Terri Walker: “If this is the last album, I want it to be one I can feel proud of.”
Signed to Def Jam at 24, nominated for the Mercury Prize her debut album, then dropped after her third, Terri Walker has experienced the vertiginous highs and crashing lows of the recording industry. Four years after her last studio album the soul songstress is older, wiser and recording a new album on her own terms. Catch a Vibe caught up with the singer when she dropped into town for the UK Soul Jam.
Catch a Vibe: Have you finished recording the new album yet?
Terri Walker: No. I still have to do one or two more songs. Then we’ll go straight into crazy promotion.
CAV: It’s been four years since I AM, what have you been up to?
Terri Walker: It feels like forever. I’ve been doing writing sessions and backing vocals for other people. I was working with Salaam Remi (Nas, Amy Winehouse, Fugees). He scored both Sex and the City movies. We did this project called the Champagne Flutes, I’m singing on it and he produced. We managed to get one song on the first Sex and the City soundtrack. I also did backing vocals for a lot of the artists: Jennifer Hudson, Fergie – most of the tracks on the album.
I wasn’t really thinking about coming back with another album because I thought, ‘You know what? I’m not really trying to do the artist thing anymore. I love to sing but let me just work alongside people.’ Then I went to New York for some writing sessions and I ended up working with Damon Dash. Working out there everybody was like, “Yo man, you need to do an album.” I decided I would and here we are.
CAV: How did you reach a point where you were considering not recording any more albums?
Terri Walker: There’s been a period over the past four or five years where we’ve had the same people dominating the music industry. You get to a point where you think, ‘Oh god! Give me a break. Let me hear someone new that’s exciting and refreshing.’ Not that these people aren’t amazing, they are: Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, but after a while you want to hear something else. If you’re an artist doing something else you feel like people aren’t really trying to buy into it because these artists have flooded the market so much. It just makes you wonder, ‘Why should I bother? No one’s going to be interested in what I’m trying to do.”
I was locked into that industry. When I got out I realized there was a shortage of the kind of music I was making, what the Jill Scott’s and Erykah Badu’s were making; so I think someone needs to come back and rectify that. America’s such a big market for different types of genres. I think over here the industry only focuses on one sound, pop or indie. Practically all our black artists are doing dance music now, and while there’s nothing wrong with dance – if that’s what you want to do – that’s not where my heart is. I decided to come back and do a bit of soul. Now I’m older I’m targeting an older audience anyway.
CAV: What aspect of Terri Walker will fans hear on the new album?
Terri Walker: The album I’ve always loved is Mary J Blige’s What’s the 411? I remember when it came out, I used to sing her songs at my little parties. Reminisce – I used to love that song to death. I just thought, I’m working with these hip hop producers – Salaam has made a lot of hip hop and Ski Beatz did Jay Z’s first album Reasonable Doubt – and that’s kind of what Mary did, that first album was hip hop but with beautiful, soulful melodies and dope love songs. My album’s never going to be the 411 album, ever, but it’s going to be my homage to that album. So that’s the direction I’ve gone in. The production’s quite hard but the vocals are soft. I’m very excited.
CAV: You’ve been recording at Damon Dash’s creative space, DD172. What makes working there special?
Terri Walker: Everybody is so talented. There’s not one person there who isn’t good at what they do. They have people who are filming and they’re great at filming, people great at editing, at production, everyone who raps is a really great rapper. So when we’re all together we only come out with the best stuff. We make each other grow. And we respect each others skills. Someone might love a tune they’ve made but someone else will say, ‘You know what? I’m not really feeling that.’ People won’t tell you they think something’s great if they don’t. They’ll be honest. And it makes you want to work harder and make something that everyone thinks is great. It’s a very real world, it’s not like the industry where people will just hang out with you because you’ve got a number one hit.
CAV: Does your distribution deal with Roc-a-Fella give you more freedom than if you were signed to a label?
Terri Walker: We don’t have a label that tells us what to do. Damon Dash is the label. For the distribution of each project Damon can make a deal with a different label. We give them a finished product which means they have no say over what you’re singing about, what you look like, who you work with, what kind of sound you decide on – they’re just putting it out for the masses. We make all the artistry; we do everything out of that building so there’s nothing that we need from the label except the exposure they can give us. They benefit because they don’t have to spend money, all they have to worry about is putting it out. They get the best of both worlds.
CAV: You were supposed to sign to Def Jam US but 9/11 happened, and you were unable to fly out so you were signed to Def Jam UK instead. How big a difference does it make as a soul singer to be signed in the UK instead of the US?
