The song was actually premiered via mega projection on 66 different buildings around the planet! Location!! Location! Location!

Tennessee Titans off-season acquisition of free agent strong safety George Wilson is amongst several 2013 veteran additions to the defensive side of the ball expected to lead the turn around of the 6-10 Titans squad which had the 27th ranked defense from a season ago.   A difference maker and high character individual on and off the field, the seven year pro visited The Fast Life to discuss his 2013 outlook and team goals and ambitions beyond the gridiron.

Here are a few highlighted excerpts from the complete audio interview playable above:

After seven years with the Buffalo BIlls, how has the transition to Tennessee been thus far?

“It feels great.  The guys have certainly welcomed me with open arms.  The coaching staff is very hands on and making sure everyone knows what the clear expectations are and everyone is going to be held accountable.  Right now we’re just in the midst of a culture change … You see the guys in the locker room buying in to it by how hard [they] are working in the weight room, but it also carries over to the practice field when we run our drills and listen to our coaches give us the expectation of what each each defensive call asks each of us to do.”

What are you looking to add production wise this season and what with the new player, such as Bernard Pollard, and coach additions, including the return to Tennessee of Greg Williams, what will be the new defensive identity?   

“We’re going to be aggressive; we’re going to be in your face and we’re going to go out there and try to dictate what the offense is trying to do rather than trying to react to what they’re trying to do.  We’re trying to go out there and be the tone setters for our team … and if we go out and play fundamental, sound defense … [we] will have a chance to win each and every game.”

“We also added, big hitter, Super Bowl champion Bernard Pollard, another safety to bring a physical presence to our defense; so between myself, [Michael Griffin] and Bernard, they’re going to be some three safety packages that we’re all going to be out on the field playing to our strength.

What are you anticipating from the new Tennessee Titans offense this season?

“A lot of explosive plays.  I certainly expect us to control that time of possession where we can keep sustained drives by running the football and not having to play a lot of snaps on defense.  If we can lead the league on 3-and-outs and be able to get the ball back into the hands of our offense so they can move the chains and put points on the board.

The hones is on us as a defense.  If we can go out there and get off the field on third down, keep teams from getting into our end zone and giving up as few points as we possibly can and that we have the fire power on offense to be able to put up points to win every ball game that we step out on the field to play.”

Philanthropy seems to be really a part of who you are, which isn’t always the case for people in your position, where did your giving spirit actually come from?

“I’ve had great examples of service around me growing up.  My mother’s been a nurse in one of the local hospitals in my home town of Paducah, Kentucky  for nearly 35 years and just to see the love and outpour of thanks from the patients and their families that have watched and witness the care she has given those patients once she’s at work.

I have two grandparents that are very active in the church that a young age took me around to visit the sick and the shut in and just to see the reaction on their faces when they see that somebody other than their own blood, someone other than their own family, cares about them and their well being.   Those seeds were planted in me at a very young age.

Whenever I came back home [from college], I would always go back and try to visit some of my elementary school teachers.  They would always ask me to share some of my college experiences … and it started to grow from one class to one entire grade, from one grade to the entire school and now the Paducah Public School System has given me an open door policy, so I’m able to run a lot of my foundation endeavors through the school system with them being able to partner up and help me make them a reality.”

Tell us exactly what S.A.F.E.T.Y. stands for in relation to your George Wilson Safety Foundation mission statement?

“Safety is the position I play on the football field so … my team and I wanted to create something that was catchy and it ended up being our mission statement.  ”Saving Adolescents From the Everyday Trials of Youth.”  And I just try to curtail all my foundations events and endeavors around that mission statement; just trying to prepare kids to thrive in various environments by equipping them with the same life skills that have helped me get to where I am today … and just spread education and make sure that every child has a plan as they go through life so they have a road map where they want to go to.  I try to just incorporate the educational side, the nutritional side, and the physical activity side so that we can have a good foundation to build the rest of their lives upon.”

You’re not just appearing on the football field, are you actively seeking an entertainment career? 

