“I
[was] at home just writing with a buddy of mine,” says Gill. “From there
something happened where I looked up and I was finished with an album. I had no
intentions.” Next
thing Gill knew, he was the owner of a new record label, J Skillz, and
preparing to release the brand’s first album, Game Changer.
The 17-year-old kid who
thought he was the man opens up about his rise to stardom, his nonchalant
attitude towards music once he lost inspiration, and where he’d be if a career
in entertainment never took off. When it comes to Johnny Gill, it’s clear he’s
still winning!
Johnny
Gill: It’s not hard,
honestly. This is what I do. I try to make sure I maintain the integrity of who
Johnny Gill is. For me, I love all types of music. I am into rap just as I’m
into the new wave of hip-hop [and] R&B. From an artistic standpoint, I’ll
try different things—I’m recording two different beats, two different songs,
two different styles of vocals and stuff. And I don’t mind doing it, but it
never compromises who I am.
EM: Since you mentioned it, who is
Johnny Gill? What defines him and how is that incorporated into music?
JG: Being true to whatever I’m singing
about, that’s who Johnny Gill is. I do it with experiences; I do it with living
things that I can only talk about and tell the story about. I know my
experiences I share with others can be a part of something they can live,
connect and identify with. That’s why it’s important that I try to stay in my
lane, and I try to continue to do what I do and be who I am.
EM: Does being who you are in music
include literally putting your experiences on paper? The visuals for your
current single are quite interesting and unique. Does the video for “Behind
Closed Doors” reflect a moment from the past?
JG: I can tell you, after
31 years, I haven’t had that experience, and I don’t think it’s ever going to
happen. [Laughs] In today’s world, we have to have an angle with what we’re
doing and how we’re approaching the music and videos. I wanted to do something
that artistically is not all over the top for me; that still can be a subject
matter that everyone can kind of identify with at some point.
So I called my good friend
Nadine, and in doing so I was talking to Nicole [Murphy]. I was like “Nicole,
we could never be on camera acting like we weren’t romantically involved
because everyone knows our relationship.” I talked to the director and [asked
how we could put Nicole in the video], and he said, “Well, let’s think about
it.”
I called him back and I
said, “I got it! I have Nadine [be the one] who I’m going to be hot and heavy
with in our bedroom scenes…[and] what if we’re in the heat of passion, and all
of the sudden a car pulls up and it’s Nicole coming? People are gonna be
thinking, “He’s about to get busted”… [but] it gives people a bit of a twist to
go, “Oh, wait a minute. She was cheatin’ on her.”
EM: We’re sure fans love it. Looking at
the rest of your track listing, this project will be the first time you’ve
reunited with New Edition in 10 years. What made you decide to use this album
to bring everyone together?
JG: It didn’t happen by design.
Honestly, I was just recording. I was playing them some of the material I had
recorded, and they heard “Me and You” and said, “Okay, we gotta be on this
joint!” They wanted to be a part of it, and help and support the album. That
was a blessing.
EM: But they aren’t the only people you
reunited with on this album—
JG: And Babyface. We just
reunited. I hadn’t seen or worked with him in a long time. He came with his
A-game, and I was just like, “Uh oh, we gettin’ ready to cause some problems
right here.”
EM: This new LP will be the second one
since 2011, but there was a 15-year gap along the way before you made your way
back to creating solo records. What brought to you back to the music?
JG: Everyone kept asking me every single
day, “You still singing? When you going to be writing another record?” I’ve
been touring all over the world, [and] I got inspired and that’s the thing I
love most. I said when I was finishing up the Still Winning record [that I
wasn’t] recording another record for another five years, if that. [Then], I’m
at home just writing with a buddy of mine, and all of the sudden we come up
with this song called “What Is This?” Everybody keeps thinking it’s an Al Green
remake. It’s not. And from there, something happened where I looked up and I
was finished with an album. I was just like, “Wow.” I had no intentions.
EM: So what were you doing during your
15-year hiatus?
JG: I was just touring. [But] even doing
that, it was like the business has changed so much that it put me in a place
where I know I wasn’t inspired. It was like, I can take it or leave it. It
wasn’t until a good friend of mine—at that point we didn’t know each other that
well—contacted me and said, “I wanna do a record; I want it more than anything.
I want you to do an album.” I was just like, “Really?” That’s what triggered
it.
We sat down and had dinner,
and talked about why wouldn’t I do it. Why wouldn’t I put out more music that
people want to hear from me? I was kind of like, “Ehhh, I’m good.” But it was
one of those things where, once I got started, I got the bug.
EM: What makes this project so different
from your other works?
JG: It’s coming from and
being released from my [own] label [J Skillz] after 31 years from being in the
business. I’m my own boss. Being able to put out music and control the business
[end] of it has been beyond gratifying and rewarding to me.
EM: Now that you have your own label, do
you think you’ll focus on producing more classics like “My My My”?
JG: You know what’s so crazy? I didn’t
really like “My My My.” I thought it was okay… but it just didn’t have that. I
didn’t think for a minute that that was going to be huge. [But] that’s the song
that gave me my identity, and I am so grateful.
EM: How many hit singles did you have to
get in your life before you told yourself you made it?
JG: It was after the first one. But you
know, back in the day it was crazy. Just to have a record deal was major. After
recording the first record, [it] didn’t work. [But] I was so stupid I didn’t
realize that the record didn’t work. I couldn’t tell you how many records it
sold. I was just happy to be in the business, and I was enjoying what I was
doing.
And thank God I didn’t,
because it didn’t discourage me.
EM: If you had gotten discouraged and
needed a backup plan, what would you have done instead?
JG: I had two things. I
wanted to be an electrical engineer, and really had a desire to be a boxer. We
used to box in our neighbourhood. The problem was, I was so fast and I used to
think I was so good. But the one time I did get hit and get tapped, I realized,
“Eh, I’m cool. I’ll figure something else out.” [laughter] But I always wanted
to be an electrical engineer. I enjoyed always breaking stuff down and trying
to figure it out. That didn’t happen, so music was my first love. I just didn’t
realize it early on.
Never the same without new edition.
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