12 minute read
Andreao Heard Billie Lennox
Q. Tell everyone who you are and what you do.
A. My name is Billie Lennox, aka Fanatic. I was a record producer, Grammy Award-winning record producer. I produced records on Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, Lil Kim, Biggie, Boyz to Men, Will Smith, Ma$e, and Anthony Hamilton. Now, I’m in the artist space, and Billie Lennox is my stage name. I’m putting my music out. And I’m in full artist mode now. It’s a transition I’ve been wanting to do for some time now. And finally, I think it’s the right time to bring something new and fresh to the music scene.
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Q. Well, let’s talk about your single “Can’t live without you” and the motivation behind the song?
A. Well, all of these come from just different experiences. Some of my friends, things that I see in movies or on TV, or just hanging out and experiencing life and seeing people go through things, seeing things come across Instagram, and all types of situations, and whatnot. So, I just take all that in, write it, turn it into songs, and hope that I can come up with something that will resonate with people and help people get through whatever they’re going through.
Q. Well, let’s talk about your merchandise also. Because looking at your Instagram I just love your fashion. So, how do you keep up with the fashion and the trend for the next hot style?
A. Well, I always thought that music and fashion are synonymous with each other. And I see the female artists always pushing fashion and really changing up their style all the time, but I don’t really see that much from the male singers. So, I really wanted to incorporate fashion as a big part of my thing because that’s part of your resume, that’s part of your calling card. So, when people see you and your fashion. And it fits the vibe of the music they’re able to receive what you’re putting out there a lot easier. So, I’m heavy into fashion, I’m always trying to make a fashion statement and always trying to reinvent myself and create just all kinds of nice looks to go with the visuals and things like that. Also too, I was going to tell you that, all the icons that came before us were heavy in fashion like Prince, Jimi Hendrix, and all these artists like that. Madonna and David Bowie, all these guys were heavily into fashion, and it was a big part of their whole image, so I try to do the same thing.
Q. Going back to the early days, do you think we need to bring disco back?
A. I don’t know about disco. But I think a fusion of what disco was and something new. I’m always into fusion, I’m always trying to fuse things together, whether it be the styles, where you can take a piece of clothing from the 70s and mix it with something that’s going on now that’s in hip hop. So, I’m always in the fusion with the fashion, I’m always in the fusion with the Music. If you think about all of the icons that came out before us, they all did a fusion of something. Prince with mixing Rock, R&B, and Soul all that stuff together. Jimi Hendrix was mixing Blues and Rock together. So, every icon that you can think of did some sort of fusion. And so, I think if you can mix disco with something fresh and something new, you’ll come out with a whole new sound that nobody else is doing.
Q. Well, tell us about your creativeness?
A. Right now, as an artist, it’s a little bit retro. A lot of this that I’m wearing, this whole vibe, and everything come from my dad. A lot of these clothes that I wear come from his closet. He had a great sense of style. My whole look came from him, basically. And so, I’m just an extension of what he was wearing back in the 70s. And just trying to put a spin on it, bring it forward and not be afraid to wear prints. I could take a woman’s shirt and I would rock it and give it that same type of energy that if Prince was wearing it, or Jimi Hendrix is wearing it. So, as long as it looks good on you, I don’t care if it’s male, female, whatever, whatever looks hot, I’m going to rock it. I’m going to take it to a another level.
Q. How would you define your purpose?
A. My purpose here is to create healing music. Because right now we’re in a place where a lot of artists are selling sex, drugs, violence, and all these other different things, where I more or less talk about relationships and love. And I try to create music that will heal people that will help people get through their relationships, that will help people identify with what I’m singing about and say, hey, I went through that same type of thing. And now I know I’m not just out here alone going through it, and I can figure out how to get through this difficult period or a happy moment. So, I just want to bring something that is very thought-provoking, I want to bring a message through my visuals. All my visuals are very provocative, thought-provoking, just trying to send a message to people. And just try to be a little bit different than what I’m seeing out here and not be afraid to put yourself out there.
Q. What do you think is missing in today’s R&B music?
A. Well, for me, I just know there was a time period where black artists could do any genre of music, and we weren’t segregated to just hip hop and R&B. And I’m really disturbed that we’re only able to
create in that space right now. And I think if the industry would allow black artists to expand and create in these other genres like rock, pop, country, all these different genres, you’ll find new, innovative music that we’re capable of doing because it all comes from us. And if we have the ability to create with no barriers there’s no telling what we could come up with because we’ve always moved the culture. So, I think we can continue to do that if they allow us to do that. Right now, I’m seeing a lot of the same things. I’m seeing a lot of the same music just different vocalists on top of it. And a lot of these artists are so concerned about making a hit record versus just expressing themselves freely. And if it turns out to be a hit record that’s great. But I just think you should go into the studio with no pressure to make a hit record and just express yourself authentically.