“I certainly got my feet wet in it.  It’s something that I enjoy doing when i’ve had the opportunity to do it.  Football is my main focus right now, but in the future as i continue to grow and expand my brand that’s certainly an area of interest of mine that I’m looking to build upon.  I enjoy getting in and out of character … bringing to life what the director, the producers want and that’s certainly something i would like to continue to feed off of and grow from.”

If you could shoot the movie of your dreams, what actor or actress would like to play along side?

“It would be a dream to work along side the works of a Denzel Washington or a Will Smith .. and Samuel Jackson.  I put those three in high regard, especially from an African American standpoint and just to be able to pick their minds, learn about their journeys, their struggles, their hardships, because all we see is the glory … but I want to know the behind the scenes stuff.  That’s when you really learn about a person’s character; that’s what you can really draw from.

And on the female side, i don’t think you can pick anybody other than Halle Berry; that’s any guy’s dream.”

Take us through a Sunday Game Day on how George Wilson gets ‘into character’ to come through that tunnel and take the field?

“George off-the-field and George on-the-field is somewhat of the Jekyll and Hyde syndrome; it’s two completely different individuals … you got to go to a different place in your mind … when I pull into the stadium, that’s when the transition begins, you’ve got your theme music playing … and as you speak to other staff going into the locker room, that’s  where the transition actually finalizes and takes place.

That’s where you have to start getting into that frame of mind to go out there and essentially go into battle; just trying to get in that state of mind to where you going to have to go and try and impose your will on the next man that lines up across from you.”

If you were to exclude football victories, what would one of the most meaningful or memorable moments for you in your life be?

“It would be graduating from college.  The University of Arkansas is where I attended my undergraduate.  I was able to graduate with an Administrative Management degree  .. and just to be able to go to college [and] put to work the morals and values that were instilled into me in my upbringing and to be able to persevere over a long period of time and to earn that college degree that no one could ever take away from you that I can continue to use … and is going to allow me to be successful even when i walk away from the game.”

The lifestyle and mindset that bookend the 20 years of his incarceration for tax evasion and money laundering could not be more radically different, and perhaps even more startling, they could not share a more universal commonality … in a word … family.

A lifetime ago, the 26 year-old Queens native, who had up until a jury’s guilty verdict in December of 1989, masterfully through an advanced business acumen beyond his years, avoided the pitfalls and trappings surely promised from the illegal narcotics trade.   Heralded and immortalized on rap industry wax, the ostentatious lifestyle and empire amassed by Thomas Mickens far exceeded the means of your 1980s average “teenager with a little bit of gold and a pager” with infrastructure the likes of which was previously unseen by authorities through Swiss bank accounts, dummy corporations and real estate.

“I did business like a corporation, and that’s how I structured it, just like a corporation.  I was a little too good at doing what I done and that was my downfall … I was the first one ever prosecuted under money laundering.”

Listen above for the full 30 plus minute exclusive interview.

TRANSGRESSION: ‘The life’ as a “merchant of death,” the influence of family

“I came from a dysfunctional family, at certain points of my upbringing I’d seen my family struggling … and I ain’t really like the things I saw; so just by my environment … I chose to go down a path that many dare wouldn’t go down … my mother was totally disappointed … but at the same time I was trying to do the best for my family at the point.”

TRANSFORMATION:  ’The life’ behind bars, the influence apart from family:

“During the course of my incarceration, when I got sentenced to 35 years, I entrusted a lot of  family members, even my attorney at the time, I gave them power of attorney … and they took advantage of the situation.  Most of my friends sold a lot of my properties, most of them borrowed money on my properties, one of the attorneys sold my properties based on he had 35 years.  He had the assumption I was in the ‘new law,’  that I had to do 85% of the 35 years so Tommy won’t be home for 31 and a half years, not knowing I only did 20 years not 28 years [because] I was in the ‘old law.’

When they found out I was coming home … I started getting letters, I started getting unexpected visits; and basically like ‘Tommy, I done this, I done this, I don’t know how you’re going to be receptive to it.’  And most of the people that had did me wrong was family and very close friends of mine.”

When you were in jail, and you got out, all the money and everything that you had and all the business you’d been able to manifest were gone.  How did you cope with that and were  you hoping that money would be there to start something new, were you still in the mindset that you were going to go back to where you were or you already knew you were coming out to do something positive?

