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Raheem DeVaughn Interview

Raheem DeVaughn Interview
By Bren Herrera

I first met Raheem DeVaughn 8 years ago, before he was barely a known name in D.C., both our hometowns.  I saw then, what is happening today: A complete blossoming of a prolific artist that breaks the stereotype of your Bobby Valentino's, Ne-Yo's and Usher's. 8 years later, both of us in Atlanta, pursuing our own respective musical and artistic dreams, I had the chance to be reintroduced and talk about his journey so far, his new album and new voice. With The Love and War Masterpeace Raheem DeVaughn has managed to synthesize many styles of contemporary and traditional soul, moving  from lover man grooves to political statements without missing a beat. DeVaughn has clearly outgrown the limitations the Nation's Capital planted for him, allowing him to explore and draw in song, his bigger picture in his new "Masterpeace."

Nu-Soul: Raheem, boy has it been a minute since I last saw you. K-Alyn days. Remember?
DeVaughn: Oh man yeah. That cat's doing real well in Ethopia.

Nu-Soul: Yeah I heard. Interesting our paths cross again, here in Atlanta of all places. But, we'll talk about that later. So talk to me about the new album, what was the inspiration? What's your heart telling us here? You're real soulful and open in your writing, which is unusual these days when you've got a plethora of writers writing for artists. A lot of artists are singing about sexing and grinding, but you're allowing your vocals to really express you emotions. Talk to me about that creative process and approach you took with this new record.
DeVaughn: Well I definitely have some sexin' and grindin' on this album, but we'll get to that. {laughing}. This album is something for the mind, body and soul. It's called The Love and War Masterpeace. I think it's some of my best work. Half of the album is socially conscious, half of the album is love; you know, bedroom material; and something for the women– the whole nine.

Nu-Soul: So it's modeled after vintage tapes with Side A/Side B?
DeVaughn: In a perfect world, it would have been like that, but from a business stand point, we're putting it all in on one disc at one point. We'll start with a full disc. One starts out with a deluxe joint and then the weeks and months and years that follow. You'll be able to get the full deluxe digitally. The hard copy will be one disc. First it's gonna be 2 cds then it's gonna be shrunk down to 1 CD. So that means you can only have a certain amount of songs on one CD. But you definitely get the messages out that we did. I have Dr. Cornel West narrating through the whole joint. I got Damian Marley on the album, Bun B, Luda, Wale and my new artist.

Nu-Soul: Yeah, talk to me about the single with Ludacris and how that came about and what the inspiration was behind that theme.
DeVaughn: The record has been recorded for about 2-3 years, already. And then ya know, when they opened up the budget for the new album, I had lunch with Chaka and Luda on my own and sent them the record, and I was like yo I want y'all to be a part of this. I sent them the record and they loved the record. And then out the blue, Chaka hit me and I sent him the record and he did it. No money exchanged hands. None of that. They did it off "GP," just really feeling and really believing in the record. They're just real dudes, keeping it 100. And now that I came to Atlanta, the DTP family showed me a lot of love. I view Atlanta as whole other vibe down there. And that's how that record in particular came about. And everybody who's on my album I went and got them for the album – the label had nothing to do with that.

I haven't told you the best part and I really still don't know how I pulled it off. It's a record for the soldiers at war, and it's called "Nobody Wins At War." It's basically my address to the our government, the world, to everybody. I was able to get Jill Scott, Chrisette Michelle, Ledisi, Algebra, Black Gypsy, Dwele, Bilal, myself, Anthony Hamilton, Chico Debarge – a gang of artists on one record. I tracked all these artists down and gave them my song and dance and my spiel and poured out my heart. And they all did it off the strength of the message in the song. And that's a beautiful thing. I'm real excited I think it's gonna be my joint with the most cameos to date.

Nu-Soul: I have a question about that. And I'm just playing devils advocate here, but do you think that doing so many collaborations on your album takes away from– not your individuality – but your ability to shine solo?
DeVaughn: Nah. Not at all. I mean, it's about reinventing yourself and constantly doing different things. Although there's a portion that some of those cats are on. It ain't a thing like where most cats do records a lot of times – they're trying to drive sales. If I put somebody on my record, its' because I connect with them and they connect with the message, and that's just it, period. It ain't about trying to drive sales or make a lot of money. It's what I was feeling and who I was feeling conceptually. And everybody served their purpose on this joint.

