Interview: Bee Boy$oul Talks New Album, 'Back 2 Love'
In conjunction with the release of the stunning Back 2 Love, I sat down with Bee Boy$oul to chat about the new record, being signed to Raheem DeVaughn, the Virginia Sound, "Nu JuJu," and the power of love.
This is your first major release, but it's not your first-ever release. What specifically marks that distinction for you and for your audience?
This is the first time I'm being distributed by a major company. Before now I was completely independent. I'm still independent. This time I'm distributed by a major company, SRG. They have the machine, the horsepower, if you will, to put behind my art to get it to the amount of people that I feel should hear it
How did you first get in touch with Raheem and what was the journey to eventually signing to him?
Wes Felton. Wes Felton was the lynchpin. He and I had done work together, and he called me to do a fill-in gig with Raheem and him, and from there, we began to work. Originally, I was signed to DMG, and I had done some production and done some work with Raheem DeVaughn. Later, I became independent under my own company, but Raheem and I still do business together. Then, Raheem started this new imprint, New Era Soul Records. New Era Soul Records and my company, MrBawsaw Music & Media Group, have partnered on this particular project, and Raheem is the executive producer.
What has it been like shifting from the independent world to a position that is slightly more adjacent to the corporate world of music?
From the art side, not much at all. It's understanding that once you enter the business side of it, value becomes key. I'm using "value" and not "money" because what I'm learning is that if you have a talent or gift or anything of value, you can play the game. I'm actually seeing the return on all the value that I believed I had all this time. I'm starting to see people put some effort behind me and they actually care.
Back 2 Love is such a fluid record. The top of the record features these sweeping crunchy harmonies from The HamilTones, and the bottom has these really groovy, earthy drums. I love the balance of that.
We shaped it so that it wasn't too much food for one sitting, but it still had the nutrition of what I intended. The cohesion of the album that you hear, we worked that. I plan on dropping the deluxe with the entire project as we originally did it, but I love what we came up with because of what you just said. I feel like it kind of pulls you in, makes you comfortable with me being a new artist, and then I hit you with the heavier, more earthy tones and rhythms.
How would you define "Nu JuJu" for those who aren't familiar?
Ah, he's done his homework! I like that. First, I gotta tell you what the "Old JuJu" was. I studied with this guy named J. Plunky Branch, and Plunky studied at the same time with the guy that taught Fela. To make a long story less long, the basis of juju is the energy of the moment, the energy of the ancestors, and the drum. (I'm paraphrasing what I took from it.) The evolution of that, to me, is hip-hop influences. Hip-hop is, to me, the evolution of African music expression. So, I asked his permission, "Yo, can I call this 'nu juju' because it's what you taught me, but it's from an 80s baby's perspective." And he gave me his permission.
My style is hip-hop, jazz, and soul. Hip-hop in that it's that rebel culture; it has that rough edge. Jazz in that it has that "cool speak." And the soul is the ephemeral feeling that music should bring when your listener hears it.
How did you go about curating a roster of guest artists that would best serve your vision and the album's sound?
That was easy because I have a working or personal relationship with every artist on the project. I've either played for them or with them on the road, as in the case of The HamilTones. I'm a cat first. I'm a person first. When I'm on the road, I like I tell my youngins that I'm mentoring, "When you're on the road, your show is only 45 minutes. That's the shortest thing you're gonna be doing. After that, you hang." I pride myself on being myself at all times, and, as such, I made pretty decent and lasting relationships.
I'm influenced by my peers. I produce a record with them in mind. But, there's actually a record that's on the deluxe that I did with YahZarah. Raheem heard the track and said, "Yo, I think that YahZarah will be cool for this." He set it up, but, even then, I have a relationship with YahZarah.
Who are some artists that you wanted to work with for this album, but couldn't set it up in time? Who are some artists in the newer class of R&B that you would be most eager to work with?
My homeboy, Mad Skillz. He's a very finicky MC. He's very, very particular about the beats and the vibes that he rocks over. Algebra Blessett is another friend of mine. We just couldn't make it work because of scheduling and so forth and so on. As for the new class: Phonte, Big Pooh, PJ Morton, Terrace Martin. These are people who are either now in my specific peer group or group of contemporaries, or one person removed.
Our hometowns influence and shape us. Being from Richmond, Virginia, is there a Richmond sound?
There is a Richmond sound, but it's a division of the VA sound. If you were to take your local drug dealer and put him in Bible study and then take him to a blues joint and told him to sing, play, or speak his experiences from all three — that's the Richmond sound. You've heard it before. You've heard it before where it sounds kind of churchy, but it still sounds like this nigga got some weed on him somewhere. That's the Richmond sound, and it's embedded in the culture of musicianship. I come from the culture of the cats that played on Sunday morning... but don't cross that dude on Monday evening! And he might be in the juke joints on Saturday night! That's Richmond, Virginia, right there. It was one of the stops on the chitlin circuit. That's what I know most specifically, but I spent time in Tidewater because I went to school in Norfolk (Norfolk State University). I had both experiences to compare and contrast. I realized that they're the same, except for the fact that the further out you get, it gets a little bit more country. It gets more spacious.
That's where you get a Pharrell from, that's where you get a Timbaland. So, I recognize it as a Virginia thing. That's where you get a Pusha T talking about selling crack over some of the most beautiful beats you ever heard. That's Virginia. We got a chip on our shoulder because we don't get our respect. You hear it and feel it in the music. It's hard.
What song was the most difficult to finish recording and what song are you most excited for people to hear?
I did a remake of Michael Jackson's "Rock With You," and it was difficult because I used a vocoder effect. It was difficult to get that locked in and sounding the way I wanted. For a song that's actually on the album, the title cut, "Back 2 Love." It was only difficult because it was by three artists: Raheem DeVaughn, Eric Roberson, and Dwele. I had to be patient, I had to wait on verses to come in because we didn't record that all together.
The song I'm most excited about... there's actually two. There's the record with The HamilTones, "Sugar Love." I'm really excited about that record because I have the reference vocals of me doing that record. I love it as if I had nothing to do with it. I'm excited to hear people's responses to it because I know people love The HamilTones, and I think this is a record that people will like. I also did a record with Raheem called "Stay The Night." In my opinion, Raheem is the second coming of Marvin Gaye at times... he has that bag. With this record, I wanted to put him in that bag. I cannot wait for the grown folks to hear this record! I can't wait for the grown folks to hear both of those records!
Why love? Why was love the driving force for this album? Why now?
Can I answer that question in reverse? It was serendipitous. It was the universe. The records that ended up making up this project are close to two years old, and everything aligned when it was supposed to. Raheem and I decided to do this now, and everything has been easy. The only hard part has been the waiting. Why love? Truthfully, in my journey as a professional musician, I had somewhat fallen out of love. Like any job, it becomes monotonous. Like I'm literally traveling the world, making money and I'm complaining when I get home. Whereas, the guy next to me has to go to some job he really hates for eight hours to complain when he gets home too. Like, yo, let's cut all the complaining out and get back to the love.
In producing this album, I wasn't simply a side-man anymore. I wasn't just playing keyboards, learning music, performing music, hotel room, flight, back home anymore. I was actually involved in the creation process which reminded me of my purpose. That brought the love of music back. That's really what I mean by "back to love." The secondary "back to love" is like, I'm hearing all these narratives when I'm on Twitter, and I'm like, dang man! Yeah, y'all need some love! I wanted to make music that made people wanna make love with their partners, give love to their neighbors, and love themselves.
Back 2 Love is available now on all platforms.