“I had a plan prior to being released.  I’d done my research on health care.  I thought back to my mother’s situation and I used to watch that nobody really had a program or had a company that really focused on the Seniors.

Prior to me being released from Butler, NC, there was a medical facility, it’s like a low institution, so they transferred me over there my last 14 months.  And me talking to certain people that was disabled, living in that type of environment, and I was doing exercises with them and certain therapy moves with them and they was feeling a lot better, and they’d used come tell me that doctor thought it was the medication, but Tommy you’re a blessing besides and this is the rewards I got from them.  It made me think I can do this in the real world.

I can create a company that can be bigger than life, bigger than what I’d done before but in a positive way.  And I can look at this as me giving back to my mother, me giving back to my community.

My thing is giving back to those who really can’t help themselves.  Giving back to those who feel like their life is over and motivate them.  Let me find a way to make you love yourself again.

I put together the company The Tommy Experience.  I went around doing free demonstration classes … and just actually getting the feedback from the Seniors … I learned how to be the best, if not the best.  I built my company from the bottom up, focused only on those Seniors and people that I feel they have very little life left; I want their very little bit of life left lived in the proper way.”

ATONEMENT:  A beacon of ‘new life’, a “merchant of life,” the influence of family:

“I respect how [Tommy Mickens] changed his life and how he created a new life.  And the same way he did for his family at that point, he’s doing it again for his family; as his four year old daughter, as she gets older to look up at her father and be one of the greatest men that ever walked this planet … He’s going to make a change in this world and he’ll always be remembered.”

“If you are a man of principles and morals, you always want to be better and I hate to say it, ain’t too many men out here and hopefully I can create a new structure of men in this world by me leading by example, not by me talking about it but more so through my actions.”

Thomas Mickens can be reached at tommymickens2020@gmail.com

“Ray J is making a music video featuring a Kim look-alike,” according to a TMZ source.

Ring the bell! Round 1: Ray J

With their signature smooth vocals and sensual dance moves, opening act, R&B duo Changing Faces, stepped to stage immediately erasing the frustrations of an hour delay endured by fans to finally ignite the fuse on the 90′s R&B music explosion.  Lifting the audience to a fabulous high with their final number, the duo had the crowd on their feet rewarding two eager male volunteers with on-stage access to ‘assist’ them with their 1994 hit Stroke You Up.

The electrified air provided the perfect set up for SWV to follow suit and deliver the second infusion of the sounds of love.  Audience members singing along to every word as they performed hit after hit from their 1992 triple platinum album It’s About Time.   Memorable tracks like Rain, I’m So Into You, and Weak blared through the speakers with the kind of vocal perfection that would make you think you were listening to it directly from the CD.

Then, as if it could not get any better, Dru Hill exploded onto the stage clearly determined to give their fans more than they had bargained for recognising the emotionally stirred crowd response generated by the Sisters With Voices.  SisQo, historically the stand out, performed with such intensity, you could barely stand to blink for fear you might miss something.  Initially missing from the first two songs, clearly due to his size and the intensity of the choreography, Jazz could be more than forgiven for his incredible vocals which ended the Dru Hill set.

Watch the entire concert in this video directly below. 

By now fans were completely intoxicated with the sounds of the 90s, and moods were kept high with well received comedic and musical interludes.

Blackstreet, well rehearsed and lead by crowd favourite and music legend Teddy Riley, continued the exuberant mood.  Missing all their original members except Teddy, was perhaps the reason they did not connect with the audience quite as well as the previous quartet.  But fans continued to show their appreciation as they received a more than respectable and enjoyable performance from the kings of the phrase “No Diggity”.

So with such a superb set up, the crowd was on the edge of their seats in anticipation of the headline act.  But it didn’t take long for the mood to start shifting as the interlude of an already hour late show stretched on for an excruciating 40 minutes.

