Interview: Atlanta Based Artist Timothy Léon Talks About His New Single/Video "You"
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“I can now truly say that my art is “my art” and not just a duplicate of something that I see trending in the media and mainstream. Being an artist that not only creates wonderful, quality recorded material and video work; but an artist that can give you an even greater EXPERIENCE when they perform their work live.”
What are some things, people, or places that inspire your creativity as an artist?
God and Life. Period. Growing up in a strong family of faith; my firsts experiences with music was strictly for ministry's sake. So, therefore my connection to music is always a divine connection. I believe God is so big that he can't be boxed into just one thing; and he uses different ways to speak and relentlessly pursue us even if it's through an R&B album that you thought had NOTHING to do with him.
God gives us LIFE; and LIFE is the experience that we are all having at the same time. Like the COVID-19 pandemic for example, this is a time that we are all experiencing this together. Everyone has a different side of the story; but we are all still in the same story line of life. My creative inspiration is to find a way to express my side of the story so that someone somewhere knows that they are no alone in their experiences. Whether it's to laugh, cry, feel sexy, or to just have a good time and dance their ass off; they'll find themselves somewhere in this art... and that is an act of God.
Congratulations on the release of your new single "You", and its music video; tell us about what inspired you to write that song and how you connected with its producer BachBeats.
Thank you! I'm super excited about this song and the video, and I'm so glad everyone can see it now! My inspiration for music period is life's experiences. I can't speak for everyone, but I have definitely been in a situation before where I found myself falling for someone that honestly wan't good for me.
The lyrical content presents an analogy between someone who is addicted to an actual drug and someone who is emotionally addicted to an individual. More so, addicted to the "high" of infatuation that the person provides. The danger, none sense, and drama behind that person is always in their blind-spot until they finally become "sober" enough to realize what was going on.
I heard this track while browsing online, and when I heard it, IMMEDIATELY I had to find the producer and start working on the song!
How would you say that your professional training in the area of Performing Arts and Theatre has prepared you for what you are doing now creatively?
I've wanted to be a performer as long as I could remember, and I've always had talent; however I am very thankful for the opportunities that I've had to craft my skills. I mainly moved on raw talent until I started college at Savannah College of Art & Design. I received my BFA there in 2014.
Before college, everything I knew was raw talent and what I crafted on my own by studying artists I looked up to; however, the training put things into a whole other perspective for me. I began to realize that I was being trained on how to craft and create my art from scratch. The training allowed me to find myself as an artist and to trust the process of my artistic development which actually coincided with my human development as a person. I can now truly say that my art is "my art" and not just a duplicate of something that I see trending in the media and mainstream. Being an artist that not only creates wonderful, quality recorded material and video work; but an artist that can give you an even greater EXPERIENCE when they perform their work live. Like, no one actually like to talk about the fact that there are millions of "new artists" out there that are now social media famous; but none of them have the skill nor the bravery to stand on a stage and entertain a crowd.
My training in theatre keeps me grounded in what caused me to fall in love with music; which was the "show quality" of a live performance. My training also gave me thick skin in understanding the "art of critique"; which goes way further than just giving criticism; but to know how to receive criticism and decipher whether it is constructive or destructive. It's important to understand the balance of those two mindsets in the culture we live in today. We are constantly watching people try so hard to get the approval and permission of others to do whatever they want despite those same people's opinions. It's like living in an oxymoron! Being trained in these areas helped me to be able to balance that; and also it helped me to know the power of networking and understanding how to find and create your own space in the industry.
While at SCAD; finding talent was a dime a dozen; because the school was surrounded by talented artists everywhere; and it takes a person that knows who they are as a person and as an artist to remain secure and confident in what they have when they are surrounded by others that are doing the same. The reality is, that is the music industry. Beyoncé, Jill Scott, India.Arie and Rihanna are all four specifically different artists; but there are people that will support all four of them. As artists, we don't have to fight over a fan-base; there's enough love out here for everyone.
