MiddleChild: First of all let’s talk about the fact that you’re returning. Let your fans know what your main reason was for returning.

Calvin: My main motivation for returning was basically for my fans. I had a friend of mine who put up a myspace for me and I had no idea. I was clueless to myspace up until like a year or so ago and he put it up like two years ago. He told me that he did it and I never checked on it. So he was telling me about all of these hits I was getting from fans and potential fans who had heard the music from somewhere and was waiting for a new album to come out. I had pretty much been over the music industry thing, but when you got that kind of love out there man it’s only right to give it back.

MiddleChild: So that made you feel good I know and you channeled your energy into this new single called “Sang No More” which is like one of my favorite tracks right now. It’s the heat for real. It’s got some real emotion in it and I can see it telling like two stories here. Like the literal story on the surface and then the one that is like a metaphor. What were your feelings when you went into the lab to do this one?

Calvin: Well that’s how I really felt. I didn’t wanna sing no more after awhile because there is so much and you go through so many different changes being in the music industry man. It wasn’t necessarily so much about me just not singing but it was about me being in the industry and causing so many life changes because you have so many highs and so many lows. From my perspective, making real music and trying to throw it in a pool where there is so much fake shit out there it was kind of tough. It was definitely not inspiring when you don’t have the support of the masses. Know what I mean? It was so much other stuff also in the literal sense that causes you to do different things to change my character. Crazy stuff man. (laughs) Know what I mean? Things that’s just out of character for me. If it’s going to change me from being the good dude…the good person that I am then hey…

MiddleChild: Okay. So what do you think was the biggest thing that changed you? You come up and you’re taught all of these values and you learn things just by living life and then your career takes off, you get a taste of fame and everything speeds up. What was like the biggest thing that changed in you during that part in your life?

Calvin: Well you know man it’s hard to say the biggest thing, but you know for me it was tough to maintain my status with my relationships. A lot of things present themselves to you and come your way. You’re exposed to a lot more opportunities, know what I mean? Be it good or bad, it kinds of sets a level of insecurity. When you come and you have somebody that’s been with you for awhile when you didn’t have all of those things around you and nobody really knows your name to a place where a lot more people know your name and people approach you with different things. Just from a relationship aspect, that’s probably like the biggest thing. It was tough maintaining the status I had at the particular time.

MiddleChild: Okay. I hear you. Now I saw the album cover a few days ago. You done went and got GQ on em. (both laugh)

Calvin: Yea. Yea. Yea. You know what I’m saying? That grown look.

MiddleChild: Yea. I see. I think this is the year where everybody is trying to come back with the classier, more on the gentlemen type tip. Like even some of the younger guys are coming with the whole suit and tie type look or whatnot. So tell me the significance of the album title, “When Love Comes”, and what we can expect.

Calvin: Well there are a lot of issues we’re dealing with on the album. It’s centered around embracing love in your life. Love can be as serious as you want it to be and then you have your moments where it can be light. You can have fun. Love is life. I took it to the club on this one and enjoying being a single man and doing what I do. Also being a daddy to my kids, which a lot of kats deal with when you’re not necessarily in a relationship because like I’m not in a relationship with none of my kids moms. So sometimes that can be difficult to be that father figure and play your role. So when love comes it comes in many fashions. It comes in different ways. You just have to embrace life and love life and that’s what the album is about. Just having fun and loving life.

MiddleChild: Okay. So how does being a father affect your artistry? Sometimes you want to get real deep and real personal and air some things out, but when you have kids in the picture it can get kind of tricky. Is there ever a “How would it affect them if I put this part in the song” type thing or do you pretty much know how to separate it.

Calvin: Naw, I know my kids understand me completely. I have a really close relationship with them so it really don’t really affect the records that I make because the records I make are me and they know me. So it’s just a chance for everybody else that don’t know me to see a side of me that they’ve only heard about. There’s nothing to hold back when it comes to my kids.

MiddleChild: That’s what’s up. Well of course a change we notice is the move from a major label to a smaller label. What lessons did you learn at the major label that you plan on applying to your project with the independent?

Calvin: Well what I learned from the major labels man is that just because it’s a major label don’t mean you’ll always get that major push so you got to be willing to do all of the things that the majors won’t do and that’s the thing the indies are willing to do and they understand that. That’s why I embrace the indies man. If their support is not there, no matter how big the label conglomerate is, you might as well had been doing the record yourself. The independents make up for all the shortcomings as far as the big money and all that stuff with the energy they put behind the record. That’s what’s important to me and that’s what I learned. I can’t lean back as I have before and rely on the label to do all the work and that’s the mistake that a lot of people make.

MiddleChild: Right. When we spoke last week we talked about the singles “Keep On Pushin” and “Not Like This” and how although you like the song you felt the follow up single wasn’t quite you. How do you think you’re going to go about it this time around and make sure that each release this time is a clear reflection of you?

Calvin: Well this time there is no way you can go wrong because I did every single song on the album. “Not Like This”…I didn’t write that song. The Underdogs did that and I just sang it and I would never had chose that song as the second single. It was a Calvin Richardson song as far as everybody knew, but it just wasn’t me. Know what I mean? “Keep On Pushin” was… I wrote and produced the whole thing and like I said “Not Like This”… I had nothing to do with that song other than I just sang it. That was the label’s decision to put it out and then they didn’t support the record. Even after all of that. They decided to put the record out as the second single and then didn’t put the support behind it. So I think it’s important as an artist, when you choose the direction of the album that you got to stick to it because “Not Like This” sounded nothing nothing like “Keep On Pushin”. They were on two different planes to me and they were on the same album.

MiddleChild: Okay. So on the new album what would you say is the most personal song to you right now? I know you did every song so they may all be that personal, but what’s the one that really closest to your heart at the moment?

Calvin: The one that’s closest to my heart right now is “Make Friends With Love”. That’s a real deep song man and it has a real serious message to it. I had never been one to reject love and no matter how it comes man you have to embrace love. You got to. So the best thing you can do is mix friends with love because no matter what if they love you they will always have your best interest at heart and if you love them they will always have your best interest at heart. So “Make Friends With Love”. That’s my one.

MiddleChild: Okay. I can’t wait to hear that one. Now you say you’ve done the entire album yourself. Are you grooming any new writers or producers in the process?

Calvin: Well I have a team of producers man. I have a little camp that I work with as far as on the musical tip and we added a few new kats that we added to my production team, but we haven’t done anything with them yet. Well they haven’t done anything on this album let me put it like that. They’re great musicians man so we just going to make it gel. No need to groom them man. We just going to do what we do and make some great music man.

MiddleChild: Cool. So the album is dropping May 27th.

Calvin: Yes sir.

MiddleChild: Have you shot the video yet?

Calvin: Yea. We actually did the video shoot down in Atlanta a few weeks ago and we sent it out to MTV and BET. It’s actually up on youtube right now and on my myspace page.

MiddleChild: Well I will check that out in a minute. Like I said this record is a hot one in my opinion. I’m on this song hard. (laughs)

Calvin: Yea. Check that video out man.

MiddleChild: I will. People know sometimes I’m a real R&B junkie. I was raised in a house where all my mama played was the likes of Freddie Jackson, The Chi-Lites and all those crooning brothers so when I hear a good R&B cut I kind of get attached to it. So I wanted to show some love to you on that one.

Calvin: I appreciate it.

MiddleChild: No problem. Well good luck with this release. We definitely got you on this and we’ll stay in touch with you.

Calvin: Cool. Thanks. And if there is anything you need just holla at me.

MiddleChild: You too. Hold it down.

Calvin: You too.