Showered with boisterous cheers of adoration, the soon to be infamous Jodeci finally took center stage but immediately there was an overwhelming sense something wasn’t right.  Not only was DeVante noticeably missing from the line up, but within 30 seconds of being on stage, Mr Dalvin threw himself six feet to the concrete floor.  After landing in a daze on his back, he wandered like a lost soul below stage trying to find his way back to his “band”.  Things quickly went from bad to worse as K-Ci and JoJo appeared to be shells of their former selves singing out of tune and out of sync.  The all-time classics were barely recognizable, but it was during their second song, an acapella version of a song we may never know the name of, that the crowd lost their patience.

Watch Mr. Dalvin’s ill-fated “stage dive” in the video directly below. 

Booing erupted from all corners of Wembley Arena.  Shocked mouths dropped to the floor as individuals that had been fans for 20 years realised they were about to witness a train wreck.  Going on as if they didn’t notice the crowd reaction, group members JoJo, K-Ci and Mr. Dalvin continued on “singing” as if they were each in their own personal show.  No routine, no connection with their band members, no sign of the Jodeci of the 1990s.  The Jodeci that everyone had paid to see.  The Jodeci that gave the world Forever My Lady, Stay, Come And Talk To Me, and Feenin’ was reduced to a mere distant memory.

As the curtains began to close on ‘The Show of Horrors’, Mr. Davlin begged what was left of the crowd for “ten more minutes.”  Greeted with more jeering and booing as audience members continued to leave in droves, the full line up then appeared on stage to support and ‘rescue’ Jodeci in their final number as if they were nervous school boys in a Christmas play needing a helping hand.  Had SisQo not taken over the lead vocals, I’m not sure they would have gotten through it at all.

So as momentum building good vibes of a memorable concert night dissipated into the frigid north London sky, loyal fans who stayed to the end, who spent good money, and who deserved more, left having witnessed the night’s reminiscent high hopes evaporate. But more tragically with a feeling they may have witnessed the final deterioration of what was once R&B’s heavyweights, and thus relegating the groups better days to their albums and You Tube videos.

In the wake of utter disappointment, an attempt at damage control was forged, via unconfirmed reports that the venue itself impeded sound check and the group’s ability to rehearse, and that DeVante had been arrested at Heathrow Airport preventing his attendance.  But what excuse can be made for, stage diving miscues, poor lyrical performances and less than a sober appearance other than abject unprofessionalism.

Now a true Jodeci fan knows that this group of men has had their fair share of struggles over the last decade, but this performance was bottom of the barrel.  Truly an insult to those that have stood by them since 1990.  With four acts putting out stellar performances before them there seemed to be no reasonable excuse, and it’s no wonder #JodeciDead began to trend on the social media site Twitter.

So who’s to blame.  Jodeci? Clearly unprepared. The promoter? Knowing their track record.  Management? Family? Friends?  Or perhaps that’s the wrong question?  Maybe the question is, how could we help and support these once R&B legends before they experience the same fate as also beloved and admired artists such as Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix…

Despite the misfortunes of this night, many of us true Jodeci fans will remain ardent supporters, because there’s no taking away what they achieved and contributed to popular R&B music.  There’s no denying the musical excellence and artistry that after 20 years brought fans rushing back to see just a glimpse of them once more.  But there’s also no denying our disappointment at what they were willing to serve up to their dedicated fans.

It’s now anyone’s guess what the next entry will be in the Diary Of A Lost Band, we can just hope that London saw the worst of what Jodeci have to offer.

With hits such as Butta Love, Too Close and Wifey to his credit, the singer/songwriter now returns to the forefront of the music scene after an extended hiatus as a solo artist with his new single Boo’d Up from the forthcoming album 5:15.

“I knew that had to come with something that was comparable to what I had done before, anthem wise, yet updated. I wanted to make sure it was new and fresh yet didn’t alienate my audience. People have been waiting patiently for me to come out with something and I didn’t want to come out with … something that wasn’t authentic.”

In this exclusive, extended Fast Life Interview RL: ReveaLed, the R&B superstar candidly discusses his artistry, song writing, music making process, the industry landscape and his life and emotions as an artist. 

“That’s why one of the things about me coming back, I really want to be able to enjoy it this time around because to be honest, I didn’t enjoy it like that before.” -RL

Explain to people what you mean by being ‘reborn’ with your new album 5:15?

