Ledisi Talks to SoulCuts – Podcast & Interview

Ledisi: Man, it was so much fun.

SoulCuts: It was hot.

Ledisi: It was like a sauna, wasn’t it? Like a sweatbox. My make-up just went…

SoulCuts: You know, I’m a big man, I’ve got a little extra. It was HOT!

Ledisi: I have a little extra too, ok, Paul!

SoulCuts: I wondered if I managed to work off a few pounds.


Ledisi: Oh, man. I know. I was like come on, move. I know it’s hot, but come on. That was funny.

SoulCuts: You must be exhausted.

Ledisi: Well, you know. You see me with the shades on. I just can’t…

SoulCuts: I’m running on four hours sleep too, so we’ll see how we do get on…

Ledisi: Oh, you guys always ask the best questions here in In-Ger-Land.

SoulCuts: Hey, I’d reserve judgement!

Ledisi: (Laughs) Uh-oh! OK!

SoulCuts: I read in an interview that you’d be a music journalist if you weren’t a singer and artist.

Ledisi: Yeah. I’d still do something to do with music, and if I had to write, that’s what I’d do.

SoulCuts: So how would you go about critiquing artists?

Ledisi: It would be so hard. I don’t know how you guys do that.

SoulCuts: For me, I generally only write about what I like, in the main, at least for SoulCuts.

Ledisi: There you go. That’s why I’m here. You’re supposed to tell me these things. Yeah, I’d say, Nah, I can’t do it (laughs).

SoulCuts: So, how does criticism work with you? Do you read all your reviews? Or maybe you just get the good ones sent to you?

Ledisi: You know, it’s funny, there’s one critic, that shall remain nameless, let’s just say that, but I adore the way he writes and what he talks about, but when it comes to me, he just NAILS me. Cuts me every time! But I absolutely adore his writing, so I understand it. Not everything is for everyone, and I get that. But, oh!, criticism is hard. I get it on Twitter, I get it on Facebook, I get it all the time. But it comes with the territory, that’s what I’m learning. After Turn Me Loose, people want you in a box, they want you a certain way and they want you to do what they want you to do, and that’s just part of it, but you have to remember it’s your music, your face, your name. You have to remember that you want to leave behind work that you’re happy with and that you feel good about. And that’s what matters at the end of the day.

SoulCuts: Yeah, any criticism has been about that ‘box’. With Soulsinger, we all thought we knew what you stood for and who you were, very much so on the UK soul scene. Furthermore, that earlier period perhaps didn’t allude to the fact that you had this broader musical palette. Did you always have those tastes that reached beyond modern soul?

Ledisi: Yes! Growing up I was in a household with my mother who listened to Willie Nelson, she loved Giovanni and Earth, Wind & Fire, she loved Chaka Khan. And then we’d go from classical to Patsy Cline, all over the place. And then my stepfather only listened to soul music, but in school I would learn about Zydeco and African sounds and I soaked up everything and when I heard James Brown and funk guitar, oh my God! You know, I can’t stop in just one genre, if I had a choice. And then, as a teenager, it was all about hip-hop, who had the best Michael Jackson moves. I’m sorry, but I grabbed everything!

SoulCuts: Favourite hip-hop groups?

Ledisi: Oh! Tribe Called Quest.

SoulCuts: I grew up on hip-hop and it’s how I got into soul and jazz.

Ledisi: That’s what I heard, A Tribe Called Quest mixed in the jazz and then I wanted to learn about big bands because of it.


SoulCuts: Oh, but when they bought in singers…

Ledisi: (Laughs) What are they doing? They’re messing it up!

SoulCuts: And then there were rappers that tried to sing. Remember Smooth B from Nice & Smooth. I loved that group, but Smooth B sang on this track Cake and Eat It Too and his voice was all over the place. I mean, I loved them, but…

Ledisi: Oh, it was shaking.

SoulCuts: But, for me, soul music is a broad church that takes in jazz, blues, hip-hop, house…

Ledisi: And I’ve done that. I did my first ‘house’ record with Miguel Migs. I did Breakin It Down and then City People. I’ve been all over the place.

SoulCuts: So, where’s next?

Ledisi: Oh I don’t know (laughs), but it’s definitely going to be R&B, definitely R&B.

SoulCuts: What do we mean, slightly more edge?

