6 Things We Learned From Stevie J’s Interview With The Undefeated - Page 3

In case you forgot, Stevie J of Love & Hip Hop Atlanta fame was one of the most important Hip-Hop producers in the 1990s. In a recent interview with The Undefeated the reality star talked about his contributions.

While the television show he stars in usually shows him working everywhere but in the studio, Stevie J has parlayed that visibility into what is shaping up to be a second act for his career as a producer.

In a recent feature story for The Undefeated, Stevie J opened up and talked about his real life, not just the one he lives on reality TV. Here are some things we learned and were reminded of about the Grammy-winning producer that has made hits for everyone from Biggie to Mariah Carey.

Photo: Vh1/Screenshot

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STEVIE J’S FATHER WAS A GOSPEL SINGER

Stevie J knows how to play a gang of instruments and he has brothers who know how to as well. He inherited the gift from his father who had his own gospel band. Stevie wound up playing drums for the band at a young age and eventually played guitar for them as well.

My dad had a gospel band, and my uncles used to rehearse at my house. I wanted to be in my dad’s gospel band at 6 years old and when I started beating on pots and pans, [I heard] ‘When you get good enough on pots and pans, I’ll let you play drums, so you got to put a hole in all the pots and pans.’ A year later, I was playing drums for the Jordan Gospel Singers. My uncle let me pick up his guitar and I started learning that. My dad let me pick up his bass and I started learning that. The keyboard players let me test their keyboards. As I went to high school, I picked up the trumpet and saxophone and various instruments…I never took a lesson for anything — all God-given talent. A lot of cats nowadays, they don’t play instruments. I looked up the best of them and that’s all I wanted to be. The best.

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STEVIE J MET PUFF DADDY THROUGH JODECI

Stevie J‘s first big break came after he was discovered by Mr. Dalvin of Jodeci. He went on to play in their live band and co-produced two songs on their 1995 album The Show, The After Party and the Hotel. It was through that relationship that he met Sean “Diddy” Combs.

It started my senior year of high school. My brothers were all going to Buffalo State and University of Buffalo — and I got kicked out of high school — left school early without telling them, and they were like, ‘Yo, you got suspended.’ My brother was like, ‘You sing — we might use you in these talent shows, and we can win all these talent shows. Call it the Jordan Brothers.’ All of my brothers could play instruments and sing too, so I started singing at these shows, and we won everything. When people would come over to hear the beats I started making, they’d be like, ‘Hell, this sounds like it need to be on the radio!’ When Jodeci came out, I was doing the same type of material they were doing. So everybody was like, ‘You got to get out of Buffalo, man. It’s too small for you.’ I went back to Rochester for a fashion show and it was like a dull crowd in there. So I went to the bar, got a drink, came back, and it was packed. They said a special guest was in the house … Jodeci!

I was singing and they had my beats, so when it was over, K-Ci, JoJo, and Mr. Dalvin came up to me like, ‘Yo, you nice. Who did the beats?’ And I was like, ‘Me.’ They were like, ‘Yo, get out of here!’ So I was like, ‘There’s a piano in the back. I can play all y’all joints.’ I went to the back and started playing and singing their songs and they were like, ‘You ain’t never going home. You’re staying with us!’ I ended up working on their The Show, The After Party The Hotel album. I stayed with them for a year and a half. Then I met Puff after that.

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STEVIE J REPLAYED MOST OF THOSE BAD BOY SAMPLES

Puff Daddy and Bad Boy Records became synonymous for sampling. But Stevie J reveals that they weren’t just taking sounds from records, he was enhancing them.

I became the hit man. I share that because a lot of the tracks that we were working on, they were sample-based records. And I was the cleanup man as far as every record that had a sample. I had to recreate every sound with the live instrument. Even though we had samples, our songs would sound so full because I’d replay every instrument on them…I’m not going to take credit from Puff. Puff is a mastermind. And he’s got one of the best ears I’ve ever seen in music. He invented the remix, but I co-signed the remix with him. We invented the remix together. I give him credit for showing me how to make a hot hip-hop beat. I was more musical with mine, and he showed me how to put those drums with the R&B sound and make a nice little hip-hop/R&B mesh. Transcended my whole life and career…There’s always going to be haters, and haters make us greater! Our conversations were like, ‘We’re not even going to let them know that we got the live sound in there. We’re just going to let them keep thinking it’s all sample-based.’ While we creating, we were all just laughs. They’d have no idea that we’re hooking up guitars, basses, drums, keyboards, pianos, organs. We’d sit back and laugh amongst ourselves knowing that true musicianship was added to all of our records.

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STEVIE J GOT ON REALITY TV WITH A PLAN FOR A COMEBACK

Stevie J insists that he didn’t just blindly get into reality TV without a plan for himself. He says that he knew that being on television would would boost his profile and re-spark his career.

The first season … Puff and everybody like, ‘Whatchu doin’, my man? What areyou doing?’ My friends were calling me like, ‘Man, you’re going to lose your legacy.’ But I had it all planned out … I wouldn’t let anybody know my plan of attack. Cut to [now]: the Puff Daddy record and Ty Dolla $ign [record] is flying up the charts. I’m working on Pusha T. I just finished Kelly Price’s d— near whole album, and a Faith Evans and Biggie album. I’m working with Keyshia Cole. Keyshia called me and told me she wants to spend a month and a half with me. She said she’s been working with all these producers and they can’t give it to her. So she came to the studio. I picked up my guitar and played my piano and she was like, ‘I didn’t know. You got that sound I need.’ And with Puffy coming on [our] spinoff show … and saying what he said as far as giving me my credit, and saying that I was one of the best producers and musicians and writers, that’s when everybody really started taking notice. I appreciate my brother Puff for that.

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STEVIE J’S BIGGEST REGRET IS DOING EVE DIRTY

I was a party animal! Savagery. I regret not doing [ex-girlfriend] Eve right. She was one of my best friends, and we made great music together. I wrote her [ 2001 ] hit, “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” the one with Gwen Stefani on it…But at the end of the day, I regret not really focusing on the business and not focusing on those who truly loved me. I was on some, ‘I got this, I know this.’ I didn’t know s—. I thought it was something it really wasn’t. It was so bananas, because Eve and I loved each other. Eve’s such a sweetheart. There was a time where she couldn’t be in the studio if I wasn’t with her. She couldn’t go out of town if I wasn’t with her. That’s the love we shared. And for me to f— up on something like that … I was my worst enemy in my relationships.

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STEVIE J SAYS HE TONED HIS REAL LIFE DOWN FOR REALITY TV

Reality television was hot, so … I’m studying [it] while I’m still in the studio. I’m not as hot as I was in the ’90s [at this point], but I’m still in the lab, right? So I was like, ‘What is missing in reality TV?’ I’m nice with the music, but that’s not what I want to show right now. If I start it out with the personality, I can stretch this out. So I’m like, ‘I can come to TV with two women, because it’s really real with me.’ It used to be more [women] than that, but I dumbed it down for television and came to TV with just two. I had in my mind, when I hit television — I wanted to be risqué and I wanted to have the same effect [on people] as I’d had in music. I wanted people to pay attention. It might not have been conventional, but it’s something 90 percent of men go through. I wanted to put my life on the table. I’ve showed the world something different…If you look at hip-hop history, I’ve sold over 120 million records. I have four Grammys — and I’ve done the same thing on television. No. 1 every year. And with the Stevie J and Joseline Show, No. 2. So — No. 1 and No. 2 shows on Viacom. It equals the 120 million records and the four Grammys.