For that particular song, I was sitting in the room with Ne-Yo and a couple of friends. And like always, we were talking and laughing and joking. Somebody decided to play "Porcelain Doll." What had happened was Ne-Yo said, "There's this one song that I really, really think makes sense for you but they told me that you can't sing it." I said, "Let me hear the song." I listened to the song and I was like, "There's no way that I'm not singing this song. This song is me! This song makes sense. I played the piano. My dad called me porcelain doll. This has to be my song. This is mine." I told L.A. Reid, "Please let me do this." So I recorded it anyway. For some reason, everybody's minds changed.
You've gone on record to say that "Blame It on Me" is your favorite track. What is it about that song that you like the most? Is it tied to a particular life experience, or is it just the style or the flavor of the song?
Oh, man. I just love to blow my lungs out. Whenever I'm standing by a microphone, I just like to go hard. That's the song where I didn't hold back. There were tears in the studio. What was crazy is that I dreamt that song and I wasn't even in a relationship. I was wondering why I would be writing a song called "Blame It on Me" when I'm not even telling that to anyone in real life. For some reason, that message resonated with me and I had to go into the studio and record it. What's funny is that so many people are telling me, "Wow, ‘Blame It on Me' is my life story right now." So that song is for the people who are in a relationship that they really just want to get out of and they can't figure out another way except to say, "You know what? I'll say it's my fault. Just get me out of it."
When you look back on the recording experience for Epiphany, is there a particular thought that comes to mind? Is there a set of events that set the groundwork for this particular album?
So many changes took place in my life. Over time, I was recording after I put out my first album. We recorded about three different albums. One was very, like, spacey, kind of a mixture of Bilal meets Solange Knowles meets Diana Ross. Another album is very soulful, like Lauryn Hill meets Amy Winehouse meets [I Am], my last album. Then this album, Epiphany, we recorded in no time, in a matter of weeks. It's because me and Ne-Yo hit it off so well. We didn't want to leave the studio. It was like, "Let's keep going. This is exciting. This is great. This is fun." We just didn't want to stop. Before we knew it, we got a whole album. That wasn't even our plan; it just happened.
Article comments
1 - Steven
Interesting interview. nice read