The Making of Mama's Gun

(Straight from the forums of Okayplayer.com...straight from the mouth of E. Badu)

okay
i have to do this...
been dying to for ever...
including DIDNT CHA KNOW,
i am responsible for all the arangements and choices of mamas gun.
badu produced this albulm.
and ALL of my albulms.
was not a complete soulquarian production so to speak.
we did some songs together tho.
i carefully gathered each song, sample and musician.
i sequenced, mixed , and mastered every single song.
(ofcourse with the hands and ears of talented engineers- see liner notes)

sessions went like this:
quest played , james played , dilla played, pino played , or who ever, all improvised...
most sessions were guided by my vocal arrangements and direction -all improv as well
we all were credited as writters.
each song has its own story , for example
i wrote and arranged a d 2000 on acoustic guitar.. Jp, Pp, and ? played along and added voicing. ( made it fresh)

i guided and arranged green eyes , booty, cleva, pen philosophy( well if i remember correctly i walked in on this one)... making the musicians the writters , technically, and myself producer where applicable.

after all songs were in their first stages with (keys, bass and drums)
i brought in horns, strings , percussion , guitar , etc.. james poyser introduced me to a lot of these players .

history:
in any session where we all play together (soul quarians - if you will) ,ahmir is generally the band leader ,

however ,where badu is the 'subject' ( my projects) she is also the 'painter'. get it?
like pages from a diary.

1/2 of the albulm with songs like : 'in love with you', '.. and on', 'orange moon ',
' bag lady ' and others were produced or co produced by myself with other muscians ( read credits)

near the end of the making of MG , i brought in james poyser to co exec produce the project. ( Soulq. sessions in final stages as well)
everyone refers to him as my " studio husband".
he was instrumental in carrying out and following thru with my musical and creative plans.
that meant helping to keep my thoughts organized and sometimes even writting BG vox parts ,while i was sometimes passed out in the lounge , coming down.
now understand, i am as much of a control freaq as you may think, so i am very maticulous about my shit. even in my sleep...

consequently this drove james to growing a beard and slipping' post its' which read HELP ME to any one who came into the sessions.

one may ask , how does she "produce an albulm or song without reading music or playing?" well..
ask quest. ask james. ask ringo. ask quincy jones. dont ask diddy... i think he just tags his name sometimes.
its the ear and the vision that make good producers , along with the ability to direct and color. knowing how it 'should not ' sound is as great an advantage as any.
all about space to me. vocals must sit in the right pocket. drums must be EQ'd to sonically fit the song. chords need space in between. bass has to talk to me , engineers and mixers must understand desired sound and be able to listen etc.. etc...and choosing dope ass musicians who love you and what they do ,dont hurt either.

i know how this must sound to some of you critics but i just wanted to share the process of how i go about aquiring the sound i work tirelessly to create.
So im not just a song writter and vocalist to popular belief.

(note: ive written every song i 've sang for the exception of any covers and 'you got me' - which i thought was penned by b.thought at the time, but was actually written by jill scott who should have sang it in the first place IMO.)
and..
ive written the concepts for, and directed every video in my catalogue except for very first one,' ON and ON'. ( wrote treatment , however)

now why is this important to me, again?
its my work.

and i wanted you to know.

just wanted to hip ya'll to the tee. (as tina marie would put it).

humble is cool but this is overdue.
10 years in the game folks.
its all me. (and a lot of great friends and brilliant like minded musicians who believe in and share my vision)

soo... anyway ...when i finally finished mamas gun ,2000 ,
Ahmir calls and sais .. "OMG, this albulm is the story of my life right now.."
that, my friends, is the proudest moment to date for me.
i adore this brother.

Consequently,
alot of times , when "singers" say that they are also the producer of their own songs or albulms, this is not the case.
but in this case , this is THE case.
quote me.

carefully orchestrated and conceptually calculated.

peace and respect :

genius AHMIR (who introduced me to poyser and taught me thru example , what a great albulm should sound like)

genius james poyser ( who 'plays' like God talks , and finishes my every creative sentence)

genius pino palidino ( who always agrees and just wants to jam even tho he is the dopest nigga in the room...italian)

genius tom soares ( who is the engineer of mamas gun , and wwug, ... kinda dude that believes in you to the point where he memorizes your free styles)

genius ringo (tumblin dice)rashad smith (who totally gets it.. gets me , who is my brother -check his catalog)

genius J DILLA, JAH, FREE, and all producers who have been a part of my life and growth as an artist. and who want me to grow.

and my A team freakquency ( created from wwug - ringo , poyser , rc williams , badu)
why does this look like liner notes?

forgive me if this feels in any way arrogant ,
thats not my intent.
This conversation is fruitless at this point.

but i just wanted ya' ll to know.

and in the spirit of women producers everywhere...

forget me not ( as patrice rushian would say)

okay?
e. badu
dec. 2007 ad

(The making of "Didn't Cha Know")

i was at dillas house in the basement filling thru his many stacks of albulms, all lined up perfectly neat and covered in a thick durable plastic.
i pulled out a simple record with the words TARiKA BLUE written on it.
i say to myself , " fresh name.."
i put the needle on the record on the turn table - i think it was song #1
dream flower.
and out the speakers comes the most beautiful sound i had ever heard in my LIFE.
i sais , " i think i wanna fall in love"...
dilla always wanted me to learn .
always encouraged me to find my own samples down to the point of snatching the peice to make the loop. i did .
i was always eager , but cool. (cause he was cool)
we looped 2 sections with 2 diff bass lines. (bad ass bass lines too..)
made the 2 sequences
dilla added the drums.
badu drum pattern- not very much like his usual style.
we were in detroit . it was winter.
he left me with the looped sequences.
i wrote the bulk of the song freestyle on mic right there.
it was cold in that basement .
ma dukes was at work i think
frank and dank were proud of me..T3 was there too.
ok, so,
went to ny
Com gave me the line , " stopped to watch my emotions sway"
added Doc gibbs percussion.
yahzarah and chinah black doubled my 'AH's'
poyser on keys.( sprinkles)
and thats all.


didny cha know...


the great james yancey- dillagent. killer. hundred dollar biller.
you live thru me .....salute.
i love you.

badu