Q&A: Raphael Saadiq

It’s tempting to say that Raphael Saadiq’s new album, The Way I See It is a musical stunt designed to ride the current wave of late '60s/early '70s funk-soul nostalgia. After all, the album does liberally mine a classic sound, taking bits and pieces (often-times verbatim) from the playbooks of Eddie Kendricks, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye and others. This particular brand of nostalgia is hardly new: Sharon Jones, Nicole Willis and Nino Moschella have made looking back chic for underground audiences, while Amy Winehouse, Joss Stone and Duffy made it profitable. But though you’d be forgiven for being cynical of Saadiq’s timing, it’s awfully hard to hate on the music. From Saadiq’s pleading lyrics to the quivering strings, organ swells and bouncy basslines, the music here is heavenly. It extricates hip-hop, R&B, disco, electro, polyrhythmic funk and all points in between, leaving the listener with droopy, love-struck soul. It's not so much a gimmick as a transformation, and listening to The Way I See It is like staring at a newborn. You can’t help but smile. We recently caught up with Saadiq and spoke with the man about his new album, his musical heroes and his future collaborations.

What can we expect from The Way I See It?
A listener would call it a throwback or retro. I wouldn’t call it any of that. I think it’s a record that will make people feel good. I took music from a great period and added myself over it. I’ve always said that good athletes use the same fundamentals that players did back in the day. I just tried to use fundamentals that the greats did. First of all, it’s [about] heart and soul. Good chops, guitar licks, bass licks, great melodies and great string lines. It’s a combination of things put together that come together to make music that lasts a long time.

When did the idea come to you?
Two years ago, I opened up a show at Sweet's Ballroom in Oakland with “Ain’t that Peculiar” by Marvin Gaye. I had the clothes down, but I didn’t have all the music yet. After that show, I felt I could sell [that type of music] to people; I was talking about it with my engineer for a while. The concept [initially] wasn’t about me playing every instrument. I ended up playing 95 percent of all the instruments because I didn’t have money to go out and get musicians to play with me. Since I had my own [studio], I could get the drums set up and let the drums marinate into the wood and keep the sound I wanted the whole time. I played it until I got it. I had hours of discussions before I actually did it. Towards the end, I did get Craig Curtis to play piano on seven or eight tracks. [Guitarist] Rob Bacon played on a few tracks.

Since you had your own studio and you played almost all the instruments, did making this album seem like a study of this particular sound?
I didn’t really have to study the music. I’ve been studying it my entire life. It’s in me now. It’s always been there. When I hear it, I go crazy. When you hear Eddie Kendricks sing, or you hear an Otis Redding record, you don’t have to be a musician to hear it. The music from [that period] is totally disconnected from what they call R&B today. The music of today has its place as well, but I don’t think it has longevity. I wouldn’t guess that it would be around in 20 years. That’s not to knock whoever is making music right now. There are a lot of great artists, but people have to find themselves. Just because someone’s doing something today doesn’t mean they’ll be doing it in two years.

Do you think there’s a danger in looking back too much?
If you staring. But if you not staring, you should do whatever you feel. I did Ray Ray and Instant Vintage, and neither or those was a huge success. But I’d rather win a few thousand people, sell "sleeper" records, and still have fans later on.

A lot of artists have traveled down this path recently.  Do you ever look to your side and check out what Sharon Jones, Danger Mouse and Mark Ronson are doing? Do you have a theory as to why this approach is so popular now?
It could be a huge energy that’s coming over everybody. It’s something in the air. It definitely goes together because Danger Mouse is a DJ and I’m a DJ by nature. You can take it back to Premier, who would find all these different drum sounds, snares and kicks. It influenced me to make the record sound the way it did.  But I love the [Mark Ronson-produced] Amy Winehouse record. It’s brilliant. But I was making my record two years ago. It doesn’t need to just be one person. The more the merrier. I love it. I tell people about it. I spoke to Salaam Remi and told him, "Beautiful job."

What did you think about how Dilla approached Motown on the Donuts album? Are you familiar with it?
Yeah, Dilla is my dude. He’s one of my idols. I have a picture of Dilla at my studio on my board. There’s a picture of James Brown here and a picture of Dilla here. The two hardest working men in show business.

Did working on the Joss Stone album [Introducing] help you work through a lot of these ideas?
[It] definitely gave me time to figure out what I wanted to do. I also spent a lot of time in the Bahamas [where the Stone album was recorded]. There’s a lot of music over there, from early ska to calypso. So many different rhythms. But even there, [this sound] really stood out, which was rewarding to know. I think that people know when someone’s being honest and true. People want to feel something real and they know when they’re getting it raw and uncut.

When Instant Vintage came out, you named it "gospeldelic." Is there a name you’re giving to the sound of this album?
I call it the "downtown sound." When you’re a kid, you always want to go downtown. Sam Cooke used to say, “When I go to the movie and I go downtown, somebody keep telling me don’t hang around.”

You’re on the new Q-Tip album?
Yeah, I’m singing on it. It’s nice. I play bass on something, too. It’s a cool melody.

Do you have any involvement in the new D’Angelo?
I do, actually. We’re talking a lot. We’re sitting down and running through a few ideas. I think he’s in a great headspace. I think he’s ready to come out and kill. He’s hungry and excited.

Isaac Hayes recently passed. Did you ever have a chance to link up with him?
I hung out with Issac a few times. I met him 15 years ago. He invited me out to a benefit in Sacramento where [former San Francisco mayor] Willie Brown was the speaker. It was amazing sitting back and talking to him about Stax. I did a version of “Walk on By.” There’s always a little intimidation that goes into that. But I just used a piece of it and I didn’t even use it. I wanted to have him on it, and I was moving so fast that I never got a chance to put him on it.