![]() Which I can pretty much still do, it’ s just that being a part of a record label just gets you there quicker. Musiq: Hopefully by now I would be successful, but basically being successful off of, you know, working a job and spending my money on studio time and doing music on my own terms, and creating a grass roots reputation and really being out there working. SoulCulture: So if you weren’t on a major label now and you didn’t have this recording contract, what would you be doing? Coming from where I came from, I had to fend for myself and all of that, it really contributed to a particular perspective on things so when I got into the business I knew a lot about what it was like to not have, so when I did get it was pretty interesting on making that adjustment. At least that’s what I thought at the time, and I still do in a lot of ways, but creatively I feel otherwise for a lot of reasons. It’s just that the music industry was a designated ideal place to have a career in music. But I knew I wanted to have a career in music in one way or another, it just seemed logical that if you wanna have a career in music why not being in the music industry, like if you wanna have a career in basketball why not find your way into the NBA. ![]() I never really wanted to be a, you know, ‘music industry standard official recording artist’. SoulCulture: How did being homeless affect your journey to getting a recording contract? ![]() I was bouncing from house to house, living with people, doing whatever I could to survive basically. Musiq: ‘Til I got my first recording contract which was in 2000, so… I was twenty…three? Something like that. SoulCulture: How long were you homeless for? Musiq: Oh yeah, I left my mum’s house at 17 and had to depend on the kindness of friends and sometimes strangers, most of all myself for a while. SoulCulture: Let’s talk about your life before you were comfortably housed on a major label. SoulCulture: Are you confident Atlantic will do a good job of promoting you? It seems to be going well, with your album in the number one spot. Musiq: I left Def Jam Def Soul Records because Kevin Lyle, who was the president of Def Jam at the time who was responsible for signing me, moved over to the Warner Music Group which is the parent company of Atlantic Records, and working on this album Luvanmusiq I met him in passing and he asked me, basically, how would I feel about him being immediately involved in my career as he was when I was over at Def Jam. SoulCulture: I see… Why did you leave Def Soul Records? MUSIQ SOULCHILD SONGS HE WROTE FULLPlus, I’m reintroducing myself so I thought it was a good time to just come back with the full name as it is and let people know that it is in fact the name. I was gonna switch gears once I felt I’d articulated a point behind Musiq, but at the end of the day it confused people and backfired. It was an attempt to express purpose behind the two names, but I never actually dropped the Soulchild, I just put more attention on one. It’s just that I was just using Musiq at the moment, and personally I didn’t think that it was such a big deal. Musiq Soulchild: I never actually dropped the Soulchild… Musiq Soulchild is a two-part thing, it’s like John Smith. First you were Musiq Soulchild, then you were just Musiq, and now both parts of your name are back on the CD labels. SoulCulture: Firstly, let’s clear up some small confusion. In our interview, he had some interesting thing to say about the nature of relationships, stereotypes inflicted on soul artists, being homeless, and answers back to those who accuse him of playing it safe. Last month, SoulCulture grabbed some time with Musiq Soulchild to discuss his latest album, Luvanmusiq a collection of songs touching on mature experiences of life and love, which covers topics of self-improvement and struggles with emotional vulnerability in relationships, whilst the lead single ‘Buddy’ tackles a need for honest role-definitions. Playing it safe: ‘that’s part of what it means to be in the music industry’
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