Terri Walker: It makes the biggest difference in the world. As much as this is our country and we live here, black people are one or two percent of the national population. As a black person, when you put something out here, how many people can really relate to what you’re talking about? i.e. if I’m talking about my hair or certain parts of my heritage. Whereas in America there’s such a huge black demographic who’ve grown up listening to Anita Baker and Marvin Gaye. Even if you’re not into it, you grew up with it. So it just makes more sense being out there because there are more of us. And it’s not that I only make music for black people but I’m making music that is natural to me so it’s just easier in America because there’s more of an outlet, more people who get it.
CAV: I look at Alexandra Burke’s videos and they look culturally confused. Is the UK making any headway in marketing black music?
Terri Walker: I think labels are trying to make as much money as possible. They’re not worrying about if they’re compromising the artist. What happens if she (Burke) doesn’t sell anymore? Where will she go? Is she r&b? Pop? Is she this or that? They’re trying to make too much of her. But it’s not all bad. Look at the artist Rox for instance, she’s at a major label, they’ve marketed her in a way that’s quite natural – she’s got natural hair, singing quite jazzy, soulful music so I think that they’re getting it right when it’s for the right genre. Look at the Noisettes; Shinghai’s a young, beautiful, natural black woman.
I think they’re getting it right for some genres. But when it comes to appreciating certain types of music, it just goes over their heads.
CAV: You’re doing the UK Soul Jam in August. How does it feel to be performing back in the UK?
Terri Walker: It’s been a very welcome surprise. I’ve been away for four years and while I’ve done little guest features on people’s stuff, it’s never really been my thing. I’ve done two shows; Aesthetic Sounds and Wired at Shoreditch House and they’ve both been packed out. I didn’t think anyone was going to miss me, I thought, ‘I’m old.’ But I’ve gone on stage and people are singing my songs and I’m like, ‘What? You guys remember me?’ It’s so exciting. But I’m trying not to get too carried away, it’s exciting now but eventually the novelty will wear off. That’s one of the reasons why I stayed away, I didn’t want to be one of those artists who does the same thing for four years straight and doesn’t bring anything new out. I just felt like, until I have something that I can be crazy proud of and really want to do there’s no point in me being out there. I have to do it properly I can’t do it half-assed. I have to do it 150%. Now I feel like I’ve got that album, the one that I really want to put out there. Regardless of how it does, it’s something I’m really proud of.
When I got dropped from Mercury I was really annoyed and pissed off because aside from getting dropped I wasn’t being 100% me. I had to play the game and do the whole weave thing because that’s what the label thought would sell but then obviously it didn’t. It was a double whammy because you’re getting dropped but you’re getting dropped with something that you did to compromise, to try and make things work. If I’d been dropped after the first album I’d have been like, ‘Oh well, I like the album. Moving on.” The second one left a bad taste in my mouth. But I got over it.
CAV: What do you feel are your career highlights so far?
Terri Walker: Obviously getting signed to Def Jam was exciting because I got to do my thing. Doing the Jazz Café for the first time. Getting nominated for the Mercury Music Prize was a big deal for me. Selling out the Forum was amazing. Then meeting Salaam Remi. When I met him I didn’t realize how much of a fan I was because I didn’t realize that he did the Fugees’ Nappy Heads remix. He’s the one that changed their style after their first album. He also did Hotstepper, Lauryn Hill’s The Sweetest Thing and Amy Winehouse’s first album. When I met him I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! I’ve been a fan of yours without even knowing it.’ The most recent highlight was when I discovered I’d used a sample from a track that Ski Beatz had produced on my song, ‘This is My Time.’ I realized I’m where I’m supposed to be, working with the people I’m supposed to work with.
CAV: What would you like to achieve with this album?
Terri Walker: I want people to know that I really love this, that the music is real for me. I want people to listen to it – even if it doesn’t sell crazy – and be like ‘OMG she’s happy. She’s doing what she wants to do. I want to inspire other artists, let them know that they can still do them, even if their music just gets critically acclaimed. This album is a self-affirmation to let people know that it’s okay to do you, you don’t have to churn out these pop tunes to make it. Hopefully it willll sell well. I’m going to promote it around the world and I’d love to sell lots of units. I’d love to tour and just perform as much as possible. This album is also peace of mind for me because if this is the last album, I want it to be one I can feel proud of.
Terri Walker is headlining UK Soul Jam, Sunday 1 August, 7pm @ Jazz Cafe
Info and tickets
