August 31, 2004 @ 2:35 pm

Interview: Van Hunt - Sweat and Perfume

by: Mariel Concepcion

Caught in the middle is never a good thing. Caught in the middle of unpredictability is even worse. This is where Van Hunt finds himself, eyes closed, head slightly tilted, belching out a gentle musical note, showing no sign

VIBEOnline: I read in an online interview that once you discovered your talent, you weren't sure if you wanted the attention of being a forefront singer. What happened to make you decide to go with it? Van Hunt: It was about conjuring the courage to deal with the reactions of people. Not knowing whether they were gonna like it or love it, or detest it, or just not like it. And even if anyone really, really, really liked it, that was kind of startling too. VO: It scared you to really have people like your music? VH: Yeah (laughs). Cause, you go to church, and you see people balling out listening to the people singing; it was kind of scary to me. I wasn't sure if I wanted people to react like that when I was singing. VO: Is it much harder for you now that you are in the forefront than when you were behind the scenes? VH: No. It's actually easier. I'm much more fulfilled and much happier. VO: How do you feel about you eventually choosing Capitol and the rumored lack of promotions they're giving you considering you are a new artist? Are you planning on making any label changes? VH: OkayÂ…The real deal is my manager and I really felt like we wanted to take our time, because my music is kind of different, but, still quality. We just didn't want to jump out there and spend a whole lot of money on a song or a video, or trying to get radio air play with people who are resistant to the idea. You can waste a lot of time and money and before you know it, the project is over cause the company knows they will never recuperate the investment. I just wanted to take my time, let the people who love music gravitate towards it, get on the road and play, and build the name that way. It was a lot cheaper, and it's working. I felt the project was good and it would just be a certain amount of time before people would realize that. And then they would demand I make a video, as they are right now. That's probably what you see on the chat lines, when people are like, 'What the hell is going on? This is a good project; how come I'm not hearing it everywhere?' You know what I mean? That puts pressure on me and the record company now to deliver. VO: How did you hook up with Randy Jackson? VH: Randy was an A&R person for Dionne Ferris and she was doing a song I wrote for the movie, Love Jones. We became friends, and he would periodically give me advice about being a producer, writer, artist, and he definitely played a major role in shaping me. VO: Who do you consider to be your contemporaries? VH: Anybody who's out there doing it, man. I have respect, a newfound respect, for even people who's music I don't like. It takes a certain level of sacrifice to do this professionally. No matter what, people think it's good music when the product is selling. VO: What is R&B lacking now that it had at one point? VH: I don't think it's missing anything. There are a lot of people I ran into that love Avant, and Joe, for what they do. And certainly they've carved out a niche for themselves. I think they should continue on with that, and one day they will be the Teddy Pendergrasses of our era. There is nothing wrong with that-to be just underneath a Michael Jackson or a Prince. That's okay, we need those artists that are kind of in the middle, and not hugely successful. Gerald Levert, Keith Sweat, they were kind of like that, too, but of a different era. They fact that hip hop is so popular right now is great for hip hop, but not bad for R&B. It's just that you have to take your turn. Everything can't all be explosive at the same time. I personally think that what I'm doing is probably different from that. A little more pop, R&B, you know, kind of riding the fence. But my time will come too, and artists will make music like I do. It'll be our time again at some point. VO: How do you choose what goes on the album? What do you take into consideration-what's mainstream now, what's getting airplay? VH: I don't take those things into consideration because I just really don't like it. I don't really listen to radio and every now and then I check in just to see what's going on. Same with videos-I don't really like the music, so I can't really base my song selections on that. It has to be based on what I like as a craftsman, which one I thought I did the best job on. Then I let the record company, mainly the president of the label, and my manager make the rest of the decisions because I trusted them to do that. So, I had like 18 songs when I first turned the record in, I got it down to 15, and then for the demo we got it down to 12. That built trust between the three of us in a nice formidable, triumphant way, where we could feel like we could go on and take the on the world. VO: What inspires you? VH: Women. Not just in a physical sense, but because they are different beings and they think differently. I like women who are intellectual, funny, independent, not necessarily financially, even though that's nice too; able to think for themselves and stand up for themselves. I know men in general, they like a woman who's going to lean on them for everything and I don't. That's because men are insecure. We know we are not that intelligent and we are scared that women are going to come and reveal us or expose us for the idiots that we are. We try to beat them down. That's even what the pimp game is all about, or was based on, till some of the ladies started getting smart. A lot of these online escort services, they work much better. You don't get slapped around if you don't make money. You make your own money and you don't have to give it to anybody. I have a high regard for what women think. Most of my muses are women. I talk to them about the clothes I wear, the music I make, the lyrics I write. I've always wanted to please them. It probably stems from my relationship with my mother cause she's just fly. Women definitely inspire me. VO: Is there anything that's out now that you do like? VH: There isn't anything that I really do like, but there isn't anything that I dislike either. I know that there are a lot of talented people out there. It's tough to take chances and that's what I think is missing. Just more people taking chances with their talent. But I understand why they don't. That probably doesn't seem all that profitable. And maybe it isn't. I sold 50,000 records, they sold 50 million, and so, I guess they're right, I don't know, but I have to follow my own instincts. To read the VIBE.com review of Van Hunt's album, watch the video for "Dust," and listen to music click here

Article tags: Interview, Van, Hunt, Sweat, And, Perfume 

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