Nu-Soul: So are you content with the final product with having all these collaborations? You obviously have great input by Ludacris and Ne-Yo.
DeVaughn: Actually Ne-Yo and Carbon and Avant are the only outside writers that I worked with. I think he's dope as an artist and songwriter, and hopefully one day I can return the favor. I'm excited about this record because I've never had an up-tempo record that feels for the radio and feels good for the club but still defines who I am. It's not trying to be something I'm not.

Nu-Soul: Is it a way of rebranding yourself and giving your audience and fans a chance to see a new side of Raheem? You know, somebody who's not just the romantic, love song singer?
DeVaughn: I don't look at it like that. It's just that tempo wins. Tempo wins in the club.

Nu-Soul: Oh yeah, you gotta get the hips shakin'.
DeVaughn: Yeah, like every song serves its purpose. I got the type of thing that you play when you're leaving the club on the way home, getting' it in. The date's been great. Your trying to set a mood or invoke a spirit. You're trying to get in until the sun comes up. Or you fittin' to fall in love or you fittin' to make a baby. That's the vibe that I invoke. But, like I said, having a great tempo record feels good with the horns and all of that. But still in my lane, I can put it on with a live band. I'm not gonna necessarily be moonwalking on stage. But it just feels good, real energy. Talking about from a black man's perspective – black love and that whole nine. That's the perfect lane for what I do. I think it's gonna be received well.

Nu-Soul: A question about your title. I see you spelled "Masterpeace," P-e-a-c-e versus p-i-e-c-e. What are you trying to reconcile?
DeVaughn: Well, I think we're all searching for that inner peace of love, that soulmate; just that peace. Due to confusion and due to chaos, we got people that are waking up, you got children that wake up and their father's away for life. You got some people that are being sent off to the war – 18, 19 – enlisted. They're not gonna come home. It's just being real. You got some people that some women out here that genuinely feel like they're worthy of a good man and can't find one and vice versa. There's a disconnect between the black man and the black woman – we don't compliment each other enough anymore. In some situations, brother walk up on you and you turn your face up. Your first instinct is like 'What is he on? Why did he compliment me? What you want?"

Nu-Soul: Oh yeah, there's always a conspiracy theory behind it, or you think someone's got an ulterior motive.
DeVaughn: Dude might have just wanted to send you some praise. So with all that being said, I think that's what's the "Masterpeace" is about. And Dr. Cornel West couldn't have summed it up any better – narrating through the whole album. He touches on it. It's a peace that we're all trying to find within ourselves.

Nu-Soul: How was it working with Dr. West?
DeVaughn: Oh it was crazy. Because he came in and I played him the whole album. Some of the records he received after he came in and we did some fine tuning and changes. But I played him the joint and he goes in and freestyles the whole stuff. He murdered it. It was a very profound, historic moment.

Nu-Soul: So – people don't know this – but I met you through Kenny maybe 7 or 8 years ago, we were all writing. Remember that house he was living in way out in Silver Spring, and he had like a big dog kennel.
DeVauhgn: Yeah, I remember that joint he had in the little cut. And it took like forever to get up in there. And you had turn down this dirt road.

Nu-Soul: Right, and we were in there and the 3 of us were writing that night. About a week or so later, you performed at one of those lounges on 18th street. Not having seen you perform live since (other than seeing you on the BET awards, etc…) tell me how you think you've personally and musically grown. Because I think you had just penned your deal with Jive. Talk to me about how you think you've grown musically, professionally and even emotionally from that time to now?
DeVaughn: I think I've always been a natural when it comes to performing and that was something I always did. I'd play the hole in the wall spots and had a following – didn't even have an album out. People just wanted to come see me sing and experience it. So I always had that. Just grinding and finding it and fine tuning it. Even now it's about to go to a whole other phase that I've never had an opportunity to do before. This tour I'm about to do is gonna be my biggest tour to date. And I have the liberty to do whatever I want. It's on me.

I think I've just grown and defined as an artist. But I'm still growing, I still have growing to do. It's a thin line between spreading your message and doing it in a straightforward manner. So I think I've mastered that. That I can do a record like "Bulletproof" without feeling like I'm preaching to you or judging you. Even myself sometimes–you live life like you're bulletproof and then you gotta pay for it later on. And the maturity to be able to do that in a respectful manner. And then you know you go through things, and back then I wasn't a father. Now I'm a father of 2 sons. I got a lot of responsibilities, and a lot of people I'm responsible for. I make the majority of my money on the road. It's cool and a grind that's made me responsible.

