Anthony Hamilton Interview
Interview By: Laura Cirami
CHAMP: What are you up to right now? What are you doing at the moment?
Anthony Hamilton : I’m eating peanut butter on a rice cake. I just finished working out!
CHAMP: That’s good! Your current single "Cool" ft. David Banner is doing very well right now. You seem to work well with all kinds of rap artists. How was it like working with David Banner?
Anthony Hamilton : David Banner was real cool. We have talked about stuff before we went into the studio. We hit it off really well. It was like we worked together before. It was real cool. We keep in contact.
CHAMP: "The Point of it All" is the title of your album that dropped December 2008. It seems very comforting & reserved. What kind of
message were you trying to send to your listeners and does it have to do anything with what's going wrong in the world right now?
Anthony Hamilton : Well, I wanted the world to know like hey stop stressing about a whole bunch of mess, enjoy being with somebody you love, create a space where money, nor fame, things can penetrate, have a good time, let go of the past, dance a little bit and enjoy your life again. I wanted people to see that. If Anthony Hamilton can get through the bad breakups and hardships and boogie a little bit than why can’t I. I wanted to show them the new way. So put your boogie oogie shoes on.
CHAMP: Exactly, that’s the point of view I have, there are a lot of things that are going on right now. You just have to live your life one day at a time; you might not even get to see tomorrow. People need to stop worrying.
Anthony Hamilton : You can’t be worrying about mess, a whole bunch of mess!
CHAMP: You also just completed your "Playin' it Cool Tour" and I noticed you had a blog going with videos and pictures. How important is it to you as an artist to stay interactive with your fans? Is that something you came up with?
Anthony Hamilton : Actually Jaffrey, and me a friend of mine collaborated and went into it. We needed to expand Anthony Hamilton especially how the world was moving right now. Everything is cyberspace now, so we had to get myself into that. He does a lot of stuff with it and I trust him. I’m very excited about it.
CHAMP: Cool. I assume you enjoyed the tour. Where were your favorite spots to visit?
Anthony Hamilton : Favorite spot? I think Dallas and Indianapolis.
CHAMP: I’m glad you had a great time. Now, being diverse is important in the music industry and this isn't an issue for you because you've worked with all genres of music including country. I'm curious to find out what you have playing in your cd player or ipod.
Anthony Hamilton : Well, yesterday I was listening to Jr. Gong “Damien Marley”, Michael Jackson- Thriller, and Solange. I was jamming to Q-Tip as well.
CHAMP: Solange?
Anthony Hamilton : My wife had the CD in the car. I was gonna change it and listen to something else but I was like “nah, this is vibing”. It’s a great album. Beyonce and Solange are very different. It gives their mother and father more to enjoy.
CHAMP: I know you have 3 boys. Are they musically talented?
Anthony Hamilton : Yeah, for sure. Anthony my eldest child does production. He’s going to remix a few songs of mine, “Souls of Fire” and “Falling in Love”. My middle child Romero, is into acting. He’s really good he just did a play in high school and he rocked it. My youngest Tristan has no choice, his mother Terry Robinson used to be in the group “The Girls”, she wrote all the hits for Total. She had a lot of background in writing. They all love music.
CHAMP: You just told me that one of your son’s is doing the acting thing. A lot of musicians are moving toward the movie path. I saw your cameo in the movie American Gangster. Are there anymore-acting roles in the works for you?
Anthony Hamilton : I been reading some scripts. I’m just trying to find the right one and something I am interested in that makes sense.
CHAMP: I know you were a singer in the movie. Do you always want to do that kind of roll?
Anthony Hamilton : In the beginning it’s cool to play yourself. Then you can shock people with a roll that’s not who you really are.
CHAMP: The Grammy Awards are soon approaching and you're nominated once again for your collaboration with Al Green with the track "You've Got the Love I Need". Was Al Green an inspiration to you growing up?
Anthony Hamilton : Oh yeah man! I’m a big Al Green fan. He sounded like someone I knew. When my Uncle sang he sounded exactly like him cause he sounded comfortable and familiar to me.
CHAMP: How was it like working with him? Was it exciting? How did it all come together?
Anthony Hamilton : Well, Amir and James Ford produced it. They knew I was a big fan and what kind of voice I had. They knew what kind of work I did on tours and stuff. It made sense. If you’re going to collaborate with somebody like Al Green you can’t take any R&B artist or you’re going to take away what he represents. I guess I had that soulful vibe that made sense. They better have put me on there or I was going to beat them up.
–laughs-
CHAMP: You have been nominated 7- times for the Grammies. How do you feel when the time comes around?
Anthony Hamilton : This time was a big surprise. I didn’t know I was going to be nominated. My album came out later so I didn’t think it would get a nomination. But the Al Green thing was a treat and very unexpected. It made everything so much more special than having a nomination for myself working with a legend and an icon. I cleared some space for that one. I’m taking that one home.
CHAMP: Champ Magazine is in Toronto. We’re itching for you to come down here. Do you have a tour coming up? How do you like Toronto?
Anthony Hamilton : Oh for sure. We will definitely be down there soon. I love it down there. I like all the different cultures.
CHAMP: No doubt; it’s like a big salad down here in Toronto, all mixed up. Let the readers know where they can check you out!
Anthony Hamilton : www.anthonyhamilton.com, you definitely need to check it out!
COOL - ANTHONY HAMILTON FT. DAVID BANNER
