There were no boundaries. They would be able to sing an R&B song and do something with some heavy lead guitar without people saying, “Oh this is rock ‘n roll.” Danja and I like to have fun with the music. If you don’t know Danja, he is definitely one of the most versatile and in-demand producers out there right now, being able to showcase his talents from T.I. to Britney Spears. He’s so versatile and allows me to have fun, and like I said, have fun with no boundaries.
Even though you experiment with different sounds, do you believe that there are certain elements that make the perfect song?
I think the perfect song is just the perfect marriage of everything. Once you get everything working together, it will make the perfect song – from lyrics to melody to the production end of it and to be able to connect. I don’t know if there is a guideline. You just got to let your song be what it is, definitely try to shape it and mould it to be as best as it can be.
But each song is different. Sometimes you come out with something that’s extremely crazy and has that magic. It’s good, but not as magical as the one you just did. There definitely are elements, you know, the energy when you’re putting it together, the production, the lyrics and the melody, the mood, the concept, even the build of the song, how it starts and how it ends.
When I listened to your pre-album EP, I instantly fell in love with “Hang That Over My Head.” In my opinion, that is the “perfect song.” Do you find your personal relationships to be your greatest source of inspiration?
The greatest inspiration for me is people in my life. There are subjects that you can talk about that people are going through or you’ve been through or in the middle of it. I think love is one of those subjects. The other subject I found with hip hop is money. It’s a pretty powerful subject.
With love, I feel like I can’t really lose. We’ve all been through a situation where as a man or whoever messed up. It’s still your fault because if you had never done what you did, you wouldn’t have put yourself in that position. But then if she says she’s over it, she’s over it. Then she keeps bringing it back up and you start feeling like the victim even though you’re not the victim. It’s a crazy situation.
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