Ledisi: Well, R&B, but I don’t want to be in a box, with a title and just neo-soul and jazz it out all the time and be something that I’m not just to please everybody, that’s just not me. You see that from my live performances, I’m completely not that person.

SoulCuts: Yeah! Pretty soon, the rock’s coming out.

Ledisi: (Laughs) Yeah, but I’m still singing R&B on that.

SoulCuts: Do you feel like you’ve found your voice and your niche, or are you still working towards finding the definitive ‘Ledisi’ sound?

Ledisi: I feel like Turn Me Loose and Pieces of Me represent some of my happiest feelings, even though some of the songs on Turn Me Loose are darker than what I’m doing now. I still felt like I had more freedom with Turn Me Loose and I’m happy that my label let me vent that side of myself. I see it as a bigger version of Soulsinger, just with more guitars, from listening to Prince, James Brown and Buddy Miles. And then Pieces of Me, I’ve never been so excited about an album as with this one. It’s the highest ranking on the charts in the States, it’s the most well received with the young and the old and has a nice balance, a combination. I’m so happy that daughter’s can go to the same show with their mothers, or fathers. Everybody can come to me show!

SoulCuts: Music’s universal, it’s all about sharing.

Ledisi: And I’m so pleased with the songwriting. The way it’s written is general. It’s about me, but it could be about you. And the MEN, the response from the men has been AWESOME. I love it because…

SoulCuts: Has it not always been awesome. I mean, I’m a man and I’ve always liked it! It’s always done it for me!

Ledisi: (Laughs) It’s great, but I’m getting a different kind of attention than I had before. But the same from you (laughs). But you know what I mean, men are on Pieces of Me singing “I’m a woman’. So it’s kind of cool.

SoulCuts: We’ve got to let that side out sometimes!

Ledisi: (Laughs) They’re just as passionate about the songs and they love the sexiness that’s going on, so it feels good. And the woman feel like, yeah, she’s talking about me, this is MY song. It feels really good and it’s brought in a younger audience but still with the older fans, it’s a nice mix. I’m always in the middle anyway, so if that’s the case, for this album, I wanted to make sure that it’s really good.

SoulCuts: And it is really good, but you don’t need me to tell you that.

Ledisi: Yes I do!

SoulCuts: You’re not going to go home and say, ‘You know what, Paul from SoulCuts, he likes my album, he REALLY likes my album!’

Ledisi: (Laughs) I am. Ask them, they know. I’m not kidding. Every little bit matters to me.

SoulCuts: I read that with this album you feel more confident that you did in the past. Having seen you perform, I find it hard to reconcile that with the person that stands up there, commands the stage, but then on stage, I saw the confidence, but I also glanced some vulnerability…I think…

Ledisi: Look, every time I do an interview or go somewhere for my projects, I’m nervous. On stage I’m nervous. I freak out. In a crowded room or industry party, I’m like, do I really have to go, can’t they just listen to the music and I’ll stay home in my jamas. I’m like, do I have to be there? So, yes, I am vulnerable because I’m worried about somebody not liking it, or somebody loving it so much that they’re going to want the exact same thing the next time. It’s always that battle. Please allow me to create art in the way that I love to create art. So, I worry about that feeling. We get so close to people and then on the next album people are saying ‘Oh no! What is she doing?’ I want to please everyone but I’ve learned that you can’t. And I’ve learned that I am confident, I do feel comfortable in my own skin and for that, I’m not going to please everybody. I’m OK with it now. Now, I’ll crack jokes about it, or say something before you’re thinking it. All the time, I’m just acting up, because what else can I do but laugh about it.

SoulCuts: Do you think that the backroom people behind the artists are as good as back in the day. I know you work a lot with Rex Rideout and he seems to be one of the few with those old school values. But, does our generation, or the upcoming generation, have people of the caliber of Quincy Jones, Arif Marden, Ashford & Simpson etc?

Ledisi: Well, I call as many of them as I can to keep in touch and maintain balance. I talked to Nik Ashford when he was alive about the industry and Miss Simpson, Valerie Simpson, to get advice. I also talk with people like Tawatha and her husband Mtume. I ask them questions and they keep in touch with me. Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam, those guys still know the balance between young and old. For me, Rex keeps that balance.