“I went into this project as if it were my first, as if I never had any success before … what the music really was, it was the hunger …. I wanted to go back to the essence when I was sleeping on the floor of KayGee’s back house and I was scared. I have that fear again; I have that fear of failure; that’s what produces the best music. …. This is the first time I was able to go in the studio and what was in my head, I was able to create and come out of the speakers … this is the first time that I really felt like it was the best I’ve ever done and it’s sexy, it’s funny, it’s quirky, which is me, I was able to finally be myself. I’m finally comfortable with who I am and I was able to put that out on record.”

People saying you look exactly like you used to, just as sexy, I know you get up 5 o’clock in the morning, 5:30 in the gym, is that because of your fans, is that what inspires you to do that, or is there your own inner motivation?

“To be honest, its always been about my dedication to better myself; I always felt that I had to do everything that I could do to be the best I could be. I felt like given this gift, I have to utilize it and work on it; and that includes my voice, my body, my health, how I eat and growing up on an itinerary since being a late teen, it’s just old habits die hard … so if that means getting up before everybody else, if that would give me an advantage, I wanted that; if it meant staying longer in the studio, that’s what I would do. It’s always about sacrifice so that I could be the best that I could be.”

The track that started it all, Butta Love, what do you recall about the moment of your debut single release and the video premiere in midnight hour of BET?

Regarding the initial success of the debut single Butta Love as “a pleasant surprise,” RL recalls being, “just really happy when I finally left Kay Gee’s back house and went into the rest of the world and realized how well the record was doing.”  And when questioned as to whether the song’s lyrics ‘Sun dress with platforms, feet pedicured with no corns’ is still his requirement for the ladies, the now 35 year-old singer reveals, “Oh most definitely, I grew up in a hair salon, my mother owned a salon I always appreciate women keeping their hair right and their nails right, so always.”

What do you recall when Too Close became a monster hit and launched the Rated Next album into platinum-plus status?

“People ask me all the time looking back about those moments, but to be honest I really don’t have a memory of them because, you have to remember my group members are real brothers, so I kind of, to be honest, felt alone on the road a lot of the time, but I was just happy to be doing what I loved and being able to get paid to do something I would have done for free anyway.”

Can you tell now when you’ve written a hit, do you feel it straight away or can it still come as a surprise to you?

“I’ve always felt good about certain songs, I’m not one of those people that go, ‘Well I wrote this record I should feel good about it because I did it.’ The reality is I’ve always kind of known, in my heart, a record that felt good. If I can relate to it and it feels good to me, it will feel good to everybody else; so, that’s something I think that God has given me. Even back then, when it was certain records like Butta Love, I wrote that when I was 16, 17 years old, but I knew people would like that record.

What is your future as a member of the group Next now performing as a solo artist?

“I would do the fans an injustice if I wasn’t totally focused on what I’m doing right now. Do I feel like, there’ll be another Next album? Of course, I feel like that’s the brand. I know that it’s bigger than me.  I know that I’ve helped build something that’s a brand that’s much bigger than me just as a solo artist.  But also feel like I want to get the just-due that I never got as a singer/songwriter.  I don’t think people really know of my artistry, on what level its been on and the things that I’ve done and I think this time around I really want to relish that.”

“I’ve kind of envied Neyo in a sense because I felt like I was doing what he was known for and that’s being a singer/songwriter of my time writing for a lot of the artists that were out when I first came out.”

“The difference is, I was in a group so I kind of had to hide some of that; so I couldn’t take full credit for saying, ‘yeah I’m doing this,’ because I had to be just one-third of a group. And I want that now, I want people to know all the records I’ve written. Whether it’s for Jamie Foxx, Luther Vandross, Usher, Lloyd, J. Holiday; I want people to know my discography and how hard I work.  I want my credit. (Laughs)”

You really put a lot of emotions and experience into this music. Do you ever feel like you might be revealing too much? Do you ever worry about the content of your lyrics?

“That’s where I’m most comfortable, when I’m doing my records. I’m more comfortable on stage and in the studio than I am anywhere else. I think that’s the best part of being an artist. Most artists I know are really insecure, including me, and I feel like I can be myself totally, more so on stage and on a song more so than anywhere else. I reveal more of myself in music than I do anywhere else.”

