Raheem DeVaughn Interview with Audio

Questions by R.Motions; administered by Dirty Backpacks of Late Nite Noise



Read our Review

Audio (real audio):

Interview
Believe
Where I Stand Remix(ft. Blast Boogie)

Video (Windows Media)
Guess Who Loves You More








Raheem DeVaughn ain’t your average cat. In a sea of indistinguishable male R&B artists seemingly mimicking Michael Jackson to death and others being talentless, over-produced sound-alikes, he stands out way ahead of the pack. His debut album on Jive, The Love Experience, is classic material – the stuff your ancestors made babies to. The album is a masterpiece, and may go down as the best complete album of the year – that’s right, I said it. Read on, and find out who Raheem DeVaughn is, what makes his music so special, and why he may be the R&B counterpart to Mike Jones.



Dirty Backpacks: Let me begin by saying it’s an honor and a pleasure to conduct this interview with you. I received the CD and I took one listen and I was an immediate fan! So thank you for the opportunity to conduct this interview with you.



Raheem DeVaughn: U-huh….thank you.



Dirty Backpacks: Let’s begin by asking…who is Raheem DeVaughn – the person, the musician, and the artist?



Raheem DeVaughn: Aw man, I’m what you call a R&B hippie; a neo-soul rock star, you know what I’m saying? And I’m living in a Hip Hop world. So basically man, I’m trying to be a breathe of fresh air in the music game, and get that balance. Just to restore the balance. I try to live out the box with what I do creatively and artistically, and as long as this thing called music is fun to me, I’ll continue to do it.



DBP: We read that you’re from Maryland; were you born there?



Raheem: Nah, actually I was born in Orange, New Jersey, and I grew up in Jersey as well. I spent most of my time in Maryland in that Washington, DC metropolitan area. When I really sought out to do my independent grind, I did a lot of the legwork in the same area, including B-More as well, or Baltimore. From Baltimore down to VA, that’s all me right there.



DBP: There are tons of R&B artists out there, and many of them seem to be created out of the same cookie cutter mold, so how do you differentiate yourself from these other artists?



Raheem: Aw man, I think it’s the lush harmony arrangements; I think the subject matter that I’m touching on is reminiscent of some of my earlier ancestors like Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye or Stevie (Wonder) – just in terms of where they chose to talk about some things that people aren’t necessarily touching on, you know what I’m saying? Like, take a song like “Catch 22” for example. It’s very blunt. In fact, I may say some things on there that some people may not agree with, but whatever I have an issue with or have problems with, I’mma touch on it, and I’ll speak about it musically. Hopefully, it can make an impact.



DBP: Aight – the album seems to be doing pretty good on Soundscan, and that must be very exciting for you. We reviewed the album for Hiphophavoc.com and gave it a really high score in all facets from creativity, beats, lyrics, and music. I think the album, personally, is phenomenal. Do you feel that you delivered the point you were trying to make with your music to the public?



Raheem: Yeah, I think I’m off to a great start! I mean, if I could’ve done a double CD or something maybe, that would’ve been crazier. (But) You know, the label’s only going to put out so much music at one time. I’m currently working on new projects and stuff like that. I think with this project I’m off to a good start. I’m glad that it’s out. Ultimately, I’m on God’s speed; it’s just been a long time to get it out, so now I just look forward to going out and promoting the project and performing and all that good stuff. That’s where my heart is really at – I love to entertain and go out and get with the fans and perform and take the show on the road, ya know?



DBP: I noticed that you don’t have many guest spots on your album or a bunch of Hip Hop artists rapping on your album – was that intentional?



Raheem: Yeah man, I kind of wanted to stay in my lane. The couple of cats that I did reach out to, for more than one reason, whether it was the budget standpoint or….



DBP: I saw Dwele’s name in the credits.



Raheem: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s my man, a friend of mine. Actually, the song “Is It Possible” I wrote for him. When I wrote it, I wrote it in about 10 minutes and I rolled out. And when I came back to Philly, where he had actually recorded his version, he had come up with some nice arrangements. I pretty much laid out this scale for him where he knew where to go with it; you know, hook him up. Shout out to him.But back to your question, because of budget standpoints, or our tendencies, you know – where I’m at and where other people are at, I just chose to stay in my own lane. I’m definitely about reaching out to people too, and people have been reaching out, so I look forward to giving out some cameos and stuff like that on my 2nd album, and my 10th album and what have you. I feel like I have plenty of time for that.



DBP: Staying on the collabo tip, if you could do a collabo with anybody dead or alive, who would it be, and why?



