S. Samuel
After Grand Hustle's B.o.B. raised eyebrows last month revealing an aim to produce a country album, Tha Carter IV contributing producer Willy Will has weighed in.
Along with co-signing Bobby Ray’s plans, Will pointed out to rap stars like Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj for pushing the rap genre boundaries.
“Even when you listen to someone like Lil Wayne, look at his ‘How To Love’ record, that’s one of the top songs in the country right now,” Willy Will told SOHH. “Look at Nicki Minaj’s ‘Super Bass.’ What you’re seeing is a lot of artists stepping out of their genre. You gotta take the shackles off different genres like pop, rhythmic and those genres allow you to be creative but still be you and heard by the masses. And so like with Lil Wayne, he didn’t go too much out of his range but ‘How To Love’ is not an urban record. It doesn’t even hardly play in many urban stations. So that’s a prime example of being able to step out and be heard, be you, and not have to compromise too much. B.o.B. is somone I would love to work with. He’s someone who started off from urban music and then branched into something else. So he understands urban music but understands what the next level is.” (SOHH)
In August, B.o.B. revealed an interest in trying his hand at country music.
“I want to produce a country album for a country singer,” B.o.B. explained in an interview. “I feel like country music has a certain kind of pocket. It all sonically [comes together]. Are you ready to get satisfied sonically? And then I want to do an album that is completely meditation music — It’s going to be like a little project. It won’t just be for people who like to sleep to it, meditate or are into yoga. It’ll be like even if you weren’t into all that, you’ll be listening to it and thinking: ‘Man this is dope, yeah!'” (Today Online)
Last year, R&B hitmaker T-Pain detailed his aim to collaborate with country star Carrie Underwood.
“It’s fun to work with [rocker] Slash,” T-Pain said in an interview, “but kind of embarrassing because no one knows who I am. But, I think it’s cool as f*ck. Next person I want to work with, and I won’t work with anyone else until I get her, is Carrie Underwood. Everyone else can suck it until I get to Carrie.” (The Boom Box)
Outside of music, Akoo Clothing marketing director Jeff Belizaire recently spoke to SOHH about making B.o.B. one of rap star T.I.‘s fashion company’s brand ambassador.
“B.o.B., he’s totally revolutionizing and probably creating his own category within music,” Belizaire added. “He’s probably the only one doing what he’s doing in his category and industry. So that’s what we’re identifying and that’s what our ambassadors represent.” (SOHH)
Check out a past B.o.B. interview below:
