That Grape Juice recently caught up with hit-maker Rico Love, the creative force behind chart smashes from the likes of Beyonce (‘Sweet Dreams’), Chris Brown, Usher and Keri Hilson. With the 27 year old being named as one the main players in the making of our girl Kelly Rowland’s new album, we were keen to find out the latest on the Destiny’s Child alumni’s project.
As ever, we ask the questions you really want answers to! Check out what Rico had to say about Ms. Kelly’s LP, new label and more after the jump…
Sam (TGJ): The industry is abuzz with what Kelly Rowland is cooking up in the lab for her 3rd studio album. Kelly herself has revealed that you’re overseeing the bulk of the project. What can we expect to hear from the record?
Rico Love: I’m doing my best to challenge her as much as possible vocally and challenge myself as far as my en and writing unbelievable songs. I just want to write the best songs; the biggest songs for her. I feel like everybody knows she’s a star in the group but I feel like she’s a megastar that could stand alone and do great numbers, and be a huge success worldwide. I just want to write and album that reflects that. I feel like people got a glimpse of that when they heard ‘When Love Takes Over’, which she performed amazingly, and when I heard it I said “o my God.” People really had no idea and even when I worked with Michelle [Williams], I feel like I bring out the best vocals in people. I try to bring out the best vocals I can in all the artists that I work with but with Kelly I wanted people to know how much of a powerhouse-league vocalist she is and that she can be. Sometimes it’s hard to get that out in a group, especially when you’re not so much the leader of the group, so now she gets her opportunity. She’s got to get her shot to really shine, and I’m going to help her get that.
Sam: So would you say that prior to now, she wasn’t getting the dues she deserved?
Rico: Not from her fans. I don’t feel like the people really knew how great she was. I don’t feel like it had to do with any kinds of politics in the group or anything or anything like that. I don’t feel like the fans really knew how great she is and she can be, and they will know after this album.
Sam: You just mentioned that Kelly had incredible success this year with ‘When Love Takes Over’, which blew up around the world. Some of her Urban fans are quite worried that she may be ditching her Urban humblings. Sound-wise, what is Kelly bringing to the table this go around?
Rico: We saw that that record (‘When Love Takes Over’) worked for her and I feel like it tapped into a market that wasn’t really tapped into before. So I definitely want to focus on that type of vibe and those big House records, those big club records. But I’ve also done big Urban records as well because her voice is so strong and soulful, so I definitely didn’t want to neglect that. I want to give people options so we didn’t do too much of anything. I did want to focus more on the big European records, though.
Sam: Are we talking (Beyonce’s) ‘Sweet Dreams’-esque stuff and ‘Radio’-esque stuff.
Rico: Yeah, absolutely. Those, as well as the ‘When Love Takes Over’ records. I actually did a record with David Guetta with her… that is an amazing, amazing record.
Sam: Is this on [her] album or is this on his album?
Rico: This is for Kelly’s album. I did a record with David.
Sam: How involved would you say Kelly is and how much have you learned from her during this whole process because she’s being working on that album for quite some time.
Rico: I just came in towards the end. These past 5 or 6 months we’ve been going in. She’s been working on it for some time now, but I’m really contributing towards the end. I want to call myself ‘The Closer’; on a lot of records I like to come in and listen to what you have and be like “I feel like this is where we should go.” [However] that’s been my dream; that’s where I really want to be. I don’t want to be a guy who just makes songs; I want to be a guy who produces albums. She taught me a lot. Vocally, she’s just amazing. She’s got so much patience [and] she’s ready. She’s a megastar; just to be in her presence is really an honour.
Sam: Awesome. I know you can’t give too much away, but are there any stand-out tracks for you? A lot of fans are VERY eager to find out specifics. Are there any tracks that you’ve heard from the album or that you’ve been working on yourself that are epic?
Rico: I did like 8 records so far. She doesn’t want me to say any titles. She wants me to save the titles. She wants to do something special with her fans when revealing the titles. I will say, though, the David Guetta record is huge and I did a record for her with Jim Johnson and she just – oh my God. I just want to say that if I could compare it to anything, it would be like her solo version of ‘Dilemma’. She is performing it amazingly!
Sam: Wow.
Rico: David Guetta is a genius! Trust me, They took it to another level with this one!
Sam: Final question on Kelly – there have been some murmurings about some deal with EMI. Do you know if any of that’s been finalised as of yet?
Rico: I know she’s working out her situation and like I said, she wants to make that a surprise for her fans and make the big announcement; but whatever is going on is going to be a big situation. She just wants to make sure that she gets the best situation (and team) that’s going to promote and market her to the best of their ability.
They (her new team) just weighing out their options and making sure everything is right; everything they want to happen is going to happen. She’s a megastar; she’s a Grammy Award-winning singer; she was in the biggest female group of all time; her team are making sure she and her new project are treated in a way which reflects that.