Q. What is one of the most memorable moments working with Michael Jackson?
A. So, when you grow up, listening to Michael Jackson, seeing him on TV, seeing him on the cartoons and you being from Greensboro, North Carolina, you would never think in a million years that you would actually meet him. Before I met him, I didn’t know anybody that had ever encountered Michael Jackson other than seeing him on TV. So, when I met him, it was a very serendipitous way that we got the music to him, and everything is lined up. And next thing you know I’m standing in front of Michael Jackson in the studio this close to my face. And so, at some point during the conversation, I couldn’t even hear what he was saying. He sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher.
He was talking to me, looking me straight in the face, and I’m just smiling, like, oh my God, I’m standing in front of Michael Jackson having a conversation. But the thing about it, it gave me the confidence to realize that we’re all connected, we’re all six degrees of separation from each other, and you can get to anybody. You can come in contact with anybody, you can find anybody, somebody that you know, knows somebody that knows somebody that you can get to that person. So, it just gave me the confidence to really dream high, and any artist out there I wanted to work with just figure out how to get to them. And I’ve been able to do it several times in my career now.
Q. If you could give any inspiration, talk to your younger self what would you tell him?
A. Oh, man. I would tell him to read contracts. But don’t be afraid to make mistakes in this business because the record business is always ever-changing. So, we’re always learning and we’re always adapting to the new way that the record business is going. So, I would say just don’t ever give up. I never did that. I don’t really know what else I would tell my younger self because everything that I did landed me in the position that I am right now. Though I made many mistakes in the business I had a lot of great things that happened and I’m still here. So, I love it.
Q. What has been one of the biggest challenges you’ve had so far transitioning into an artist?
A. The independent artists is a very hard grind. You have to constantly put out content, constantly put out music. It’s a lot. And you’re having to wear many hats. And where I’m used to just being in a creative space and focusing on being creative and making music, now I have to wear the management hat, I have to wear the promoter hat, I have to wear the PR hat, and I have to wear so many different hats. It’s very hard to spend time and just focus on what it is that you really do best, which is to create the music. Really that’s the only thing that’s been a challenge for me, just trying to wear those hats and still be creative at the same time. But I love it. I love the transition. I love the freedom of being able to write, create, sing, make videos, and all of this stuff. But the independent record thing is to grind. You really have to work hard at it, really hard at it.
Q. What has been the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
A. Let’s see, the best piece of advice that I’ve ever received probably came from Puffy. When I was one of Diddy’s Hitmen producers, he would always say that when you’re sleeping, somebody else’s working. And so, he was just always about that, and repetition. His biggest thing was repetition. If you’re doing it over and over and over again you
have no choice but to get better at it. So, making music and writing songs every day, if you’re doing that every single day, you’re going to get better at it, you’re going to get really good at it. So, he’s like, just put in the work and make sure you’re constantly in a space of repetition, and you’ll be doing your best work.
Q. Out of all the music that you’ve produced, what has been one of your favorite ones?
A. That’s a really tough one. Well, so producing “Heaven Can Wait” for Michael Jackson was a euphoric moment for me because I was able to take him somewhere that he hadn’t gone in a very long time. Because most of the ballads that Michael Jackson had done previously to that were "Heal The World" type song. This is the first song that he was actually singing about a woman in a very long time. The last time he did that was “Lady in my life” and when I heard this record, and we started working on it and producing it, and I was getting with the writers and everything to work on this record. I was like, this takes me back to that time period, where Michael did “Lady in my life” and so, I think it would be cool for him to sing about an interaction with a woman again, I don’t think people have seen him in that space in a very long time. And the same thing with Beyoncé, when I produced “Speechless” she was just coming out of Destiny’s Child. And she sang about love, but she had never sung about a romantic encounter or intimate encounter with someone. And this was the first time she did that. So, it was her coming out where she was just expressing herself freely. And this is one of the first records that she talked about intimacy on so that was a great moment.
And I can’t forget “Crush on You”. To this day somebody is always sending me stuff from Instagram where people are playing the song. It’s like that record never dies. And so, it feels good to be a part of a nostalgic moment in hip hop that is still celebrated to this day with that record. And that’s one of the biggest records of her career. And so, you’re always in the conversation. So, I love that about that record.
Q. What can we expect or what can your fans expect from you for 2022?
A. So, during the pandemic there were no distractions, I was quarantining up in my house, and I was just writing songs every single day. I was recording to the wee hours of the morning, getting up and doing it all over again for weeks. And by the time we kind of came out of the pandemic just a little bit, I had 14 songs, and it was some of the best writing, some of the best recording I’ve ever done in my life. And I really got a chance to find myself as an artist, find my direction and my sound, something very consistent. So, I’m excited to put this record out. I’m excited for these videos to come out. I got a new single, “Can’t Live Without You” and I’m about to drop that. Look forward to seeing me out all over NY, LA, & Europe performingvthe songs from the album. Looking forward to a really big year this year.
Q. Where can the readers follow you?
A. You can find me on Instagram @fanaticakabillielennox. SoundCloud it’s experience fanatic. And just follow me, come on this journey with me, we’re going to show you black music like you haven't seen it in a long time. We’re going to change the sound; we’re going to chart new territory and show black music in a way that it should be celebrated. And people should have the freedom to create in this space.
