Agnez Mo Talks Authenticity and Her New Album ‘X’

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11.15.2017

BY ERIN MCDOWELL PHOTOS BY EMMA BANKS

AGNEZ MO TALKS AUTHENTICITY AND HER NEW ALBUM 'X' 1

gnez Mo is changing the game of hip hop with her killer visuals, culturally and socially relevant mindset, and of course, her general badass vibes. The artist in question had one thing in mind when she set about creating her ﬁrst

international album—expressing who Agnez Mo is in the most authentic way possible. Authenticity is not a problem for this vibrant songstress, as proved in her most vulnerable project yet, X. Though each song features a diﬀerent side to this artist on the rise, every alter ego is unapologetically Agnez. MILK.XYZ sat down with the LA-based artist to talk her new album, her hit single “Long As I Get Paid”, Cardi B, working with Justin Timberlake’s management, and

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why radiating positive energy is her M.O. Check out the full interview below, and be sure to check out X, available everywhere.

Tell us about your new album, X. I know we keep calling it “X”, but it’s actually a number 10. I don’t mind calling it an “X” because I happen to do the same thing [Laughs] It actually stands for the roman numeral of 10. The reason I chose 10 is simply because 10 is my lucky number, the album has 10 songs, and my old apartment when I moved to LA was on 1010 Wilshire Blvd, so for some reason I’m just surrounded by the number 10. Also, when I first worked with Timbaland, we worked together on a song called “I’m A Dime”, so the whole thing was about 10. This album is a really intimate and personal project for me, with some of the dopest writers, producers, and basic collaborators who are also my friends. The whole vibe, I want to make sure I’m in that creative zone. I’m with people that make me comfortable and I don’t have to second-guess myself. Is there a unified concept behind the album or theme that ties all the songs together? The theme is how Agnez Mo is feeling at the time [Laughs] I think from my projects, especially creatively in music, I want to be as authentic as possible. I’m not saying that throughout the years, and throughout my career, I haven’t changed. I will evolve, but it’s authentic to me at that time. In this moment, this is the music I want to share with the world and with my fans. These are the topics I want to talk about in this project. Working with collaborators like Danja and Jim Beanz who’s worked with everyone from Justin Timberlake’s 2020 album to Nelly Furtado’s albums, to Jennifer Hudson — to have those people have my back and believe in my project, that’s what’s so magical. It was never about going into the studio for two weeks and making sure we had all the hits. I was working on it for over a year and a half, and one of the songs on the album is actually four years old. “Backroom” was one of the first songs I ever wrote and recorded in LA, four years ago. This album is a journey. So you’d say this album is a collection of songs that have evolved?

Yeah, exactly. And my characters have evolved. You watch “Long As I Get Paid”, which is more of my kinky Agnez [Laughs] But also I infused a lot Indonesian traditional culture, which is where I came from. Then, when you listen to “Damn I Love You”, it’s a completely diﬀerent vibe. That’s what I was feeling in the studio at the time, I was feeling that vibe and wanted to bring out good, positive energy to the world, not just because it’s a “hit song”. “Damn I Love You” is about love, friendship, it’s saying “I don’t wanna hear another heartbreak song”, because that’s what I was feeling in the studio. Then we have “Sorry”, which is a good pop record talking about women empowerment. “I don’t wanna think about no man, I’m cool on my own”, that vibe. “Beautiful Mistake” is very Madonna. It’s literally my journey, what I felt at that time would be appropriate to share about who Agnez Mo is.

