Lyfe Jennings Lyfe Jennings is back on the charts with his new single “Statistics” which is causing a lot of commotion. Lyfe sits down with WHO?MAG to discuss his new success, working with the likes of Wyclef, Ludacris, and Fabulous, as well as his new campaigns. Check out this exclusive interview.
interview by Thato Dadson
WHO?MAG: What was your inspiration behind your new single busy. LYFE JENNINGS: A lot of people kept on calling me and I was picking up. And a young lady had said I’m not going to call anymore because we make time for what we want to make time for. And I was like that’s a song right there.
WHO?MAG: What can we expect different from this album from your last 3. LYFE JENNINGS: Well I’m going back to the basics and making something that’s real clean. And I didn’t get too commercial in my last to but I felt I was missing some depth in the music itself. So this is going to have the depth of my first album but in its own flavor.
WHO?MAG: Now with your last 2 albums debuting #2 and #4 on billboard 200 what do are your plans to get this album to the top 5. LYFE JENNINGS: Well my first song busy is just a warm up single. My real single is called statistic. And that single is what’s going to get things rolling. This album is an album packed with nothing but singles. It’s made to have the person listen from start to finish none stop. But I have to say this next single statistic is my biggest single of my career.
WHO?MAG: How has being from Toledo shaped your sound. LYFE JENNINGS: I wouldn’t say it shaped my sound. I would say it helped influence my writing as in I feel that people from there are real and go through situations of everyday life. While down here in Atlanta its real Hollywood. So I’d definitely say it helped influence my writing.
WHO?MAG: How is like working with different artist like Ludacris, Wyclef, and Faboulous. LYFE JENNINGS: Well everybody brings their own flavor to it. Like Ludacris brings a lot of energy and is very passionate about his work. Fabolous is real laid back and you wonder if he’s gonna kill it and when he finishes you’re like wow. And then Wyclef just brings in a lot of energy from all different directions.
WHO?MAG: Who do you have helping your production wise. LYFE JENNINGS: I got a couple people like this cat named T Minor who did stuff with Lil Chris. I got Trey Taylor who does all of Trey Songz songs. I’m also working with Eric Hudson who did Flashing Lights with Kanye and also Brian Michael Cox.
WHO?MAG: Tell me about your label Jesus Swings. LYFE JENNINGS: The Jesus swings is something I’ve had for awhile and it’s been a lot of ups and downs from my first artist Lala Brown we had put a lot of work into her but then she passed away suddenly. And then we had done a label deal with a young lady which had decided to go a different route. So after I finished my deal with Sony I signed myself to the label to jumpstart it. So during my retirement I will sign and bring in new artist.
WHO?MAG: Tell me about your campaign Stay Busy, Stay Out of Trouble? LYFE JENNINGS: You know I find it necessary that whenever I put something out I need to do something positive for the kids. Like we were in a boys and girls club and we were talking to the kids about what they wanted to do during the summer and were giving them ideas. Because I don’t want to see the same thing that happened to me some summers ago happen to them.
WHO?MAG: What advice can you give a person who is working to be an entrepreneur. LYFE JENNINGS: Make sure your always learning. Also make sure you don’t stay in the dark about the business. You got to find someone who can teach you about it. So you can grow and become successful.
WHO?MAG: What’s next for Lyfe Jennings. LYFE JENNINGS: Well this is my last album so I’m going to be taking care of my kids, work on record label, be in a couple movies and just the stuff I love to do. I honestly feel I am under rated compared to some of my peers I feel I have not received some of the accolades I feel I deserve. And really want to do something to get the recognition I feel I’ve worked for. I’ve always believed in quality of quantity. And I’ve left a lot of quality for everybody.
