The UB Interview: Mr. Dalvin Talks GoodTimez, Technology and Jodeci Biopic
Ever since his days with Uptown Records and Universal, Mr. Dalvin has continued to write undeniably catchy hit songs. While in Jodeci, he successfully produced a mind-blowing five platinum-plus singles while also contributing to their “Forever My Lady” album which sold a whopping four million copies.
Collectively, Jodeci has sold over 25 million units, capturing nominations and award wins.
Mr. Dalvin alone has written and produced for several multi-platinum artists including Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Jewel, Tupac, Flo Rida and many more. His eye for talent led him to discovering beloved rapper/singer and songwriter Missy Elliott as well as Stevie J.
Mr. Dalvin continues to tour with Jodeci and with all eyes on the future, he’s looking forward to capturing the attention of music lovers around the world with his new solo venture.
Today he released the feel good single “GoodTimez,” featuring Tali. Just recently he provided the remix to Jodeci alum JoJo‘s latest single “Special” featuring Snoop Dogg.
In this UB interview Mr. Dalvin talks with Aries about his new single, his reason for releasing new music now and what we can expect from him next.
Mr. Dalvin also gets candid about being an independent artist and the process and why it’s taking so long for a Jodeci biopic.
If that’s not enough, he tells us his favorite and to our surprise, least favorite Jodeci songs and he shares his fondest memory with Andre Harrell and more.
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UrbanBridgez.com: Tell us about your new single “GoodTimez” and why you decided to release it now?
Mr. Dalvin: I was actually working on a solo album and I was going a totally different direction. I was just driving one day on the freeway, and the words came to my head. I was thinking it was cool, specially with the times we’re all in now. I just wanted some positivity man, not that the records I was already making wasn’t but it was just in a different direction. Instead of something more club I was like let me make something a little different. I remember going right back home and recording the song once it came to me on the freeway. The words just came to me out of nowhere.
UrbanBridgez.com: Yeah I like it, the vibe is really nice.
Mr. Dalvin: Thank you so much, I appreciate that.
UrbanBridgez.com: You can’t go wrong with the sample either, everybody loves that Chic.
Mr. Dalvin: When I was a kid man I heard that song and always wanted to use that break in a track. Every since I was a kid and started making music. Then now it just came full circle, I was like what a perfect way to use that break than on this track. So I always had it in the back catalog of my mind, like I’m going to use that beat one day.
“As an artists and back in the 90s, it was so different. Even listening to music on the radio, everything is different. So I had to figure out how to be heard in this new age of how we hear and distribute music.”
UrbanBridgez.com: Will there be a video?
Mr. Dalvin: We actually just shot the video yesterday. It was really cool, we shot it all night. JoJo came out to support me, DeVante also called me and wanted to be in the video. He heard the song and loved it. K-Ci was on the east coast and wanted to also come. But they didn’t get a chance to make it, but JoJo came down and was in it. It was really cool with a good turn out and it’s a fun video. I directed it, so it should be out a week or so after the single drops. This is my first project where everything has been on my own. So it’s a lot different doing it all on your own. As the record company, the director, being the main artist and just being independent as a whole. The game is totally different than when we were first putting out records, a lot different!
UrbanBridgez.com: Man tell me about it. Talk to us about the process of being independent and working on and putting out your own music?
Mr. Dalvin: With my first solo album, I wasn’t really 100% in control of anything. Right now I am, and it’s unfortunate as artists that sometimes people don’t see your vision or where you want to go. They only see how it can be lucrative and profitable. So sometimes that puts you in uncomfortable situations. Not really being able to showcase your artistry because you’re being led like a sheep or something. So when COVID happened, I had a chance to sit down. And to really understand what the game of music is now. As an artists and back in the 90s it was so different. Even listening to music on the radio, everything is different. So I had to figure out I guess how to be heard in this new age of how we hear and distribute music. So I started with K.A.M.P. Muzik, because I have a lot of younger artists that come up to me because they’ve known about what I’ve done. They show me love and I honestly I learn from them too. It’s to be able to incorporate something that you do know, with something that you don’t know. That’s how this new age of distribution, creativity and how to create music. It’s old technology, old drum machines, etc. Now it’s all done on a laptop, so it’s totally different. So this is where they help me. So the knowledge I have is a lot deeper than what they know about. Like the actual artistry of what I’m doing. They know how to transfer my knowledge into this new technology. I have a few younger artist, along with myself that are coming out on the label. Incredible artists and writers and they’ll be featured on my record. So like I was saying with COVID, it gave me a chance to sit down and focus. I had to sit down and learn a lot, that I didn’t know. Before that I was in the studio everyday with my nephew, DeVante’s son is a producer. We had a game plan and then the breaks got put on everything. Sometimes we laugh at our own plans, our plans are not Gods plans.
