"ALL SHE HAVE"
What do any of us really know about Amerie? Her interviews generally follow the same flow, guided by her refusal to answer questions outside of her professional life. No judgments here. It’s understood that opening your personal life to the public risks your sanity and privacy to a den of wolves. We don’t blame anyone for locking it away, but Amerie is far from cold. In fact, she’s a bona fide sweetheart. There is no standoffish handshake and tight smile when she meets you, just warm hugs and sincerity.
Hanging out in Bloomingdale’s at the CFDA’s Fashion’s Night Out during New York Fashion Week this fall, her softness peeked through. As the 30-year-old singer debated an oversized cheetah print, fur vest, there was an old Hollywood glamour that exuded from her — the kind where you feel like you’re observing her, interrupting her, eavesdropping maybe. Even so, she has an endearing, childish-like way of seeking attention.
From showing us her Michael Jackson moves to making a “Figure Eight” with her hair at the photo shoot, she invited us to watch her, to join her meticulously created and presented world. This theory strengthened when she locks herself into the hair and makeup room for 30 minutes to take some personal time, when she positions herself strategically in the light for every shot, when she tells us she does most of her dressing and styling herself.
She’s conscious that this is a profession not a hobby, and carries herself accordingly. Even when we don’t get everything that we want out of her, we must respect her. Plus, all that control got us some gorgeous effing photos. So enjoy!
So I want to talk about the album, In Love & War. What is it all about?
It’s pretty much about the ups and downs in a relationship. Not so much the ups, but it’s more about the downs of the relationship or coming to the other side after going through trials and tribulations. It’s definitely a less idealized viewpoint of relationships — just the things that we go through to grow as individuals, being individuals and being in a relationship and what that means.
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Is it ridden with personal experiences or is it just inspiration?
It’s pretty personal. I mean [the album is about] things that I’ve gone through, my history of past relationships. There’s also stories from lots of my friends and their issues in their relationships. I wanted each song to have a facet of a relationship. It’s not like the entire album is one relationship. It could be, but it also could be different relationships. I wanted each song to tell a specific story. So it was really important to make sure I kept that in mind when I was writing, so I didn’t go off and become too varied and lose what the story was.
Does it stem from a particular situation? Did something happen right before you went back into the studio and it was something you needed to express?
It was more reflecting on everything I’ve been through in terms of relationships in the past. Things that at the time seemed so terrible, but later they’re kind of funny. I think we’ve all been there.
It sounds like it was important to get it out, because normally albums like this are a lot more idealized.
Yeah, and there are a lot of songs on here too that talk about “I’m going to leave. I’m going to leave.” And those are there too, like “Why are you…?” is very much that type of record as far as leaving. It’s very specific like “I want to call but my pride won’t let me.” You have this masochistic approach where you just keep coming back for more but you don’t really want to.
So when it comes to relationships, have you changed who you are in relationships or what you look for in a guy? What have you learned from what you’ve been reflecting on?
I think in general I’ve always pretty much had a good handle on what’s going on in a relationship. I’ve always trusted my intuition and I’ve always known that my intuition is right. Now whether I decide to go with that or not is a different story. But I always knew, and I tell women this all the time, intuition will never lead you astray. Never. We have it for a reason. But we choose to try and turn it down or try and turn it off. And that’s something that I’ve always known but it wasn’t until I got a little older that I learned to just listen to that, because I think we all hear it. Women, we always know what’s going on. Whether we choose to act on that is a different story. But I’ve just learned to just go with it. And that’s something I’ve definitely learned over time. If every woman would just go with it, we’d be so much better off. We all have a sixth sense. That’s why men think we’re so crafty sometimes but it’s like “Honey, its not that we are but we just don’t put it all on the table.” No guy can match that.
Did that change how you approach relationships?
Yes, because of something that my Dad always told me a long time ago. A guy is always going to show you his cards. Whether you choose to look at those cards for what they are or whether you just choose to act like you don’t’ see them, a man will always show you his cards. So don’t act surprised later when something happens, because you saw it already in the beginning and you chose not to heed that. And that is really true. So how did that change me? I didn’t hang around and try and figure a guy out a million different ways, like maybe this or maybe he was sick or maybe he just whatever. It’s like, it is what it is. We’ve got to start wasting time and energy on a situation when there’s nothing to figure out. And we tend to do that all the time. We’re so good at that.
Back to the album, why did you change the name From Breakups to Make-ups to In Love & War?
Well, I was doing this record called “Love & War.” I was doing the hook and something just said that that’s the album title. It still encompassed everything I wanted the song to encompass and the back and forth of growing pains and that whole aspect of a relationship. Something about it said it even more so than the previous title. And that’s how I knew.
Your album was supposed to come out in June or July, right? And it was pushed back to November.
That was never really official, because I was like, “Uhh, were not even done yet.” That obviously wasn’t going to be the case. I think that was just a general idea, but that’s more on the labor and distribution. I was just like, “That’s not going to happen.”
But you did say November 3rd was an important day for you. It’s the day you wanted, right?
Yeah, initially I really wanted the end of October, because that’s the time I thought was going to be right for myself. That’s when I thought it would be a good time. But then November 3rd is just a great day. It’s a personal day.
So I want to talk about your label situation. I know you have Feenix Rising coming out under Def Jam.
Feenix Rising Entertainment is an entertainment company that was co-founded with my business partner, Len Nicholson, who’s actually my manager as well. That was something that we had already created.
While you were back at Columbia?
I wasn’t signed with the company. It was a different situation. We had [Feenix Rising] but we had different artists [signed]. I wasn’t signed yet. It’s the first time where I’m actually signed to my own company, so that’s through Def Jam.
I’m not into secret marriages or big relationships for press and all those things. I’m into just doing me, being me and creating my music.
When you left Columbia, why did you decide to go to Def Jam?
Leaving Columbia was two-fold, the reason I went to Def Jam was specifically because of the company — their marketing and promotions team. I love what they’re doing, but the other reason was L.A. Reid. L.A. Reid and I have crossed paths for years, you know, always talking about doing something but obviously I was signed so that wasn’t possible. I had already been leaving Sony for a couple years before I actually made the decision because I didn’t want to just make a rushed decision without really thinking it through.
Were you not happy at Sony?
It wasn’t that I wasn’t happy. I felt that the project could’ve gotten more support and more push on the side of marketing and promotions. The people on the team are awesome, but I think what’s happening is that the company’s been changing. The executives have been changing. It’s been like a revolving door and whenever that happens you’re so busy focusing on getting all the people necessary for the company that you don’t have time to set a plan. And when you do set a plan, then people leave. So that’s just what happened. I just felt that, this was a period of time in the company where they’re going through so much turmoil, it just wasn’t going to be good for the project I had. So I decided I wanted to leave. It went pretty well.
I also wanted to ask about other females in the industry. You come from D.C. You went to Georgetown, so you have some D.C. influences, which really sets you apart. The industry is more about the whole personality of the artist. Some take the Beyoncé route, and don’t talk, while others air it all out like Rihanna. How do you approach that? What’s your approach to how you want to be seen on the streets by your fans?
This is what I do, because I love entertainment and I love to be creative. I love making music. It allows me to be creative whether it’s through producing or whether it’s through writing because I write as well. But, you know, I just want to be seen as being creative but I also want to continue to love what I do. So for me, I always made a decision early on that I wouldn’t try to forget who I really am, that I wouldn’t try to just lose myself in everything. I’m not into secret marriages or big relationships for press and all those things. I’m into just doing me, being me and creating my music. And that’s it. People happen to take a picture of me walking around, that’s cool. None of those things bother me. As long as I don’t lose my sense of what’s real. Whatever that means, as long as I have my own sense of me then everything can just be put into perspective.
Well, it’s become more of a digital world and you have these different social networking sites where your fans can approach you… Does all that change how you approach your music? Is it important for you to have a connection with your fans on these sites? Or is it more important to just be an artist and be creative and to make great music for people?
I always reach out to me fans. When I first came out, I had my own website and I would do an update. A lot of people weren’t doing that. Some were, but not a whole lot. It was more like posting a paragraph about what’s going on. And now with Twitter and everything, it’s just like a constant influx of information from everyone, you know? I do have a Twitter account and I definitely do use it.
Right, @ItsMeAmerie.
Yeah and I also have a Myspace page which is www.myspace.com/AmerieMeMarie. I use those but I don’t use them to death, you know? That’s something that everyone has to do for themselves. Should I tweet today? Or should I do one tweet a week or one every two weeks. It depends. I just don’t like to do it too much.
Why not?
I think it’s awesome because when all that stuff was happening in Iran we’re getting all those updates when certain press would be blocked, you know? A lot of things can be really great. On the other hand, I feel like sometimes those things almost play into the human being’s narcissistic nature. I think for some people it can be fun but then other times it’s just this need to be — I don’t know, I can’t explain it. I’m still trying to figure it out. Maybe it comes from the human’s nature to be heard and to express yourself. That is very valid. As artists, that’s what we do. We create and we would love at the end of the day to be heard. I know for myself, I had to unfollow some people.
Who have you unfollowed (laughs)?
I will not say who I’ve unfollowed (laughs), but I’ve just had to unfollow them. When I check Twitter, because I have it on my blackberry, I like to check the latest updates I follow. I like to use twitter to really find out cool things, up-to-date information. If you read my timeline, it can be random chatter but I need room so I can catch important things, you know what I mean? So sometimes I have to unfollow a couple of people, because it’s just too much randomness and I couldn’t get to the things that I really like.
Yeah, it does get cluttered.
It does get cluttered. And I think that to me someone tweeting too much is akin to someone always talking all the time. You don’t want to listen to someone who is talking all the time, all day. You just start to tune them out and I think that is something you should keep in mind while tweeting.
How do you deal with fans who get mad or insulted if you don’t hit them back on Twitter? I know it has to be hard to read and respond to everyone.
Usually what I do is, I respond back to my fans through direct message. But again, because I feel like everyone doesn’t need to know. I don’t need the world to know. I think in this time of social media, there definitely needs to be an unwritten new look at etiquette. Like when somebody is in the studio with someone else and they’re like “We’re just chilling. We’re just taking shots of some drink.” Maybe that artist doesn’t want everybody to know that she’s in the studio taking a bunch of shots. Did you ask her before you told everybody?
Has this ever happened to you?
In Miami, we’re taking pictures on the beach. Next thing you know, the picture is on Facebook in a bikini. They didn’t want everyone in the world to see them in a bikini. Who said you can post that picture up of her in a bikini? I think we really have to keep in mind the world is changing and just because it is the Internet and we can post it, doesn’t mean we should post it. Or you should actually ask someone first. There is a whole new approach to privacy now that I think we need to look at when it comes to others people’s privacy, you know what I mean?
Does that happen to you a lot though? Where you see people saying they are with you when you necessarily don’t want people to know where you are? As a celebrity…
Sometimes that happens, but less of where we are or what we are doing but more about if I’m working on something and I want it to be a surprise and someone says something. As far as people just taking random pictures of me and posting it on Facebook or Myspace, I mean, that’s a given.
