Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis: God’s Timing
Now let’s hop right into this lead single / video, “He Don’t Know Nothin’ Bout It” — Tell me about this particular composition? How did it even come to fruition?
We had always admired Babyface’s talent, and had gotten to know him and L.A. over the years. When we started putting our wishlist together, he was at the top! When he presented us with the Legend Award at the Soul Train Awards last year, we told him what we were up to and he was into it. The title came from what we call the “book of titles.”Terry said, “He Don’t Know Nothin’ Bout It,” and walked out of the room. We started messing around with musical ideas, and set out to make the most Babyface sounding record we could. Kenny trusted us to produce it, and was able to just play the guitar and sing. There was no pressure, and when he heard the finished result he simply said, “that sounds REALLY good.”
Of course “HDKNBI” comes courtesy of your forthcoming – not to mention exceedingly overdue – still untitled debut LP — First things first, why has it taken you all so many years to opt to put together – what seems like a no brainer of – a project of this magnitude?
A project of this magnitude isn’t a no brainer. We needed the knowledge and experience to put a project together like this. Also, we obviously had to take into account the artists availability. I think the timing is perfect now, because it’s God’s timing. It was supposed to happen now.
With that being said, are there any specific details; i.e. title, favorite selection(s), other cameo appearance(s), etcetera, that you all can reveal and / or divulge regarding upcoming said set at this particular point in time?
The album is called a Jam & Lewis Volume 1. We’re calling it that because it’s our first album as artists, but we plan on making many more volumes in the future. As far as appearances, you should expect to hear a lot of our friends that we’ve had success with in the past, but also people we hadn’t worked with (before) like Babyface.
How then does this premiere entry either differ and / or compare to previous bodies of work?
This album is modeled along the blueprint of Quincy Jones’ albums. It’s a collection of great artists, performing songs written and produced by us, that will make you remember why and when you first fell in love with them. As producers we always try to give everyone their own individual sound, so this will be no different. We’re basically just fans of the artists, and are making the songs we’d like to hear them do.
Reflecting, tell me your whole inception into music — When did y’all first become interested in it? And how did it actually all begin for Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis?
We met when we were teenagers in Minneapolis at a summer program called Upward Bound. It was love at first sight when we saw each other playing our instruments. We put a little band together, and have been together ever since.
How exactly then Jimmy did you manage to catch Terry’s attention who later recruited you to join Flyte Tyme which eventually became known as (Morris Day &) The Time?
I was a drummer before I met Terry, but he decided I should play keyboards because my dad played keyboards. I stopped playing music for awhile and had started DJ’ing at different clubs and on the radio. At one point, I was DJ’ing upstairs at the same club Terry was playing downstairs. He basically twisted my arm until I finally joined his band. That band became The Time.
It is my understanding that the late great Prince ended up firing you all from the band once he discovered you all were producing for other artists; in this particular case The S.O.S. Band, correct?
Yes, we had gone to Atlanta to produce The S.O.S. Band. There was a snowstorm that shut the airport down, and we weren’t able to make it to our next The Time gig in San Antonio, Texas. When Prince found out we were producing The S.O.S. Band, he fired us. That same night he fired us, we mixed the song we recorded with The S.O.S. Band. That song was called “Just Be Good to Me,” and it became our first big hit record as writers and producers.
Speaking of the legendary genius known as Prince Rogers Nelson — How did the untimely passing of your longtime friend and musical collaborator affect you all?
Prince’s passing was devastating! A great loss. He was the person responsible for our break in music, and taught us pretty much everything we needed to know about making music. His work ethic was unparalleled, and even though we didn’t always see eye to eye we knew he loved us and was very proud of us. There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t think of him.
On a less somber note, as the musical partnership of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis you all have written and / or produced for literally everyone – a who’s who, the cream of the crop – what has been the key to your success / longevity?
In one of the first interviews we did for the local Minneapolis newspaper, the columnist said, “you guys are the hottest producers right now!” And our response was, “we don’t really want to be the hottest producers, we just wanna be warm for a long time.” That was our goal, so our decision making process had a lot to do with that philosophy. We spoke to that same interviewer a few years ago when Janet’s Unbreakable album went #1, and he mentioned we had achieved #1 records in 4 decades; ‘80’s, ‘90’s, ‘00’s, ‘10’s. We said, “remember what we told you in the first interview…warm for a long time.”