UrbanBridgez.com: Facts.
Mr. Dalvin: So I was forced to make a straight beeline into a new avenue. That forced me to learn the technology, that I had depended on so many other people to do. My thing is I make beats and do production, but I take it to the studio and have the engineers lay it all down and I record my vocals. Now I’m actually forced to buy the programs, buy logic, get mics and put a studio together in my house. So I had to learn it. I was on YouTube a lot, on the phone with DeVante a lot because he knows. It’s like I had to reprogram my brain. But it’s been a good experience man, just learning. That was the engineering part, I knew everything else like stacking, etc. I was forced to learn in 2020 and with all of these digital platforms we have (laughs).
UrbanBridgez.com: You recently did the remix to JoJo’s latest single “Special” featuring Snoop. Tell us how that all came about?
Mr. Dalvin: Well you already know I was the remix guy for Jodeci, I did most of our remixes like with Wu-Tang. I had got out of production for awhile, but when COVID happened I was like I’m gonna start making beats again. So JoJo had released the single and came to me like, you know what I kind of miss those Mr. Dalvin remixes. So I thought, what better way to give all of my new technology a spin? So I decided to remix Special for him. I told him, I don’t know how it’s going to turn out, because I’m like a fish out of water kind of. The great thing I did like four different versions. Every time I sent him one, he was like this is dope let’s use this one (laughs). I started challenging myself and really getting into it. He wanted to use all four of them, but I think the final one I brought him and the one with Snoop, was the one I really liked.
UrbanBridgez.com: Well it came out dope. We posted it on UB and it got a lot of hits.
Mr. Dalvin: Thank you, really appreciate that. And me and JoJo been working a lot together, because like the last few shows it’s been me and JoJo. People be like how can Dalvin and JoJo do a Jodeci set and blah, blah, blah. And you know what, it turned out really amazing, Everybody else was doing their own thing and me and JoJo just like to be on stage. So we felt like getting on stage and that’s what it was (laughs). We didn’t miss a beat, it was really good.
UrbanBridgez.com: You helped write and produce some of Jodeci’s singes as well, out of the groups catalog what are your favorites and why and not necessarily ones you penned?
Mr. Dalvin: As crazy as this sounds, Cry for Me would probably be my favorite Jodeci song. It’s crazy man, if you ask anybody what Mr. Dalvin’s favorite Jodeci song is. They would not choose Cry for Me. I’m not really a sensitive emotional person, to write a song like that and my brother kind of is. So he can tap into that deep emotion like that. Performance wise it’s Freek’n You. So it varies, but my least favorite is Feenin. (laughs)
UrbanBridgez.com: Really? I wouldn’t of thought that.
Mr. Dalvin: I’m gonna let you in on something, the reason why is because me and my brother argued about it. I didn’t like that snare that he put in it. So we would always argue about that (laughs). But my brother is a genius and was like I’m keeping it like this. But it was one of our biggest records, just one of my least favorites.
“Biopics take a long time because it’s not just us four coming together and say let’s do a movie and we do it. It doesn’t work like that and many people do think it works like that. A lot of the parties have to come together and agree to certain things and terms before you can move forward.”
UrbanBridgez.com: Now even more with the success of the New Edition biopic, the Jodeci one has been on a lot of minds lately. What’s the latest?