Going back to the video for “Long As I Get Paid”, it’s racked up over 15 million views on YouTube. Were you expecting that kind of reception? I think being in the business for so long has taught me a lot of things. Namely, to focus on the production and let the fans handle the rest. If I keep thinking about what’s the revenue, what’s the number, how many viewers, then I can’t be honest with myself creatively. The content that I’m putting out, or that I have put out, I want to make sure it’s authentic. I have to believe in it before others believe in it. To make that happen, I can’t be thinking, if I make this, is it gonna make these people happy? Is it gonna crank up the numbers? I don’t want to think about that. I didn’t think about that. Yes, I did feel like it would create some sort of movement, fan engagement and reach, but I didn’t think too much about getting viewers. Moreso, this is what I believe in. The visuals in the video are amazing – did you have a lot of inﬂuence over the creative direction? Yes, because I directed that video. I wrote down the scenes, and that’s how I usually work. Ever since I was 16 years old, I started directing and co-directing my own music videos. I’ve always had this clear vision of what it needs to be. Again, it’s all about how authentic I want to present myself to the world. That’s so important to me. I’ve always been that kind of artist. For “Long As I Get Paid”, we made four music videos in a month, and it was the hardest music video to write. The treatment could have gone

so many different ways. It’s a sexy song, and you can have so many interpretations listening to the lyrics. I wanted to make sure it created some sort of emotions and not just me standing on a pole and my girls twerking. I didn’t want it to be just that. It needed to be empowering. When you look at “Long As I Get Paid”, it’s about having the guy under my spell. If it’s about my sexuality, it still needs to somehow portray that I’m in control, the woman in control [Laughs] If I use that control to show my sexuality, that’s fine. That’s my choice. There’s always these little meanings behind the visual. “Damn I Love You” is a completely different vibe. It’s very vulnerable. At the end of the day, women are strong in a way that we can be whoever we want to be. We can be like “Long As I Get Paid” where we can show our sexuality and just want to be sexy, but then I feel like our vulnerability is also our strength. I’m not afraid to play that role in “Damn I Love You” where I fell deeply in love with a guy and then I had a great time with my friends, playing both roles.

AGNEZ MO - Damn I Love You

You said this is the most vulnerable project you’ve done. Is that scary to release into the world? Not really, it’s the easiest in a way because I don’t have to think anymore. I just have to be myself. It’s liberating. It’s freedom, in a sense, because I want people to understand that this is me. At least for now. Maybe next year, I’ll be diﬀerent or have a diﬀerent perspective about the world, but this is me now. What’s most important to you as an artist when you’re putting out a new project? I always feel super blessed to have this platform, and I can share any message I want with the world. I always have to remember that I have a responsibility to create and share good positive energy through my music. The topic and the lyrics can be about anything, but it has to be positive. I want to be authentic and true to myself. I’m making sure that I believe in the project, and putting positive energy out into the world. Which track are you most excited for people to listen to? Oooh. If I had to choose… I can’t really choose one. That wouldn’t be fair to me. “Damn I Love You”, for sure, especially the visuals. It shows everything about me. You can ask anyone who’s worked with me, I’m always about positive energy, good energy. How I pick my inner circle, choose the people in my inner circle, I sense their vibes

and their energy. “Damn I Love You” is about that. Another one would probably be “Beautiful Mistake”, because I love Madonna. When Danja played that beat for me, I was like damn this is my shit [Laughs] I want to do something with this beat now. It’s a different side of me, but still true to me. I’m an 80s baby. The lyrics are super cool. And then I’ve gotta say “Sorry”, cause that’s very “I’m not gonna say sorry for leaving you, because you’re an asshole.” [Laughs] What was your mindset like when you were creating the album? Having fun, that was my mindset [Laughs] I wasn’t going to the studio to make hits. I wasn’t going into it thinking oh, this is gonna be my first international album, I need to do this, this, and this, no. I just was super excited because the people who’ve always got my back were there. They showed up and they showed me they’ve really got my back. That alone was a blessing. Especially in this industry, it’s so hard to say you have real friends in the industry. I know this firsthand. I’ve been in the business since I was six years old and gone through the ups and downs. I’ve got people, I’ve got my team, that’s what excites me. Going into the studio with that type of mindset, having fun with the music, not thinking about anything else, that was a sense of freedom.

I ALWAYS FEEL SUPER BLESSED TO HAVE THIS PLATFORM. I ALWAYS HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT I HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO CREATE AND SHARE POSITIVE ENERGY THROUGH MY MUSIC.

