The-Dream sat down with VMan to discuss today’s music scene, his songwriting and why Tricky wasn’t part of his new album, IV Play.
How does one go about getting a Dream track?
TD: Honestly, the best way is to show up with about fifty thousand dollars in cash… Boom… That’s the easy route. Wherever I am, you show up with fifty, you probably got a song. It’s going down.Of all the artists you’ve worked with, who would you say has done you most justice?
TD: As far as my whole sound, my tone and melodicness, I’d probably have to say Rihanna.Is that because of “Umbrella”?
TD: No. It’s more because our tones are so similar—from a sonic standpoint.
Since “Umbrella,” your sound’s been recognized by the presence of ‘ella’s’ and ‘ey’s’—the melodic mark of Radio Killa… where did that whole thing come from?TD: ‘Ella’ was just literally me playing on the word ‘umbrella’ at the time. It was a way to bridge the gaps in the song, connect the measures. When “Umbrella” hit so hard and had such an impact, it kind of just became my calling card. Like my own little marketing campaign for myself that I’d put into songs to bring them all together. They never previously existed before “Umbrella.” It was so hooky that I’d use it in other songs of mine and that’s how it became a signature. Originally, it was just tying the beats and the words together, and it worked. I actually don’t do it as much anymore, though… I’ve come to let the songs have to be what they are.
[…]Is there a track you wrote that became a hit unexpectedly?
TD: [Rihanna’s] “Birthday Cake.” It was hot to me, but, it was never recorded as a full song… at least to begin with. I definitely felt it’d be an anthem-y thing for the girls who’d hear it at the club and go wild for it, but, never thought people’d be asking where the full version was… and it became that.
[…]What would you say is wrong with R&B today?
[…]
TD: When R&B started to compete with pop numbers, that’s when shit started to go awry. You can’t compete with pop or hip-hop numbers when you’re trying to make a great R&B album. You also should be able to make a great R&B album without any features. Once you put a feature on an R&B track it becomes either a pop or hip-hop record. R&B should be stripped… for instance, with “Rockin’ That Shit,” they put on all these rappers and it became another thing. I didn’t want anybody on that record. I wanted an R&B record. Once shit starts to compete with pop and hip-hop numbers, it’s like people don’t realize that you should be doing 50-60k sales… that’s an R&B record. R&B is lovemaking! It should be as slow-moving and gradual as life is. The song may be fast, but it isn’t ‘fast and right now’ like pop is. It’s not about this week. The importance of first-week sales really did a number on R&B today.I discovered last night at your listening party that IV Play features no tracks produced by your formerly frequent collaborator, Tricky Stewart. How come?
[…]
TD: Trick, where you at? [Laughs] Tricky’s at Epic [Records] now. It was more a political thing than any… that’s still my homie. He’s just over there with my good friend, L.A. Reid, for a minute… in a good way, though. But don’t worry—we’ve got a whole month blocked off in August to work together.What’s the future have in store for R&B?
TD: Wow. The future, I think, is all about being live… like a ‘juke joint’ type of thing. There has to be a place that it can be displayed. It won’t be about competing with Hip-Hop or Pop. That’s just my dream.
Read more at VMan
