April 06, 2005 @ 10:29 am

Online Exclusive: Amerie - All Grown Up

by: Lynne d. Johnson

For Amerie, all it took was "One Thing" to help her liven up her sound and take control of her future. The singer spoke to VIBE.com about that one thing, as well as her conspicuous absence from the tabloids, what fans can expect from her new album, and why she would try to build a human being in a Petri dish if given the opportunity.

Given that this is your second album, how are you going to avoid the sophomore slump? You know, I didn't really feel any pressure with this album because I felt like I had so much more room to grow. You know, the last album went gold, it did great, but I felt like there was so much more to grow, that I didn't really feel that fear this time. I think this album is really really hot. So now I'm like "what are we going to do the third time around?" So I'm actually feeling a little pressure now as far as the third album. You worked with Rich Harrison on the last album. He's worked with Beyonce, he's worked with J. Lo, and now this song, "One Thing," with you. Since he's been out working with other artists since you first met him, what do you think he's brought to the table? I think we've both grown so much. I think we've both grown a lot just living life, different experiences. I mean our sound - it took us about two years to record the first album - and I could hear our growth from the first album to the second. The first song we did to the second to the last song and that was within the same project. So when we came together this time, I think we just came stronger, we came with more knowledge, with more growth for me as an artist, vocally and as a writer. Both of us had grown, so I think it was definitely a great sign of growth overall. People may have wanted to lump you into the neo-soul category on the first album 'cuz you were a little more smoothed out, your voice was very different. But now you've got this really hot track and people who may not have caught you the first time around are like oh, no, another Beyonce. What do you say to that? I don't know cause for this album, I think it definitely - well, not even this album, but this single, I think it's definitely different from what Rich and I have done before. But it's still very much to me an Amerie and Rich collaboration. I think people could see on the album, the taste, the sign of what things were to come on this record. We did a song called "Need You Tonight" which was kind of go-go-influenced but it had a slower pace than this one. I think it still is very much Rich and I but it's just taking it to the next level. You had a hip hop collaboration or two on the first album. Do you have any on this one? Didn't you do a song with Nas? Oh yeah. We have the remix of "Eve," that's on the album as well as a song that I did with Nas which is like a bonus track on the album. And it's really cool because we had actually done something on his most recent album and on his last album we did something called "The Rest of My Life" and then he did something on my album. We got to do like three songs together basically. Usually the women who are considered the pretty girls, somehow there's always rumors attached to them. But with you, there's been nothing. How do you manage to stay out of the tabloids? I don't know. One explanation probably is that I don't go out. I don't really do anything like that. All my stuff I try to keep really chill and I'm kind of a homebody. Another thing is I've always been under the radar. I mean even when I was in the process of recording the album, you didn't really hear oh, Amerie is in the studio recording her album or what's going on in the studio, or such and such is working. You didn't really hear anything like that cause we were totally under the radar. I think people realized that I didn't jump off the face of the earth when the single came out. I was really just doing my own thing and just came out when I came out. I like it like that. I like being under the radar, beign able to do my own thing. So no one has heard all the tracks yet. We've all just heard "One Thing." What do we have to look forward to across the board? I think this album is very different from the first album. People loved the last album and we do have elements of that in this. Overall my whole thing was I'm in a different place. I'm a lot more confident, a lot more assertive about things. I wanted the work to reflect that. I didn't have to make a conscious decision to have it reflect that because that's just how I am. So this album, I executive produced the album. I wrote and co-wrote everything on the album. Lyrically, there's more variation of what I'm talking about. I did want to talk about the more sensual, sexual things. I did want to talk about the physical aspects of a relationship. I did want to talk about when you're with someone and they're a cheater. Not taking it lying down. I wanted to talk about different kind of things in relationships. I usually talk about relationship type stuff but as far as things that relate to relationships, I wanted to talk about more than I did last time. Sonically, I worked with different producers. I wanted a different feel. The tracks don't all sound the same. There's different vibes because there are different people who did the tracks from Rich Harrison to Lil Jon, to Bryce Wilson. You know the fellas are going to want to know, are you in a relationship right now? I'm such a talker but that's one aspect I don't' really like to talk about just because you know when you update your girlfriends you have to update them with every change? I really don't want to do that all the time. I just opt out kind of. You know how it is. A lot of things about you are different from many of the people doing music nowadays. You actually finished college. Do you think that having finished college added to your maturity when you came into the game? You learn a lot in college socially, not just about a piece of paper. You learn to make a lot of decisions and you see truly being on your own and how it can affect your life and the decisions that you make. Planning your own time, planning your own day. I think I approached planning my career as seriously as I did my own studies. People say being an entertainer is a job but it's not just a job it's a lifestyle. And that's also my dad being in the military - he's since retired - he was in the military for 30 years. It is a job but it's not a job, truly. It's a lifestyle. When you're in the military, you never cease to be a military soldier, an officer. You might not be in office but everywhere you go you hear yourself as such. The decisions that you make affect your career and affect your family. It's the same way being an artist. The clock never stops. You're always on the lifestyle. You tend to stay out of the public eye, so there's not a lot of dirt to ask about. It's more about digging out "who is Amerie?" Is she a shopaholic, do you like to readÂ…. What are some things about Amerie's personality that people might like to know. I do like to read. I like to write. I was writing ever since I was younger. I used to write fiction and things like that. Right now I'm completely addicted to the Sims. I'm so addicted to the Sims. It's out of control. I'd be talking about the Sims to my friends and stuff and I really sound like I'm talking about real people. it's fun cause I've always been fascinated with genetics. When I was younger I used to say one day I want to be a geneticist. But I couldn't because I would have tried to create a human being or something like that. But in the game you can fix people up and marry people off and have kids and make 300 generations. So the game just fascinates me. Do you feel like your dreams have been fulfilled? Well, not fulfilled yet. I like to think there's always something that you can aspire to do. But I can say that I feel like a new artist. I feel like this is really where I am right now. Last time, that's where I was at the time, this is where I am right now. But this is closer to what I was thinking of before I had a deal, of what I wanted to be doing. And I think you're always getting closer to realizing what is you. It's a constant change. Anything else? I guess the two websites. I have www.touchamerie.com and www.amerie.net, and the album is of course called Touch and it comes out April 26. Why Touch? Because the song, the hook is "don't be afraid to touch, I know you think I'm a good girl" and it wasn't necessarily a sexual thing as far as talking to a guy. And the song is talking to a guy, but for the album I was like this is perfect cause in the song I'm telling the guy don't be afraid to go there with me cause I know you think I'm a good girl but if you get to know me better, you'll get to see other things. And that was perfect 'cause I wrote that about the perception everyone had of me which was that Amerie is very cool, nice, and goody-goody. And that's part of me, but there's more. But of course I have to be more open to letting you see more as well. And that's what this album is. Me being more open and me opening up and giving people a chance to see more of me and getting in touch with who I am and just what I'm a bout a little more than before. It's a very personal album. Download Amerie Ringtones! Video: Amerie - "1 Thing"

Article tags: Online, Exclusive, Amerie, All, Grown, Up