SoulCuts: But do you think that there are new figures with those old school values?

Ledisi: That’s a good question. I think Raphael Saadiq does it and Salaam Remi. I think they’re there.

SoulCuts: And those are people you’ve worked with.

Ledisi: I have. And Q-Tip! I think he keeps balance with the soul and hip-hop. He understands what people want to hear in the clubs. If you ever get the chance to sit and talk with him, do it. He has an amazing mind about music. I love talking to him.

SoulCuts: I adore Kaamal the Abstract album!

Ledisi: Oh yeah. It’s awesome, I love Q-Tip! I think there are people out there with that balance of the young and the old. It’s out there. I have to believe that it’s out there, because I’ll be looking for it for my new album. (Laughs)

SoulCuts: What’s the worst song you’ve had come to you?

Ledisi: (Laughs) Before I wrote So Into You, I had the corniest stuff. It was not sexy at all. I think it was because I kept doing all these events that were for anniversaries, or church events. So I felt that I couldn’t write about certain things and Rex is looking at me, like, ‘Girl, will you come back to R&B, so we can have a nice song, for the LOVERS!’ He was like, ‘That will not work on this track,’ when I was singing, ‘So nice, on ice’. He was like no, no, no. It was horrible.

SoulCuts: Oh you’ve got something there.

Ledisi: No, no, no (laughs). It was horrible!

SoulCuts: But have you had any terrible songs come to you, anything totally inappropriate, like overtly sexually explicit material?

Ledisi: I just go through them and throw them away (laughs)! I haven’t really had anything too extreme, but I will say that Coffee was a little more risque when it first came to me. I never sang a song like that, and so I took a couple of lyrics out and made it fit for me, and it worked! But the first version, it would have been maybe better for a rapper like Too Short with the lyrics they had on there. But, I love Too Short! I’m glad I changed the lyrics and got it to work for me, but that’s the only time that’s happened. And Rex brought that song to me. It’s actually produced by Kay-Gee from Naughty by Nature. Kay-Gee is incredible. You see, hip-hop! You don’t know! It’s sneaking in on ya!

SoulCuts: Let’s talk about some other tracks on the album. So, Shut Up! I’m not telling you to shut up…

Ledisi: Shut up! I love the way you guys say shut up (laughs).

SoulCuts: Come on, you can’t get any haters, really! Why?

Ledisi: I do. There are some folks that just want to do what I do. I mean, I can understand it, but I wouldn’t be mean to me to get it. I mean, just do your part, and get in (laughs)!

SoulCuts: I don’t understand it!


Ledisi: Ah, that’s because they came in on Pieces of Me and they think they know me. They don’t know me. Please, go back and check my work, read an interview or something. I’m so not going there with you (laughs).

SoulCuts: But that really surprises me.

Ledisi: (Laughs) Most definitely, I kid you not, even my fans are like, really Led, when I show it to them….and then they attack them, they’re like ‘what’s wrong with you!’…I’m like, I didn’t tell you to go tweet that person like crazy (laughs). One girl was so mad because I didn’t sing a particular song and another one said, ‘You didn’t let me take a photo, so I won’t buy any more of your CDs.’ They go in! I’ve had my butt cussed out for nothing. Really, you’re that mad! Come here, give me a hug! But I didn’t write that song for them. I wrote it for anyone who’s had people tell them that they would never amount to anything, you know, in a polite way, shut up! But it’s also more uptempo, it’s got a lot of energy. And also, somebody cut me up on the freeway and that’s where that song came from, and it just seemed to work.

SoulCuts: OK, so I think I know what you wanted to call the song…

Ledisi: (Laughs) You know what I really wanted to say!

SoulCuts: Like the story of Le Freak!

Ledisi: That’s right. Crazy! You know, songs come. And when they do, you’ve got to make it work. Even Mike City, the producer, he’s incredible, worked with El Debarge, Faith Evans, so many people. And he said, ‘That’s the name of the song, Shut Up. Led, you gone and lost your mind! Coming in here with a song called Shut Up!’ I said, ‘No, no, let me sing it for you,’ and he went, ‘OK, let’s lay it down, let’s knock it out’. And it’s fun, it’s lively.

SoulCuts: It sounds like you’re talking from experience and actually a little further down the line where this stuff doesn’t really bother you that much anymore.

