Wynter’s Tale: For The Love

“I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me, like food or water.”– Ray Charles

By nature I am a super-driven person. When I see something I want I go and get it. Some call it the “Blueprint” for success, I call it my “gift and my curse.”

Those that are close to me think that I’m crazy because if I’m not doing music or something else to get my music heard, I feel and act like the world is ending – seriously! Some people use drugs, alcohol, and even sex. But music gives me my fix. I need 14 hours in the studio. I need eight hours in the dance studio. I need two hours in the gym. I need to perform. I need to write. I need music. While this impulse is necessary in order to prepare for the release of my album, it often leaves me lonely.

While the people that you work with become your friends and family, they also have their own friends and family, and you have to get used to being alone most of the time – unless you have a very sweet and understanding boyfriend…which I don’t. Most of the time I’m in the studio, on an airplane, at a meeting or in rehearsal – but that’s another reason that I love to stay busy. When my schedule is hectic I am too busy to feel the sting of loneliness, but when I’m alone in my hotel room or in my apartment, I can feel it. While I’ve never been much of a party girl, I am a dancer, but I can’t even really go dancing because nobody really dances at parties anymore….they just stand around and give each other an occasional dub.

I don’t get a chance to really hang out much. Occasionally I get dragged to an industry party, but industry parties are so wack (no one dances), and I can’t let my hair down and feel free. I feel like I am missing out on kicking it with my girlfriends, being wild and crazy, going to college, pledging with a sorority or just hanging out at Spring Break. I mean, I do think that the path I have chosen is worth it, it just comes at a big sacrifice. But since there are no guarantees in this business, the hard work is necessary.

So I work. I’ve been in the studio with some really great producers. I mean, I’ve done the whole “big name” producer thing, but my best work has come from really dope producers that put more pride in their production than they do in their publicity. For example, I’ve spent a lot of time with a really dope producer named Demille. We’ve worked together to create some really good music. I’ve worked a lot with an incredible producer named Shea Taylor. He’s responsible for some dope records by NeYo, Rihanna, Beyonce, etc. He’s helped me create a signature sound that is indescribable. I’ve also done some quality work with Scyience, who did “Hollywood” for Jay-Z and Beyonce.

Now, I don’t mean to throw any big name producers under the bus, but my project is really about doing something new. This means new sounds, new melodies and new feelings. One big name that “got it” was NeYo. Shea introduced me to NeYo and we spent some time talking about the music industry, and he gave me some really good advice. He explained to me that everybody didn’t get him at first, but that with his manager, Tango, he was able to forge his way to success. He also said that I was dope, and that I should be patient because eventually everyone will “get it.”

I spend a lot of time talking to people, because I am a sponge for information. So, I also had a conversation with some Industry veterans. Surprisingly (maybe I shouldn’t be surprised), their advice was to get with the hottest producers and writers of today, and they’ll come up with a hot album. I thought to myself, “Well then that wouldn’t be my album, it would be theirs. And if I’m coming out tomorrow, why would I get today’s producers….wouldn’t I want tomorrow’s producers. And, I’m a damn good writer myself, why do I need someone else to tell my story.” But what I said to them was, “You know what, that sounds like it makes sense.” – because at the end of the day, I’m not opposed to collaborating with another writer, especially if we create something really good.

So I’ve just vented a little bit…but trying to do something different isn’t always easy. In this case, I want to be a breath of fresh air….a point of reference for new artists. So I’ll take the bumps and the bruises because I want to do this my way…….stay tuned, hit me up at myspace.com/wynter85, and peep the video…