Mr. Dalvin: That’s the burning question, people really want to know. The biopic is in the works, in talks and has been that way for a few years now. People have to understand that these things take a long time. New Edition’s took 11 years to make. Biopics take a long time because it’s not just us four coming together and say let’s do a movie and we do it. It doesn’t work like that and many people do think it works like that. A lot of the parties have to come together and agree to certain things and terms before you can move forward. It’s also not always the members of the group, although we could all make it a lot easier. Everybody develops over the years, if you’ve been in a successful situation whether it’s a group or business or anything. As individuals you come up with your own teams, your own lawyers, etc. And everybody has to all agree. Sometimes it can get complicated, because somebody may want this and somebody else may want that. So until that agreement is done, it’s hard to move forward. So we’re all just trying to focus on everything that makes sense and not just with the group. You can’t just put out a movie and people watch it for a few weeks and then go on to the next thing. You have to see how it’s going to benefit you. Because you’re giving them your life, your life’s work. For someone to portray you in a certain light, so you want to be done right. It has to be the right director and the whole nine. When it’s all over and said, you want to be proud of what’s presented.
UrbanBridgez.com: Yeah you want that proper representation.
Mr. Dalvin: Right, look at all these movies like the Aaliyah one and All Eyez on Me was a terrible display of who Tupac was. You get one chance to do it and that’s the chance they got and they ruined it. So when you see these other mistakes you don’t want that for you. Tupac was a very good friend of mine, to me that represented actually nothing of who that guy was. And that’s what we have to live with because he’s dead and gone. He can’t say anything. So we would rather it be right, than be wrong. Trust me I would love to go to a theater now or turn the TV on and see someone portraying me. As dope as that sounds to be immortalized, like even with the skits they do of us. It’s funny because it lets you know you’ve accomplished something in life. People make parody’s and even when people hate on me, and making fake Instagram pages talking. I always say I must be doing something right (laughs). Although it gets annoying, it still means I’m somebody that people take they time out to do these things and worry about what I’m doing.
UrbanBridgez.com: What was your biggest accomplishment as a member of Jodeci, I know it was many being apart of one of the baddest groups to hit the studio and stage?
Mr. Dalvin: Appreciated! As you said it’s so many I’ll go off the top of my head. Like changing the laws in Japan not sure if we changed it forever but that day we did. We were on a bill with James Brown and that is my favorite artist of all time, I was just blown away. It was us Mary J. Blige and James Brown and when we got on the stage and they sing every word, but don’t know a lick of English. So we had a translator on stage for when we talked to the audience. So after every song we did, nobody would clap they would just bow their heads. So I went to the lady off to the side of the stage translating and told her, if they don’t clap for us, we’re going to leave the stage. But I also said some explicit words, dropped some F bombs and the whole nine (laughs). Because it’s hard to perform when people are just looking at you like Zombies (laughs). We needed to speed up the energy of the crowd and you know they love you because they’re singing every word. But then it goes dead silent after you sing (laughs). They had these armed guards like walking up and down the aisle. It was comedic like a comedy, not really but that’s what it looked like to me. So I talked to the lady and whatever she said to these Japanese people, but you saw an older person jump up and another one started clapping and yelling. I ran out and dove in the audience, and from there on it was just an explosion. The armed guards was trying to calm everybody down. But yeah we tore the place down. So James Brown was standing on the side of the stage right and he said y’all boys was real good, but let daddy do his thing (laughs). I’m like ain’t no way James Brown can come behind that, no way. When I tell you and I wanna say around then he was in his late 60s. When I tell you this man took the stage and I just felt great being able to witness. I had never experienced being at his concerts before and realized then this is why this man is who he is. Like you just got chills watching this man. And the thing is until then, I had never known he could play every instrument.
UrbanBridgez.com: Me either.
Mr. Dalvin: He got on the drums, got on the organ, got on the guitar and played every other instrument. I never even knew that. I was just like wow, we ain’t did nothing. And every time he spoke, he never spoke in English, he spoke in Japanese the whole time. He’s a seasoned professional and I felt it. I was like, we have a lot of work to do.
UrbanBridgez.com: From talking about one industry legend to another, tell us one of your fondest memories with Andre Harrell?