Ledisi: Yeah. You get it. Please don’t ever leave me! If you feel something heavy on your leg, that’ll be me! The next album’s gonna be all about you! (Laughs) Look, you got excited, all your hair came up!!

SoulCuts: (Laughs) Yeah, the SoulCuts Odyssey!

(Laughs)

SoulCuts: I get credits for this, yeah!

Ledisi: OK, sure. 10%, like my mom.

SoulCuts: That’ll do.

Ledisi: We got it. We’re done. The next album is finished!!!!

SoulCuts: So from one great collaborator to another, you’re on the new Trombone Shorty album, and I saw him last week and the energy he brings is something else. You guys would be AMAZING on stage together.

Ledisi: Well, he’s from New Orleans, that’s how we do! We’re going to make it work, get it done! We’re going to get you excited, make you move, dance, sing, laugh and cry. We want all of those emotions to happen RIGHT NOW! That’s how it works for us, and he’s amazing! He’s such a performer. He studies, he knows the history and he’s young! Very young. And the women loose it over him. If your wife gets close to him, it’s a rap! We have that little thing going on! He’ll start, ‘Hey baby…’ He’s a smooth daddy! But he acts so old. He’s like 24, and acts like he’s fifty, ‘Hey baby where you want to go.’ But you’re right about the level of musicianship. We grow up fast in New Orleans!

SoulCuts: You mainly grew up in Oakland, California.

Ledisi: I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, but by the time I was ten, we moved to Oakland, California. So I was pretty much raised in Oakland, but I kept going back and forth to New Orleans. And, New Orleans people, we take New Orleans with us. So I was always the oddball, speaking to people on the street, ‘Yes sir, hello Maam,’ and everybody’s looking at me crazy, like, who’s she talking to? You want something! They weren’t used to that kind of thing. I was raised to have total respect for my elders, even when they’re wrong, you have to respect them, that’s how New Orleans folk do. I mean, even if people didn’t like each other in New Orleans, there’s still that respect level. We’re very polite.

SoulCuts: Sounds like I need to go there, get some respect.

Ledisi: (Laughs) Paul! You got respect right now! Who’s messing with you! You call me! I got you. You know, Ledisi, I’m right there!

SoulCuts: Your faith comes across strongly in your live performances, but it’s very subtle on record. Would you do a full gospel album?

Ledisi: I won’t say no, it’s just not on the cards right now. If you ever see me do any gospel, it’s always on a celebration, or an anniversary, or because somebody passed, but you’ll never see me just do a gospel song. If you look on YouTube, it’s usually for an event or something. I take it very seriously when I sing faith based music. That’s why I get mad when people write things on YouTube that I’m not authentic. For me, it’s a personal thing. I don’t talk about it that much. I don’t need to express it in my recordings, but live, you can feel it throughout, and it’s because I want you to feel that I have faith. I wouldn’t stay doing this without a belief in something. I want you to get that when you leave, that the universe goes together and everything matters, the rain, the sun, it’s all connected to us. But when I do a gospel album, I don’t think I can do R&B, it has to be when I’m really serious about doing it. And I didn’t grow up in the church like a traditional R&B singer. I grew up around hippies that did all kinds of music and I’m glad, because it was so backwards when I learned gospel. I was studying opera at the same time and my vocal coach was having a heart attack, ‘What are you doing! You must sing spirituals and not the gospel music!’ They were losing their minds, thinking, ‘Oh no! what are we going to do with this child,’ because I soak up any kind of music from tablah music to African music. I love Anjelique Kidjo and want to work with her, , Salif Keita, Brazilian artists…I LISTEN TO EVERYTHING!

SoulCuts: Do you still find time to be a music fan?

Ledisi: I try to, but right now, I have to focus on Pieces of Me, so I stick with certain albums that keep me calm like Abbey Lincoln’s Turtle Dream, Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, classical music, and just stay calm, with lavender everywhere (laughs) so I can get back into promoting! See how they’ve got me working here. Can I come home with you, please?

SoulCuts: Yeah, no problem. We’ll cook you something nice. What’s your favourite meal?

Ledisi: Just don’t give me beans and sausage.

SoulCuts: No, we wouldn’t do that to you.

Ledisi: (Laughs) Great! No traditional English breakfast!

Soulcuts: No fried bread?