We're blown away by the music video for "You". How did you and the director RZ Visionz come up with the idea to reference the series You and the movie Asunder in the visual? Also, who is the leading lady in the clip?
Funny Story! I am blessed to be surrounded by amazingly talented people that are a part of my creative team. No iconic artist does EVERYTHING by themselves. They may be involved in everything; but they don't do it alone. So I have a team of creatives that help make things come to life.
After my bestie, J-Law, and I wrote the song; I went in to record it; and took it to my creative team at one of our "Steak N Shake" meetings. I told them that I wanted to create a music video that was more so a short-film, where one would have a love for the song and the video separately. While talking about the meaning behind the lyrics about how love and lust can become toxic obsession; we all had the same idea at the same time! It was like a scene from a movie, lol! We all said, "What if the video is based off of 'You'?" which actually then gave me the idea to change the name of the song to "You". The original name of the song was "Addicted"; but it made sense to change the song title to "You" because of where it would go visually.
I called the director, RZ Visionz who had also directed my video for my last single, "PM to AM"; and he was all-in from the beginning of the concept! He had the vision to create the intro of the video and to make it as close to the opening scene of the first episode of "You" as possible. So, I went into the booth and created the introduction poem for the video, that believe it or not was an entire free-style. For some reason, my mind just knew exactly what I wanted to say in the intro.
The reference to "Asunder" came because as dangerous as the character "Joe Goldberg" is in the series; the audience still develops a love for him as a person through empathy. However, just to push the concept of hysteria a bit more; I thought of a character that scared the shit out of me with their obsession. Chance, Blair Underwood's character from "Asunder", was the definition of crazy! LOL! I wanted to capture the moment in the film where he is seen standing nude (obviously I wasn't nude) in a sense worshiping the image of this woman he's obsessed with by way of a mural he created with photos of her. It's that scene in the movie that makes me say "OMG! He's lost it". Which is funny because, while shooting the scene Shanaca Renae the Model, the leading lady in the video was just a bit creeped out when she saw all of it. She was a good sport in getting it done though! And of course anyone that can run that fast in heels is someone you want on your good side! LOL!
What can you tell us about your upcoming album "Kiss & Tell"? Are there any featured artists, and does the album have an overarching theme or concept?
Well I mean, Good people don't "Kiss & Tell", so I'm not sure what I can tell you. LOL. I'm kidding... I will say that this album is definitely my most transparent album. My vision is for this body of work to be a sonic masterpiece. Yes, every song is going to be a bop; but overall it'll be a project that you can play without skipping a track. I miss albums like that. I'm super excited to be working with a lot of new producers and arts on this album like AJ Smallwood of AA.Sounds; IER Music; Idris French; éks; and a lot more people.
The album has a theme of a coming of age, if you will, to a place of sexual freedom. Very similar to the classic Janet Jackson 1993 "Janet" album. Janet is one of my biggest inspirations and in that album she expressed a process of coming into maturity regarding relationships, and even self-love. "Kiss & Tell" does the same thing, just more so from a male or androgynous perspective.
As a young man, I can truly say that we rarely allow men to feel comfortable enough to express this side of themselves; and being a PK myself, growing up in a strong faith-based community, this would definitely be a no-no. But likewise to how women can empower themselves with this; we as men should be able to do the same. I believe that's why artists like the legendary Prince and even Tank are so respected; because it takes a strong man within himself to allow himself to go there; because it's another form of vulnerability.
Being vulnerable in a public way is always an obstacle for an artist, but I believe things become less of an obstacle when we are free enough within ourselves to talk about it and to share those thoughts and or experiences. If a lot of people were more honest, ESPECIALLY IN RELATIONSHIPS, about their fantasies and the things that they have or would like to experience; it leaves less room for things to be taboo; and it allows us to trust each other more. You can trust someone that is honest with you.