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Member Since: 2/28/2003
Posts: 9,476
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Premier talks about Xtina in interesting magazine article
For Premier fans, 2006 promises to be huge. Perhaps the biggest, most unforeseen hookup is between Premier and a certain pop princess. In an unusual turn of events, he has had several fruitful recording sessions with—yes, this is for real—Christina Aguilera. “When her agent called and said she was looking for some production from me, I was like ‘Wow, that’s strange,” Premier (aka Chris Martin) admits. But he was up for a challenge to do something out of his normal hip-hop combat zone. Aguilera sent Premier two “inspiration CDs” with some old favorite soul tracks by artists such as Nina Simone, and with that direction, Premier worked on some ideas. Aguilera chose five to work on for her as-yet-untitled album due in 2006. “Although the five songs came out quickly, the process wasn’t without its challenges.
Working on a bridge—or B section—for a song, Aguilera insisted on changing a part. “She was like, ‘in the changeup, take the bass out,’ ” Premier says, “And I was like, ‘Nah, it’s banging right there because of what you’re singing.’ And she was like ‘Nope, I don’t want it there’” It didn’t help Aguilera’s mood that she was dealing with some disagreements with her label. “I’m no strange to that; label people can be out of their minds sometimes,” Premier says, “But she was already pissed off about that, so she delivered that same attitude to me. So I am who I am, and I command a certain way of being dealt with, plus I’m so used to having my way when I do my records because I’m a producer—I have a good eat. So I pulled her aside and I was like ‘We have to compromise.’ So I did something where I copped it and put echo on that section. And she was like, ‘That’s hot.’”
But because Aguilera came up in the music industry as a teen and her fair share of bad working relationships, it took some time for Premier to gain her trust. “And I don’t blame her,” Premier says “She told me she’s worked with other producers where the vibe was really, really, ty. But after the first two days of having a lot of disagreeing with each other, we were supercool. We really hit it off.”
All subsequent debates were in good humor. “Another reason we butt heads is because when she does her vocal she’s like ‘Let me do another one,’” Premier reveals
”It could be just one word, and she’s like ‘Let me fix the of.’ And I’m like ‘No it’s good! It’s right!’ And she’s like ‘No! Can’t you hear it? It’s not clear.’ It’s back and forth, but at the end of the day, the vocals are tight.”
And despite the length discography of albums that he’s crafted, Premier even learned a little something about pop arranging from Aguilera. Working for so long on hip-hop, Premier never had to write a B section for a track before. “I’m used to that with any MC, from LL Cool J to Jay-Z on down,” he says. “But [Aguilera] likes to change key and all that other stuff before it gets to the hook so [the first time] I was like, ‘ I gotta come up with something.’ But now when she asks for a B section, I totally get it”
Damn, I can't wait for her new album. 2006, as I have said numorous times before, is sure to be a GREAT year musically. So many great artist releasing albums. I just can't wait!
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