Monday, 28 January 2008
The son of jazz cellist Abdul Wadud, Maryland-based R&B vocalist Raheem DeVaughn kicked his career into gear after initiating a series of independent releases, aided in part by the cash reward earned from winning a talent contest. Jive became interested, signed him, and released The Love Experience in June of 2005. The album peaked within the Top 50 of the Billboard 200 album chart, with the singles "You" and "Guess Who Loves You More" regularly spun on some of the more adventurous R&B stations across the U.S. Love Behind the Melody followed in January 2008, but not before its first single, "Woman," was announced as a 2008 Grammy nominee for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.
Congratulations on your Grammy nomination. How do you feel about it?
It’s humbling. It’s all a humble journey and experience. I definitely expected it but not this early in my career. I definitely have a very good chance of winning. The polls are looking good for me and Obama right now. The show is in February so everyone will find out then.
Where did you gain inspiration for the songs on your new album?
A lot of my songs come from personal experiences and living vicariously through friends and stuff of that nature.
Love is normally a strong theme in your music. Can we expect the same?
Yeah, of course. I’m reminiscent of the flower child back in the 70s. I’m a modern day hippie so in that aspect you’re definitely gonna hear a lot about love. Make love not war!
What are the other highlights apart from Woman and Customer?
I worked with a lot of dope producers and I have an up tempo joint called Energy which is a song I collaborated on with Big Boi from OutKast. I also have a cut with Floetry called Marathon. The rest is all me because the focus is usually on me and the melody. There are a lot of different cool tunes on this album. When you look at it as a whole you have to listen to it from beginning to end without any interruptions. I have different songs for different reasons.
You’ve always sounded like a pro. Did you grow up surrounded by music?
My father is a retired cellist and my mom has always had great taste in music. She had a big batch of cool and soulful music for me to listen to when I was young.
Are you a singer or a song-writer first and foremost?
Song writing is important because of the message that I put out there. The message is very important. I think to execute it is the easy part. I think that songs that have no message at all are a waste of air time and that’s pretty much it. It’s a waste of CDs and creates noise pollution.
Was it important for you to get a record deal when you first started singing?
Nah it wasn’t. I’ve been putting out my own music since 2000 and I come from an independent background. When I did end up signing with a major label it wasn’t because I had to, it was more because I wanted to.
Someone at your label said their goal is to make you ‘iconic.’ What do you think about that?
It’s cool. Why wouldn’t I want 50,000 people to know about me versus 5 or 50 people? I would love for as many people to know about me and my music as possible and embrace it.
What kind of career do you aspire to have?
An iconic one! I plan to put out a lot of music and tap into a lot of genres of music and work with a lot of dope artists and producers. I also want to do things outside of music to give back. I definitely want to work with kids and maybe try school situations or something of that nature.
You’re going to tour with Jill Scott soon. Are you looking forward to that?
I’m very excited. The tour starts February 5th and we’re going to be doing 34 dates together. It’s too early at this stage to say whether we might perform on stage together but I’ll be opening up for her doing a 45 minute set.
Do you have any New Years resolutions?
I want to try and abstain as much as possible and get stronger in my spirituality for all of the things I’m going to embark on and do musically. I want to continue to raise the bar creatively and challenge myself.
www.theloveexperience.com
www.myspace.com/devaughnenterprises
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