- I say this all the time.
I feel like I don't really have control
of what comes out of my mouth for the most part.
I'm just like I'm channeling, you know, like,
I don't feel like my worries
are necessarily mine all the time.
With this song specifically,
I literally just was like,
♪ Can I practice on you? Can you ♪
That was the first thing that came. Like I didn't,
I don't even think I hummed the melody,
I literally just said that.
(guitar riff begins)
(song plays from computer)
♪ You're making me so, so comfortable ♪
When I started the song, like the chords and the voice memo,
I was in new Orleans,
but when I actually laid the original guitar in Ableton,
I was in LA. I was staying at my friend's wife's house.
I basically was homeless like, honestly
until May 2019 is when I got my first apartment ever.
And I didn't really have that much money.
I didn't, you know.
I made sure that I was in the studio for most of my days,
so that I literally, the only time I was
at my friend's house was to sleep
and shower and stuff like that.
But I would just be in there all day, like,
cause there was nothing else to do but make music.
I didn't think it was going to be cool,
I just was doing stuff.
Songs like this happen when I'm just kinda like whatever,
I'm just flowing, whatever. Like, I don't know.
This how I play with my leg.
The song starts off with (guitar riff)
Originally when I wrote this song,
I was just practicing guitar.
I had only been playing guitar for probably like a year,
something like that. The chords for me,
I didn't know what I was doing for real.
I was just like moving around like, oh, this sounds nice.
Where can I go next?
When I was writing this song the first chord I had was this.
(mysterious guitar chord strums)
I had just learned, just learned this chord,
but I learned it like down here somewhere
or something like that.
And then I landed here. I kind of felt around landed here.
And then I want to take it somewhere else.
And I played around again.
I took this same chord and I moved it to here.
(mysterious chord strums)
♪ I got love for you, I got lot for you ♪
♪ I got something for you, can I get something in return? ♪
So I'm just literally just moving down.
I wanted to do something to where
it's not just like a four chord loop
or a two chord loop, some crazy stuff.
Almost like that Stevie wonder song
♪ You got it bad. ♪
I was listening to a lot of like Outkast and Andre 3000,
like the song prototype; really soft sweet songs
I was really inspired by at the time.
So this was like subconsciously,
but I wanted to make music that felt like that.
And that was a reflection of like my youth.
♪ Can I practice on you? Can you practice on me too? ♪
♪ Girl, you give me the blues. ♪
The song itself, like the lyrics,
It's a play on learning an instrument,
learning how to do something, practicing
and getting good at something through the lens
of love, you know?
So like I'm learning a person and learning how to love
somebody and be with them.
Anything practice you get good at, so I was thinking,
like I would practice love, and get good.
Learn how to love somebody. So that was the whole idea.
A lot of different people played a part
in making this song what it is.
So in the beginning it was just me with the guitar
and then I added drums.
I wanted it to be kind of still, you know,
chill, in the same mood, not too crazy.
And letting the music speak more
than all the rhythm and stuff
but still having a nice movement to it.
I was hanging out with my friend Caleb,
and he literally just came over to hang out
and he brought his bass and I was like,
oh cool, I got this song.
- And then she showed me this track and I was like, oh,
this is gorgeous, you know, already, like there was like
the bare bones of it was just great.
I think during the bridge, I was just singing like the
(Caleb sings and plays bass line)
In my head I'm like, okay, I have to use that somewhere.
I was just trying to find that happy medium of like melodic,
but also still a baseline, still fundamental,
opposed to just keeping like, you know, just
(Caleb thumps bass)
you know that thing, which would work,
but I was like, you know, you can put subs in there
and they can do that.
I'm trying to have a conversation with Ambre.
♪ And the trumpets sing sweet lullabies ♪
Rather than like, here's just some bass, you know,
it's like, oh, this is me speaking at some point.
- So, I was like, it needs more.
I went to actually Red Bull Bass Camp.
I pulled up this session when I was there
and there was a string player named Sultana
and she was very wonderful, and I was like,
okay, I got to get you on something, so I pulled this up.
I had her play some like, soft, very classical sounding
(string play)
So that was that. So after that,
I pretty much had a full song, but I met another guy,
he's a piano player and producer, his name is Ali.
We became good friends and we worked a lot together,
and then as I was finishing up my project,
this was like early 2019.
I asked him if he could add some stuff to the song,
if he heard anything. So he added a bunch of stuff,
but it was all great and like synths, pads, keys,
but they were very soft and subtle,
so it didn't like overpower the song
and it really added to everything.
♪ I got love for you ♪
(peaceful keys play)
I just let him just do whatever.
He's like one of the best musicians I've ever met,
so I knew that it was going to be good.
So that's why I was just like, okay,
you just do your thing,
I don't want to like tell you what to do.
I just want you to just kind of go.
If there's something that doesn't work,
we could always just scratch it.
♪ 'Cause that's the old me ♪
♪ if you ain't gang gang, gang don't approach me. ♪
When I was younger and I first started like writing music,
I didn't like my voice, my singing voice,
but I knew I loved music. So for a long time, I was like,
okay, maybe I'll be an engineer. Maybe I'll be a rapper.
♪ Better get that bag, drop bombs over my bag dad. ♪
♪ I think it was a casualty, damn, ♪
♪ when you casually walked my way. ♪
How it came about on this song was like I said,
I was listening to Outkast a lot,
Andre 3000's, my favorite rapper of all time,
along with Kendrick Lamar.
So the fast flow, I was like, I wanna do something
that's kind of like weird, and like,
you wouldn't expect on this type of song.
Especially because I'm like singing like all soft and pretty
and I'm like (mumbles lyrics)
And so I really think me listening to Outkast
The Love Below really inspired
a lot of the parts of this song.
So shout out to Andre.
(mellow guitar riff)
I hope people when they listen to this song they feel
a sense of joy and a sense of nostalgia,
a sense of the fun that I had making it.
I hope that they feel that,
and I hope, I get a stank face out of a few people
like, it was hard, I don't know.
You know, I hope people feel how I feel
when I first listened to my favorite songs.
♪ If she golden, prolly go then, ♪
♪ I might slide on your bitch for the trophy, ♪
♪ And I'm falling ♪