Interview: Amerie, Singer and Songwriter - Page 3

You were once quoted as saying that the vision for an album doesn't end in the studio; the vision continues through the videos. With that in mind, what vision do you have for this particular album—starting with the "Why R U?" video? 

The vision for this album…I just really wanted it to be out-of-the-box, something very interesting. I've always had an interest in design and painting and art. In fact, my college degree was in English with a minor in fine arts, so I'm always looking for ways to incorporate that. I think my favorite part of the "Why R U?" video is the part where I sprout butterfly wings. I love the butterfly wings! [laughing] They're great because they remind me of the faeries coloring book from when I was a little kid. It's very big in the UK and overseas. They look like the little faeries that I used to color in my coloring book. I love that aspect. I found a great photographer who will be able to bring that to life. I love the page that he was on, the pulse and everything. I thought that would best represent the packaging and even going with the director. I worked with Tim Bret-Day for the photography and Ray Kay for the directing of "Why R U?" We really want to bring the design element, the graphic design element to the video to help bring to life the overall vision that I had of the project. I really want it to be like a continuation of what we were doing with the overall visual imagery of the project. I'm really happy with it. For the handwriting visuals, we sat down and I wrote the song down a bunch of times and did some doodles. Everything that we did we incorporated into the video so it's a very graphic video, which I love.

Earlier, you alluded to the fact that you graduated from Georgetown University. And looking at the current crop of R&B singers, you're one of the few artists that actually graduated from college. So I have a two-pronged question: what advice would you give the young girls who are still in high school and think they can make it in singing without college? Rephrased, tell me how college prepared you for life as "Amerie," the singer.

Article Author: Clayton Perry

Clayton Perry's mission parallels that of John Hope Franklin, Marcus Garvey and Carter G. Woodson. As the founder of the NUBIANO Project, Perry facilitates the design of projects that give voice to the Black diaspora, empower the Black community, …

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