Doing remixes with Patti Labelle, holding a #1 video for 60 days on BET’s 106 & Park, and of them most celebrated, bringing Andre 3000 and Nas together on his “You” remix.
“I knew Andre and then I knew Nas and I just thought it would be cool to have one of my favorite rappers from the north and one of my favorite rappers from the south on one track together for the first time. They didn’t know each other would be featured until I put it all together. They loved it.”
“You (Remix)”
The R&B crooner also acknowledges the sacrifices he withstood in order to make those things happen.
“The most important things that I’ve had to sacrifice are my wants. Just whatever I want at the time. Whether it be getting drunk and smoke weed when I want to. Just basically be reckless, which is something I want to do sometimes is go crazy but for the better of the album for the better of the movement sometimes you have to take yourself out of your personal space and not be so selfish.” After giving it some though, he adds “To sum it up, I think the biggest sacrifice was to stop smoking weed.”