Mr. Dalvin: It has to be the first time we walked into the office. We were playing a demo at the time the A&R was saying was horrible and low quality. So Andre just stopped the tape and was like y’all sing this live. Come and Talk to Me was playing on the tape, but it was I’m Still Waiting that we sang. After we were done, he just looked and then was like y’all grab your coats and come with me for a minute. And then we didn’t know if he was going to kick us out on the street or what was next (laughs). He took us to a place called the Dallas Barbeque. He signed us right then and there and it was on. He really didn’t know what to do with us, because of the sound we had. We were so young and they would say we sounded like grown men. He said y’all got something special, I don’t know what it is and how to bottle it up…but y’all have something special. From then on, he kind of learned who we was from us. He went through the process of understanding, who we were.
UrbanBridgez.com: That’s good stuff. He knew what he had.
Mr. Dalvin: And you have to remember Uptown was like hip hop and rap like Heavy D and the Boyz. So he learned from us as well, we turned him on to another side of music. He was nurturing us and we were teaching him what real music was outside of hip hop and sampling records. We would tell him about the chord changes and how to structure harmonies. So he learned what we had to be able to bottle it up and sell it.
UrbanBridgez.com: What has been the hardest lesson you learned in this industry?
Mr. Dalvin: The hardest thing I think an artist has to learn is it’s called Music Business for a reason. It should be called Business Music, business should be first.
That’s what I try to express to every artists, get the business. It’s not called the singing business or rapping business, business should be first. Get your business straight. All of the things we accomplished, we just never got a handle on what the business was. I mean now in our careers and later on in life, as every artists should do we learned. That’s actually more important than what your talent actually is. Without the business, all you have is your talent without nothing to show for your talent. Us being creatives, we just want to create. Everything else crowds that and we think it’s going to take away our creativity. But there’s no such thing as your creativity, if you don’t have your business together. That’s how you survive in times, that you need to survive in. Luckily Jodeci has made in imprint and a sustainable catalog, through some of those rough times has been able to open doors for each and every one of us. We built a strong foundation, we didn’t expect it to be rocky and turbulence times. As no artist ever does, when you reach the sky. You’re never thinking like I’m never going to touch the ground again. What people need to realize, what goes up, must come down. Doesn’t mean it’s going to stay down, but it must come down. You can always pick up a rock and throw it in the air again. Sometime you just have to hit that recalibration switch. As artists we have to repackage ourselves and just sell ourselves again.
UrbanBridgez.com: All facts!
Mr. Dalvin: Look at Charlie Wilson, prime example. He’s such an inspiration man. He’s the highest paid R&B touring artist there is. Out of all of these R&B artists that are out right now, 20 years or younger he’s the highest paid. At one point he was sleeping under U-haul trucks in a garage, after he got out the Gap Band. He was strung out on drugs, because he didn’t know how to hit that recalibration switch. Once he figured it out, look at him now. He makes $260,000 a show. Look at Mary J. Blige, she’s bounced back from all of the stuff. Artist have to know that at some point, you have to hit that switch. It might not happen overnight, but once you hit it you ignite that flame.
UrbanBridgez.com: What advice do you have for us dealing this pandemic, unarmed blacks being murdered, the elections. Just a whole lot going on, what positivity and encouragement can you leave us with?
Mr. Dalvin: A lot of people may hate to hear me say this, even though they should love these words. Develop a relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s just the best thing you can do. We have no idea where this world is going, we have no idea. But keep prayer in your life, we can’t depend on no politician they have their own agenda. So we can’t trust them to make changes. Yeah we can vote and do all of that, which we should. But at the end of the day man, we know what it is. You have to have that spiritual connection, you have to. We can’t put our trust in these men. We’ve tried to and they’ve failed us everytime. When we think it’s something good, or someone is better than the next man it’s worse. They say what you want to hear to get in office. So yeah I say develop a relationship with Jesus Christ. People may say well I don’t agree with that, I’m not here for debate. I’m just telling you what my opinion is. It works for me. I pray all of the time and ask God to lead me and guide me in his will and in his direction. I’ve been okay.
UrbanBridgez.com: Anything else you want to leave with your fans?
Mr. Dalvin: Yeah, make sure to check me out on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Enjoy “GoodTimez,” the video is coming shortly and the album is coming soon. Thank you for your support and stay tuned for what’s next from myself and Jodeci. Because there will be more coming.