AGNEZ MO - Long As I Get Paid

You’ve been really involved with MTV Exit which combats human trafficking and you’ve also been an anti-drug ambassador in Asia—why did you decide you wanted to get involved with those causes? Again, that’s why it’s so important for me to use my platform to share positive energy. Sometimes, people don’t understand how influential you can be, how inspiring you can be, how big your platform is. People look up to you and they listen to what you say. It can be about anything. I can choose to be whoever I want to be. Even at a young age, I knew I had a great platform and that I needed to use it for a great cause. Hence, all the great causes that can somehow influence the world and my fans, I’m on it. Education, women’s rights, domestic violence, stuff like that. For me, it’s so personal because I grew up watching that. I’ve been in the business for so long, it was right in front of me — my friends who are actors or in the industry would talk to me about the issues they were having, I was there when another artist went through a divorce, etc. It was right there. I think even with my catchphrase “Dream, Believe, and Make it Happen”, about making your dreams come true, I had to make sure I work with those specific issues first and then share that vision. Especially with the allegations in the industry that have come out about male producers, do you as a female artist really try to make sure everyone in your circle, both creatively and in your personal life, radiates that positive energy? Absolutely, especially creatively. I feel like whenever I feel comfortable, when I feel safe, that’s when I do my best work. I have to make sure that I protect that. I don’t mind losing a friend or two if that means now I know that I have one or two great friends, true friends. I don’t care about having a hundred friends on my Instagram and I barely know them, I don’t know if they’re gonna talk behind my back, so absolutely. I have to make sure everyone around me gives me positive energy as well. At the end of the day, I have to deal with a lot of negative things outside my inner circle. The hatred, the hate comments, stuff like that. For me to be able to shake that off, I need positive energy. I get that from the positive energy in my inner circle.

Besides your own music, what have you been listening to lately? Who’s been inspiring you?

I grew up singing at church, so I grew up listening to a lot of gospel artists. I’ve always loved real music, real artists, real musicians. Artists that actually care about their music. I have such a huge respect for artists like Justin Timberlake, and then Beyoncé…they care about their music. They’re not just about whatever’s trending at that time and they’re just following the trend—they set the trend. They’re aware of where they are, who they are musically, they’re authentic. I think in mainstream pop, those two are the artists I looked up to. For gospel artists, I listened to a lot of Kirk Franklin and Israel Houghton. For now, I listen to a lot of Cardi B songs [Laughs] because, you know… She’s amazing! The music makes me move. I love music that puts me on the edge of my seat and like I have to do something—should I dance, should I bop my head, should I bounce? I love music that gives me that vibe. Cardi B is deﬁnitely giving me that right now. Who else? I want to work with DJ Khaled, he’s one of the people I’d love to work with. I think growing up looking at those gospel artists but at the same time, watching Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé keeping it true to their artistry, it’s so inspiring. Especially now that I have the same manager as Justin, Johnny Right, it’s an honor. To have someone who’s had Justin’s back have my back, and believe in me just as much as him, it’s amazing.

GOING INTO THE STUDIO WITH THAT TYPE OF MINDSET, HAVING FUN WITH THE MUSIC, NOT THINKING ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE, THAT WAS A SENSE OF FREEDOM.

What’s next for you now that the album’s out? I want to go back to the studio to keep creating. People tell me I have to focus on my promo, performing, and of course I love performing so all of the opportunities that come, I have to pull it off. They need to remember my name. I’d rather say no to performances I can’t fully prepare for than just go out there for the sake of being on stage. At the same time, I want to be in a creative zone all the time. I know the album just dropped, but I want to go back to the studio and keep pushing myself and finding what else I can find out about me. After all, I’m learning every day. I might have other alter egos I might not know about yet. I’m just super curious about what I’m going to find out about myself. Stay tuned to Milk for more badass female artists.

TOPICS #AGNEZ MO #CARDI B #FEATURE #JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE