[Interview] Calvin Richardson

Calvin Richardson has delivered soul to his followers time and time again. In constant motion and definitely in the mindset of becoming the leading man of R&B and Soul, he has released yet another album aimed to set the soul on fire. MiddleChild spoke with The Prince about his latest release “America’s Most Wanted” and the thing he would like his fans to take away from the project.

Calvin Richardson: Hey what’s happening man?

MiddleChild: Nothing much. How is everything on your end?

Calvin Richardson: Everything is good.

MiddleChild: That’s good. So we’re ready to drop this new album “America’s Most Wanted”. First of all I have to ask what the title means to you.

Calvin Richardson: On this CD I got what the world needs and want and that’s the road map on how to achieve love and happiness.

MiddleChild: And what’s Calvin Richardson’s formula to helping the world achieve that?

Calvin Richardson: Just writing about things that I believe are important to people. Putting good music out with lyrics that have substance and talks about things that people deal with on a day to day basis. I try to give them a road map on how I dealt with it and how they can deal with it to achieve happiness and love.

MiddleChild: I see. So when you sat down to put this album together what were some of the topics you knew for sure you wanted to cover?

Calvin Richardson: Actually I record a lot all of the time so it was a process. Coming off The Soul Of Bobby Womack album I was still recording. Recording for me is a continual process so basically I kind of went through the songs I had done because I had tons of songs and I kind of put together a compilation of songs that kind of fit.

MiddleChild: After you record a song how do you determine if it’s one that the world needs to hear? How do you decide which ones to toss in a pile and which ones to come back to?

Calvin Richardson: Basically it just depends on what I feel like talking about at the time or topics I feel like touching on and I try and make everything cohesive when I’m putting the songs together. I try and touch on different issues and not just be geared toward one thing. You deal with so many things in life on a day to day basis so it’s not just love. It’s not just money issues…. its life man. It’s a variety of different things so it’s just what feels right to me.

MiddleChild: Cool. No guest spots on this project, right?

Calvin Richardson: I have one guest vocalist on there. Her name is Nadia Chambers. She was a local artist that I worked with awhile back and when I wrote the song “Reach Out”, I got her to record the song. She was my artist at that particular time and I was doing some development with her. I was going get KeKe Wyatt on the song. You know just change it out and get a more notable singer, but then I decided that I really liked what she did with it so I kept her on it.

MiddleChild: Sounds good. What song at this particular moment on the album is the most personal to you?

Calvin Richardson: I think the one that’s most personal right now is “You’re So Amazing”. It’s about that one person that we’re all are going to meet at some point or already have in our life that even if you move on after being together for however long they will still be that one person that you’ll always be there for and that will always be that number one to you. They are just that amazing individual all around and no one will ever be able to take that person’s place.

MiddleChild: I know you release albums pretty quickly because this one is like your third one in the course of about four years or so…

Calvin Richardson: In three years…

MiddleChild: Three years. So with you recording continually how do you keep from getting to a place where all of your music sounds the same? How do you evolve and not become complacent?

Calvin Richardson: That’s a conscious effort with my sound. I always try to pay attention… and I do the melodies and the lyrics and the composition of the music because like I say recording for me is a continual process so I have to make sure all of my songs stay fresh and not like the others by just exploring different things musically and vocally. Although soul music is my thing and that’s what I do with being a balladeer, I try a lot of different things. It’s just like having conversations man. You can have like a million conversations in a week and none of them have to be the same. So that’s basically me just trying to be conscious of it without over thinking it because music is going to be what it is. I’m an artist and my voice is what it is and I gotta say what I gotta say. I think they were so many things over the course of the years that I wanted to say that I never had the opportunity to say because I had too many people in my ear or the major label wanting me to do a record a certain way so now I’m kind of like doing my own thing. That’s why this will be my third album in the course of three years.

MiddleChild: So how does it feel when you’re able to just do Calvin? How did that change your approach?

Calvin Richardson: It makes me feel good to be able to do things my way. It’s all about like being a man or just growing into manhood when you’re able to make your own decisions and do whatever you want to do without having your parents oversee what you’re doing. There’s a certain point when you feel liberated and empowered. I can do things my way, but I still take a lot of people into consideration. Those are my fans and who I think my listeners are going to be.

MiddleChild: With the recording process being so heavy for you how do you take that bulk of songs and narrow it down to eleven or twelve tracks?

Calvin Richardson: Well I have several people that work within my circle that I respect their opinions and then sometimes I go outside of that and bring people in and see what they’re feeling and kind of base it off of that. I don’t just solely make all of the decisions myself.

MiddleChild: And how did you go about choosing the lead single?

Calvin Richardson: I have my own company called NuMo Records and NuMo Records… like I said I have a couple people and I respect their opinion and one of those people would be my executive assistant, Melinda Medina. She’s got a real good ear for music and I respect her opinion…plus she’s a female. (laughs) I speak for the males out there who have something on their mind, but who I’m speaking to are the females. The female audience is basically who I’m speaking to and that’s kind of who I play off of.

MiddleChild: One thing I do know is that your live shows are always on point. I’ve been to several and the crowds go crazy for you. What is your ritual when you prepare to do a live show?

Calvin Richardson: I really don’t have a ritual, man. Singing and performing is just something that I love to do so I’m always up for it. The only thing is that I just be ready for show time. I really wanna connect with the people on a personal level and most of the times I really love the more intimate settings, but sometimes the stage just gets a whole lot bigger and so I always come off the stage and connect with as many people as I can by coming into the audience. To me it’s just the aspect of being able to perform and connect with the people that are in front of me at that particular time, man. Because there is always somebody that probably never seen me before or ever had that experience so I want to make it as fun for them as it is for me.

MiddleChild: Is it harder to pick a tracklisting for an album or a setlist for a live show?

Calvin Richardson: Ahhhh setlist for a live show… because I got so many songs man and no matter where I go and how many songs I do or whatever my choice is there is always somebody after the show that ask me “Why didn’t you do…” or “I wanted you to do..” and there is just no way to get them all in.

MiddleChild: I know that’s right. There is always like one or two that we be like… UGH! (laughs) If you could put together your dream tour who would be on it?

Calvin Richardson: Fantasia….K-Ci and JoJo… possibly Anthony Hamilton….Yea. Yea, I think that would be a good one right there.

MiddleChild: That raw soul, huh?

Calvin Richardson: Yea. Why not man? That’s what it’s all about. Singers. Put singers together and it’s going to be something spectacular because once you get a whole bunch of singers together everybody is going to try and take it to the next level. You’ll see everybody in a way that you probably wouldn’t have seen before.

MiddleChild: I got you. Album is in stores now. What is the one thing you want the fans to take away from this album that they may not have gotten the previous two?

Calvin Richardson: That I’m really serious about soul music and putting great music out there. The writing and all…it’s just an album that was made with everybody in mind and I didn’t leave anybody out so I really want them to go away knowing that and that there’s a whole lot more to come. Listen to this album and you can tell that there is much more to come after this.

MiddleChild: That’s dope. Well you know MCP got mad love for you and we will definitely let everyone know about the album.

Calvin Richardson: Thanks. I really appreciate it.

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