Raheem: Wow….um, hmmm. I’d say…if I could name 3 people, I’d say, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, and Prince. All of which….these cats make timeless music, man. Like, just the process; there’s probably so much I would learn just from being in the session. They made timeless, timeless, timeless, music. That’s pretty much it in a nutshell.



DBP: We was doing some reading on you, and came across and article stating that your “Guess Who Loves You More” single was nominated for worldwide song of the year. Is there any truth to that?



Raheem: Yeah, I think it was actually in Europe, by Giles Peterson, something that he does once a year. He’s a big DJ over in Europe. I think it was something related to that.



DBP: Are there many personal life experiences expressed through your album like true stories?



Raheem: Oh, definitely, man! I wear it on my sleeve, you know? My new stuff is going to be real interesting too, because I’m constantly going through transitions, and I put myself…sometimes as artists, we become our own muses, you know?



DBP: Aight – I’mma be real with you, I really don’t want to ask this, but I’m sure that our female readers would like to know your status. Are you single or married?



Raheem: Actually, I’m single right now. Yup.



DBP: Okay, I’m sure that’ll make the females happy….let’s get back to the album. Someone on our HHH website commented on the album review that we wrote, and they brought up a point that they felt you were narrating too much when they first heard it, but then the subsequent times afterwards, they realized that you were incorporating your skills as a spoken wordsmith. Do you also do spoken word, poetry, or any other of the lyrical arts?



Raheem: I kind of stay in my lane, man. I won’t say that I’ve been writing poems or anything like that. I respect what they do, and I enjoy it. That’s something I may do in the future. I never put myself in a box.



DBP: Tell us how you got in the game, man. I mean, everybody’s path isn’t the same when it comes to dropping an album….



Raheem: Me, I went the independent route. I started putting out my own music independently, years ago. One of the first projects I ever put out was called The Healing, which you can get on Urbanave31.com, my official underground website. I got about 7 bodies of work out, including 3 mixtapes that I put out once I was signed with Jive. With that being said, I’m about the independence of the whole thing and setting the foundation. I come from that grassroots background. Playing in the hole in the walls, working on my craft, putting a band together, you know what I’m saying – that whole aspect of it is what I represent.



DBP: You mentioned those mixtapes, and being that I’m a fan, and I’m sure that other people want to know this – how can we get our hands on any of those mixtapes?



Raheem: Oh man – you can go to the site. It’s Urbanave31.com. You can log on there and you can get every body of work that I’ve put out up-to-date, excluding The Love Experience. So, in actuality, this is my 1st debut solo album, but this is like my 8th body of work!



DBP: That’s what’s up…let me get a little personal. One of my favorite songs on the album is “You”. I love that song, man, that song is dope. If you had to pick one song from your album that meant the most to you, which one would it be and why?



Raheem: It’d probably be the song “Who”, and it’d probably be “Who” cuz that’s just like, that’s just ME, that’s ME right there. That’s ME in my zone, like when I wake up in the morning and what I think about, or like when you turn on the news and some of the things you hear about, it’s just so detrimental. And then, you can go out to the zoo and see like a newborn kid, and it’ll give you a whole other sense of the world. We become corrupted by the older we get and the things we see. It’s the innocence of a child being born into the world and the things that we gotta face as adults…that’s what “Who” is all about.



DBP: Cool, cool. Aight man, what’s the next move for Raheem DeVaughn? What’s next on the horizon?



Raheem: I just look forward to touring, man, going out and touching the people. I’m just trying to get as many tours as possible, continue to make timeless music…these are just things I’m thinking about. I’m currently working on new projects, I’m always in the studio – and just go out and do this thing we call music and let the fans know this is what I love to do.



DBP: Man, I think you’re real positive, and I think you’re a breathe of fresh air in the music industry. Personally speaking, I think you have one of the best albums released this year.



Raheem: Thank you, man.



DBP: And I wanna thank you for taking the time to talk with us. You have any last words you want to say to the people?



Raheem: Ay man, yeah – very important. Log on to Urbanave31.com, there’s definitely a lot of music on there that will affect your life, and you’ll enjoy it. I’m just a messenger – the songs don’t come from me, they flow through me. So you go to Urbanave31.com. Also, I have a number where people can call me. The number is XXX-XXX-XXXX (Listen to the Interview). Give me a holla, let me know what songs you feelin’ on the album, let me know how I can come to your city or your country; if you know any promoters, if there’s any promoters out there who are trying to get at me and they don’t necessarily know how to get in contact with me or my manger or my booking agency. I know it’s a big world, so I’m making myself accessible to the people – I want to know what they think.