Do you think that’s because you can sort of hide yourself away from music, sort of disconnect yourself away from the lyrics, like if anyone asks, ‘no, that’s just a friends experience’ or is that there’s that safety in being an artist?

“Nowadays with social media, it’s not safe at all. We have a new rule in my household, I can look at the article on me but I can’t go to the comments section. That’s the one place I can’t go. (laughing)  People can be really cruel nowadays and I think social media has changed how much power and access people have to us artists and it’s scary. So that’s one of the things that scared me and say, ‘Do I really want to come back out?’ because that’s a scary thing. People are really cruel nowadays and they don’t really think about it. They just want to say something mean or do whatever they feel is going to tear somebody down and for me that’s one of the big reasons that it took me so long. I’ve already dealt with insecurities and low self-esteem since a young age. I really had to strengthen myself and have the people around me to keep positive and prepare myself for this because I know it can get really bad.”

How do you balance between writing for another artist’s style and protecting against the sound and style of your music and image?

“I’ve always prided myself on being able to create records on an artist for who they are how they really were. Give you an example, Jamie Foxx. When I worked on Jamie, most people will write him records and if you listen to a lot of their stuff, it sounds like him singing somebody else’s record. I always prided myself on saying I’m a big fan of Jamie, how would he sound updated, being around him knowing him, how can I do a record just for him.”

“So I’ve always felt like me being a singer/songwriter and having a day job as an artist myself, I didn’t want somebody else to sound like me. A lot of writers are artists that never made it; so they want you to sound like them, and my thought was ‘why would I want to sound like you, if you didn’t make it?’  I made it! Enhance me and make me sound better is who I am, so that’s what I always tried to do for other artists.”

Do you ever experience writer’s block? How do you over come those periods of time where you can’t create that thing you are looking for?

“I did 70 sings (for the new album). I wanted to do enough (songs) and really be able to create and not feel pressure; so if there’s days I didn’t feel like anything was coming out positive I would just stop because in reality it would be doing my fans a disservice if I just sat there and tried to come with some bull and I feel like that would be impossible. For me I really feel like the creative process is something to be kept sacred and really just study.”

Do you feel there’s lack of responsibility today in music as far as it relates to production, longevity and artist development?

“I feel like there isn’t any artist development anymore. I feel like now it’s about how many Twitter followers you have … different things like that; it’s not about the music anymore … My question is what are [the artists] going to do in five, ten years? I’ve been able to survive off a record that I wrote in 1996 that came out in ’97, ’98; so I been blessed to be able to just have a catalog. What records are we hearing now that these artists will be able to perform in ten years? So now it’s a microwave society. It’s instant but it doesn’t last. That’s why a lot of artists have to put our records really fast; two albums in one year! That’s impossible. That’s only happening because the quality of the work isn’t lasting long enough. And that’s sad.”

Do you find that there is any up and coming groups that you are trying to mentor or work with that may develop into the new Next or the new RL or whatever it may be?

“Well I don’t think there is a new any of it. I love to see new talent and help cultivate it. I’m trying to embrace the elder statesman thing for me … I think that the Black culture is the only one that considers 35 old; you know I’m 35, people want to throw us away. In other cultures, we embrace the history. You got Cher, and Rod Stewart and U2 performing at arenas and you have the O’Jays on the chitlin circuit! That’s not right because these artists are actually ‘stealing’ or should I recreating and our influenced by the records of these greats that are on the chitlin circuit. That’s crazy to me!”

“There’s artists that come get advice from me and things like that but the truth is since it’s a social media driven genre now to an extent, they really feel like they don’t need us and our experience and our wisdom when they really do.”

What place of contribution to music do you think Next made?

“It’s hard to say. I think we’re known for anthems. I think that people don’t really realize what we’ve done and we don’t get the credit for it and I’m fine with that. They way I put it is this: I can take you in the studio play you a Jagged Edge , a 112, Dru Hill and Next record and you’ll like the Next record the least, but you’ll wake up the morning singing our song.”

“I ask many people in or community what are their favorite groups from the late 90s and they hardly mention us … I think we haven’t gotten the due that I feel that we deserve but I’m fine with that; I’m content with the career I’ve had; I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished but I do feel like we were somewhat under rated. I think that we contributed anthems. When you said the word ‘wifey’ people think that I came up with it. There are certain records that are anthems and people will sing for a long time. My cousin is from Philip Bailey from Earth Wind and Fire so I always felt like I had legacy to uphold within my family to make records that were timeless anyway.”

If you could do one more collaboration in your lifetime with anybody who would that one person be?

“It probably be Biggie. I worked with Big Pun, I worked with Pac, to be able to say that I worked with Biggie as well that would just be the icing on the cake and he was my favorite. I’m such a big Biggie fan, it’s incredible.”

Hailing from Minneapolis, MN what did it mean to you to actually be on the same label when you learned that Prince later on signed?

“It was amazing because my mother actually grew up with Prince and I spoke to him one day outside of a club and he was like, ‘I know who you are, your Toni’s son.’ And it was so amazing to me because he knew me and that meant so much and that legacy; I’d been invited out to Paisley Park; I’ve been out there when he’s done private performances and things like that. He grew up a block away from my grand mother’s house.”

What do you think is your most powerful music or best creation?

“You know what, it’s different records for different reasons. It’s hard because they’re all my children. There’s different reasons that I like different records.”

What are those moments that would surprise people that are actually most memorable for you during your career?

“I’m a giver. My most memorable moments weren’t me getting anything, it was I was able to do things for people. I picked [my mother] up in a car; told her it was a rental and I had to go pick my car up, but then I told her to stop by the house first and as we were driving I took the sold sign and put it up on the rear view mirror and she started crying and didn’t even put the car in park and I almost hit my car! (laughs) That was a beautiful thing. I think that was the most amazing thing for me.”

“For me it’s always been about helping others and that’s when I’ve taken the most pride and found the most joy when I’ve been able to touch other’s lives; it’s always been about that.”

Is there a meaning behind your tats, or do you just like ink?

“I’m from the hood, my first tat I got at a crack house. I’m dead serious. Dude stopped in the middle of doing my tat to take smoke break. But after that, once I really understood the art, then it was just like me in a studio; I respected it more and I took more time. All my tats mean something.”

“I have my Philippians 4:13 which is my favorite, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I have the quill pen on my arm because I feel like I write classics and I know that they did many big things with the quill pen and then I have another tat that says , “His grace, my faith.” So I think that those are the things that mean the most to me. All of them have a story. And for me I think that you life has to tell a story. I want my music to tell a story so that’s the same thing I did with my tats.”

As yet undecided regarding the follow-up single, RL promises “it will be time to get sexy and take the shirt off for the next one.  So I’m going to show them I’m a grown man now. It’s definitely going to be one of those.”

So will we see 5:15 on there?

“It could be. Being that’s the time I was born, I actually called my mother and asked me to tell her about the day I was born and she doesn’t even know it to this day, but she’s on the intro for this album.”

“One of the reasons I left the industry is because I didn’t believe in love. I went through a bad break up and I honestly felt like how can I sit here and write about something I don’t believe in any more and I got that back. So yeah I’m in a situation, a wonderful relationship and I’m happy.”

In 50 years time when you look back at your career, what would you like people to be able to say about you?

“I just want them to respect me as an artist; more than even just a singer. For me my legacy is in the music. I consider myself an artist more than I do a singer and I want them to look at me as an artist. To be honest, I never felt like I would make it past 30 because I didn’t feel like people appreciated music and it would take for me to be gone for them to do that. God blessed me to be here longer and I feel like it’s happening, people do really understand what I’ve done, and respect what I’ve done and that’s what means the most to me; respect from my peers really.”

Ready to be right and tight for Summer?  Start now with the back to basics Total Body Workout by personal fitness trainer and former Miami Hurricanes track athlete Deandra Doyley.

Modified for both intermediate and beginners, this is a circuit that will get your heart rate going and work your major muscles. Remember the best way to lose weight is to do high intensity body workouts.

♦ Prisoner Squats
♦ Jump Rope
♦ Big 3 (push-ups & sit-ups)
♦ Lunges
♦ High Knees
♦ Toe Touches

For more information visit upbydeandra.com

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