How have you all been able to remain not only relevant, but also so diverse as well throughout these last four or so decades?
The relevancy isn’t ever promised, but being diverse certainly helps. We grew up liking and playing all genres of music, so now we get to create all kinds of music. It’s like being musically bilingual. We can speak a lot of languages. Also, we love the art of collaboration amongst ourselves and with the artists. It might sound cliche’, but we love what we do and we think you can hear that love in every song we make.
Switching gears here, how has not only the industry itself, but even more-so you all as individuals, either changed and / or evolved since your whole inception into music?
A lot of evolution for sure. The delivery systems for the consumption of music has changed, but the way we make music hasn’t. I just think we’re a lot better at it now than we’ve ever been. From analog tape to hard drives on our laptops, we embrace all the tools to make our music the best it can be. We also have taken time to live life. We’ve spent a lot of family time raising our kids, and they, of course, are our greatest production.
What do you want people to get from your music?
Joy! Since the world is hurting, and music is healing, I think we would simply want people to get better
As songwriters, where do you all actually draw inspiration from?
Living life to start. But the artists we work with are inspirational to us. We know most of the songs we write would’t exist without the voice of the artist inspiring the ideas.
Please explain your overall creative process…
It varies from artist to artist, but there’s always a lot of talking involved. We want to really get to know them to personalize everything we do for them. We tend to create in the studio most of the time, so the ideas come to life there.
Do you all have any other outside / additional aspirations, maybe even completely away from entertainment?
Pretty much everything we do is attached to music in some way. Plus, music goes with everything and is pretty entertaining to us.
What has been your greatest career achievement(s), at least to date?
Hard to say to date, but the 4th quarter is where the game is won. In our 4th quarter, our goal is to leave music in a better place than we found it…so that’s the mission we’re on now. We think our album is a piece of the puzzle to do that.
What is your favorite part about this line of work? Your least favorite? Why?
That’s easy. It’s called the music business. They’re both needed, but the music is our favorite part…the business is our least favorite part.
What advice would you all have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Preparation is the key word. We always say to people who are “waiting” for their break to lose the word “waiting” and substitute the word “preparing.” You never know where or when the opportunity will present itself, but you gotta be ready when and if it does.
You all have been a mainstay throughout Miss Janet Jackson’s illustrious career spearheading the majority of her vast hit discography — How exactly was this musical union even formulated? And, why do you all feel it is that the chemistry is so (pitch) perfect?
Janet is our ultimate muse, and is limitless in her ability. That means we can write any type of song and make it work. We also – for the most part – got to work on whole albums with her, so the journey was as fun as the destination.
Arguably the greatest R&B LP of all-time, most definitely my favorite by far, New Edition’s Heart Break is a Jam & Lewis production — What do you all remember most about the crafting of this now classic studio album? And if collectively Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, Mike, Ralph & Johnny ever get it together and return to the lab, will you all be an integral part of that record? For me, I can’t see it being any other way 🤷
Love the NE guys, and working with them in all the various configurations has been great. Heart Break was a great experience, despite the challenge of growing them from “Boys to Men.” Would love to work with them again anytime they’re ready.
The Original 7ven, the latest incarnation of The Time, dropped a highly impressive (then) new set, Condensate, back in 2011 — Any chance of a follow- up project?
I guess there’s always a chance, but don’t hold your breath. We may do something to commemorate the 10 year anniversary, since milestone years are always a good excuse to do something.
And, lastly, but certainly not least, what’s next for Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis?
Lots to come, but most importantly our 35 year in the making album. We want to concentrate on delivering that to the world in the right way, and then we’ll just let the music lead us as it always has.
Is there anything I left out, or just plain forgot to mention?
Nope.
Any “closing” thought(s) for our readers?
We hope our music inspires and elevates you. We appreciate you listening, and the opportunity to share a little bit of our story with you. Thank You!
Connect w/Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis Online:
TweetSeeds planted 35 years ago are coming to fruition. #HDKNBI with @KennyEdmonds our “debut” visual dir by @bychild_ is out now. Enjoy this interview from @TheHypeMagazine #JimmyJam #TerryLewis #Babyface #Flytetyme #Perspective 🎹🎸🎤 https://t.co/5nvTLzQ9mi
— Jimmy Jam (@flytetymejam) December 15, 2020
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