Nu-Soul: I wanted to touch base on the whole DC thing, where we're both from. You've obviously made some amazing inroads and are now an accomplished and recognized artist. But what would you recommend to an artist that's trying to break out of DC where the resources are really limited? There are no real artistic outlets for us writers, performers and singers. That was my reason for moving to Atlanta a few years ago and clearly you've made the move, too. So, short of moving to Atlanta, what would you suggest or how do you recommend approaching the hustle coming from a city like ours, that's still really lacking that artistic movement?
DeVaughn: Everybody's not cut out for this. It's a lot to tackle. There's business when you really get knee deep and understand the makings and the mechanics of the music and not everybody is ready to take this journey. And who's to say that the journey that they take isn't divine and it's not a great one? I think it's a great time for for the independent artist. Record companies are downsizing daily. Radio is downsizing daily. Everything is downsizing . I think that the money and the corporate structure has destroyed the art of it all, and it's coming back. But, now it's coming back as the true essence of it. Above and beyond that, DC is still that next spot. It's gonna be what it's gonna be. History is already written, all we can do is play our part in the scene. It's gonna happen. At the end of the day, it boils down to this: In order to get some things you never had, you gotta do some things you've never done, and you gotta define what it is you need and are willing to do to get the things that you want. Point blank. So there's a level that some may never ever achieve, because there's some things that I'm not willing to do.

Nu-Soul: Oh I get it. As a female, I totally understand.
DeVaughn: I can only imagine what women have to do in this business. Any business, modeling or whatever. I just try to lead by example.

Nu-Soul: So from one DC native to another, how's the transition to Atlanta been. Are you being received well here? Are you loving the vibe? Because quite frankly, I'm so ready to move back.
DeVaughn: Oh yeah, they're lovin' the kid! (laughing).

Nu-Soul: Are you performing anywhere in town?
DeVaughn: I did a show couple of weeks ago with Rachelle Farell and then did this show for V-103.

Nu-Soul: So when and where does the tour start?
DeVaughn: We still haven't made the final decision. But, the tour schedule will be released on twitter and all the social networking sites very soon. The album drops march 2.

Nu-Soul: So, I know u got 2 kids but the ladies are gonna wanna know, what's your status, so I can report back?
DeVauhgn: Oh, well you know, I'm a free spirit. A free agent.

Nu-Soul: You're a free agent? Ok… (laughs).
DeVaughn: Yes.

Nu-Soul: I guess Atlanta's a good place for that though. The ratio here is pretty bad.
DeVaughn: I'm cool. I'm just enjoying life. Ultimately, I want a soul mate. It's gotta be the right person. They gotta have tough skin and just know how to handle me. It takes a real woman to know how to handle a man, you know.

Nu-Soul: So I know you've got the tour coming up and the album release. What do you think is next for you, if you can anticipate?
DeVaughn: I have a movie coming out this year. I put the little plug out on Twitter. It's called "Who Do You Love."

Nu-Soul: Is it independent or a major movie house?
DeVaughn: It's an indie film. They put like 20 million in it. It might be going directly to DVD and networks. Hopefully going forward, I'll be doing more of that. I'm gonna start looking for new themes for the next album and all that type of stuff. And, I recently started my own label.

Nu-Soul: Do you have an idea or a concept? Or are you just kind of playing around with different themes?
DeVaughn: Yeah, I know what it's gonna be already. Like 99% sure – of course I'm not gonna put that out there, yet!

Nu-Soul: And on our last note, which has nothing to do with your album, but since it is called Masterpeace, can I get a quick thought about the situation in Haiti?
DeVaughn: I don't know. My thoughts on Haiti are this: I'm wondering and can't fathom the Creator being that cruel. I can't fathom that. But, we all know the Creator is real. But, the flip side of is that, I know that there are powers that be that wanna depopulate this earth. They feel like if we get them down to a good number then we can control everything that's going on. We can control the way people think, we can control what they eat, who to worship, the whole nine. To sum it up, I guess I'm not the only one that feels like that because I just got a text, from someone and the text read: "500,000 people died in Haiti, not by accident."

Nu-Soul: I wanted to end on that point because we're trying to reconcile peace here, whichever peace in whatever form of peace that people are looking for. And the situation in Haiti – your point about them trying to deplete the population is a good juxtaposition to your place as an artist in speaking your mind and giving people a necessary outlet for expressing themselves.
DeVaughn: My thing is this. I feel for those people, the families, the loved ones. And my thought is also: With all the modern technology that exists in these days and times, how could they not know that that was gonna happen? We just gotta be prayed up and stay focused and pay attention.

www.raheemdevaughnmusic.com
www.myspace.com/raheemdevaughn
twitter.com/RadioRAh

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