Lyfe: What’s up Boss?
MiddleChild: What’s going on boy?
Lyfe: Chillin. Chillin. What’s good with it?
MiddleChild: Nothin for real. Trying to take it easy today. Everything good with you?
Lyfe: Yea. Everything good man. Just doing a couple of interviews man. Sitting here working.
MiddleChild: I hear you. So we got a date for the album now. April 29th. You ready?
Lyfe: April 29th! Absolutely. I’m ready!
MiddleChild: Cool. Well I know you took a little extra time to work on it so what kind of flavor did you put on it?
Lyfe: You know I just really let some songs develop themselves on the album. I felt like it was a couple things missing from the album and it wasn’t complete. I definitely had the depth there, but I don’t think I had the fun or the full…like that hip hop beat thing going on man. So I took my time and it’s complete now.
MiddleChild: Okay. So it’s complete now. I know “Never Never Land” is doing it’s thing right now. That’s my jumpoff by the way. But what song do you feel personally connected to right now?
Lyfe: Uh. I think one of the greatest songs on the album is this song called “Will I Ever Fall In Love?” I say that because I never heard a song posing that question – When will I fall in love? I think that everybody at some point in their life thinks that. A lot of women think that.
MiddleChild: So are you speaking on behalf of the women on that song or the men?
Lyfe: I’m speaking on behalf of everybody!
MiddleChild: Okay. So what producers did you link up with for the project?
Lyfe: I got a new producer named Killa Rich Killa. I got the producers out in L.A., The Underdogs and Wyclef did two songs and I produced the rest of it.
MiddleChild: So when you produce your own records, what is your mindset while in the lab? The artist side or the producer side?
Lyfe: You know what? I like both of them. In production, you like both of them. I like taking something and creating it and not having anybody know. One of the sayings I used to live by is “Blessed is the man that can do something good and not need for everybody to know it”. And I like the limelight too. I like hearing them people scream when I come on stage and they listen to what I say.
MiddleChild: Cool. So with “Never Never Land”, what was your motivation for that record?
Lyfe: You know first I came up with the hook - Never never land, right next to Peter Pan, nobody wants to grow old - and then I like laid on the song for a little while trying to figure out the concept. A lot of people got pissed off saying “Thirty is the new twenty. Why you trying to make everybody old?” Really I’m not. What I mean is the day of not having your responsibilities because you feel that you’re not of age to, that’s old.
MiddleChild: Okay. So speaking of responsibilities and life changes, what has been the biggest life lesson for you personally while working on this album?
Lyfe: Personally working on this album I think that I learned how to work with people better just by working with people more. We definitely all have our own creative ideas, but your creative ideas don’t make anybody else creative ideas any less than yours just like theirs don’t make yours any less. I think that, even in America period, it’s a melting pot man and I think it’s at it’s best when you have different opinions. And I think my music is at best when it has not necessarily thirty, but two or three different opinions. It makes it two to three times better.
MiddleChild: Complete creative control on the project of course.
Lyfe: Absolutely.
MiddleChild: When you laying down the concept of the album and setting up the blueprint for it, what’s the hardest part of the process for you?
Lyfe: The hardest part of it is my ear because when you’re creating something you automatically think of shit and other people may give you opinions but you ain’t really trying to hear it, so when you’re trying to pick an album you like everything because you did it. You know what I’m saying? They’re all your babies and so the hardest part is having someone else come in and say “You know what? Half of that album is garbage. You should probably go back in.” (both laugh) Know what I mean?
MiddleChild: Right. So when it comes to the track listing, how aggravating is it for you? I know you be like “I got to have this one on there”, “I need this one here”, “I love this one”. I know you take time to record albums so that means you have more than enough to choose from. How do you go through that process?
Lyfe: You know what I do? I let a lot of different people listen to it and I see what they gravitate towards and I make sure that those couple songs on the album and then I just put a couple songs that are just my favorite ones on the album. And then once I compile those and it’s usually more songs than we need and then I go back and see not what songs they like, but what songs they can live without. And then I take a consensus on that and I eliminate until we get the number we come up with.
MiddleChild: Okay. Well it’s a different day in the industry of course with the whole digital thing and then immediacy of the internet. Do you feel it’s an upside or downside to the industry?
Lyfe: I mean it depends on who you ask and I don’t think it’s a plus or minus side to it. I just think that things are changing and we being the creative force in the music industry, we either have to change with it or quit the business and quitting is not an option at this point.
MiddleChild: I hear that. So what is your ultimate goal for this album?
Lyfe: You know? I want to be more respected this album. I think that with the albums in the past I definitely crossed new terrains because I stayed on the radio being positive and let me say this, every positive record is potentially your last record.
MiddleChild: So is it like a curse? Like when you bring the positivity in the industry there’s more of a negative side?
Lyfe: Not necessarily more of a negative side, but if it don’t catch on - you know you pretty much only got one shot – if it don’t catch on then that’s your ass. So every time I come out with an album I’m risking my career again instead of just making regular mainstream music and playing it safe.
MiddleChild: So is there anything ever in the back of your head telling you to play it safe or do you enjoy the risk?
Lyfe: I like to mean more to people than just another record.
MiddleChild: And I appreciate that. So what would you think is the most positive, life changing record that you have released so far? What gets the most feedback from your audience?
Lyfe: S.E.X I think it’s because them young girls were just looking for an excuse to go the right way. That gave them the vehicle in which to do it and I was very happy about that record.
MiddleChild: That’s what’s up.
Lyfe: It didn’t get no awards. I wonder why it ain’t get no awards, but…(both laugh)
MiddleChild: Not EVEN a BET Award, huh? (laughs)
Lyfe: That thing ain’t get nothing. Drop it like it’s hot and all that stuff man. That crazy stuff. S.E.X! We just don’t focus on the things we need to focus on sometimes man. It was one of my #1 records though. So…
MiddleChild: You still got your personal accolades for that one then. So it’s all good.
Lyfe: Right.
MiddleChild: Well we definitely looking out for you. I’m interested to see what this record is going to sound like so April 29th, my boy Lyfe is in stores. So I appreciate your time and we’ll be in touch.
Lyfe: Alright man. Thanks Boss.
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