Published: Monday - May 8, 2006
Words by Bear Frazer
Sean Garrett (Photo: n/a)
Chances are if you are a vibrant young male or female looking to party and have a good time, then you've probably heard Usher's "Yeah!" and Ciara's "Goodies" at the club or at least seen the video on "TRL." However, chances are you didn't know that those songs were written by 27-year-old songwriter, Sean Garrett.
Those aren't the only artists Garrett has written for. In fact, he has worked Jamie Foxx, Janet Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Mario, 112 and Destiny's Child among others. Hell, Jay-Z believes in his songwriting skills so much, he even nicknamed him "The Pen." So in this Ballerstatus.com exclusive, Sean Garrett tells us about getting into the music business and briefly explains his fascination with footwear.
Ballerstatus.com: So, I've heard you have a great shoe collection. Is this true?
Sean Garrett: Yea, man! I'm a sneaker man [laughs]. I love sneakers.
Ballerstatus.com: Nice...so since you're from Atlanta, tell me what you think about the hip-hop scene down there.
Sean Garrett: The Atlanta hip-hop scene is really, really hot right now. There is a lot of great talent to come out of there like Dallas Austin and TLC. There are just so many great people to come out, from the older cats to the younger ones like me, T.I. and Jeezy. Atlanta is really doing their thing!
Ballerstatus.com: Right...since you lived in Europe, who were some of your musical influences?
Sean Garrett: Basically, I was influenced by all kinds of music. I'm definitely from America and my dad is from Philly, so I got Philly in me and Atlanta in me. But living in Europe, it gave me a lot of perspective. When I was young, I used to listen to a whole lot of pop music because that's all we had to listen to. Basically, I always had the opportunity to listen to a lot of the pop records from George Michael to, of course, Michael Jackson, Gloria Estefan and Right Said Fred. There was a whole lot of different pop music that gave me that ability to write when everyone thinks I can do just R&B music, but I can switch it over and do some pop music too.
I appreciated all types of music. So that's the thing that gave me the ability to do record after record, whether it be on Britney, Chris Brown, Usher, Destiny's Child, Ciara, whoever...
Ballerstatus.com: Yea, so what initially got you into song writing?
Sean Garrett: It was crazy with the fact that I used to say, "I ain't no songwriter," and a lot of people were telling me I had that niche to write songs for other people. I was like, "I'm not a songwriter, I'm an artist." And what happened was when I moved back to the states from Europe, I was getting ready to sign my deal with Warner Bros., but it fell through. I moved to South Carolina for a year and then, that's when I had my son. I actually started writing songs for my own project.
Anyway, I lost my mom and I decided to move back to Atlanta and I had a meeting with L.A. Reid's publishing company. L.A. got three songs of mine and he wanted to do a deal with three songs. I did my thing with L.A. and six months later, I wrote "Yeah!" From there, it was poppin'!
Ballerstatus.com: So you signed with his company in 2003?
Sean Garrett: I think it was 2003...yea, and now it's 2006. I've had eight Hot 100 number ones and it's been crazy. We've had number ones this year already and we're about to have some more.
Ballerstatus.com: So help me understand this. How does this business work?
Sean Garrett: Basically, when you sign with a publishing company, you do a partnership. When you have a partnership, you are with them for a certain period of time and you kinda do for your own in a way, like they support you, but it's up to you to go out there and hustle. You gotta find the act. You can be as big as you want to be, but it depends on your drive. My job is I always try to get on everything I can.
Ballerstatus.com: What is the toughest thing about songwriting?
Sean Garrett: The thing about songwriting is there are some artists who are in their own way, who are like, "I'm not gonna sing that" or "That's not gonna work." But fortunately, it gets to a point where they start trusting and get to a point where you're both working and when that happens, it's easier for an artist to cut the record. I usually don't have that problem, but I did run into a problem before with a couple of artists like Usher. My man, Usher, as far as "Yeah!," he didn't think that was gonna be a big record for him. He didn't think it was gonna be big at all, but me and Usher are good friends. He gave me 120% and that's why the record came out the way it did.
I'm a risk taker, I'm an innovator and my job is to create what people don't know is the next sh--. I'm a real dude who's not trying to ride the coats or ride the trucks. I'm a groundbreaker type of dude, so I'm not trying to follow the trends.
Ballerstatus.com: Is it safe to say the Confessions album opened up a lot more doors for you?
Sean Garrett: Absolutely, any hit that I've had will open a door for me. The good thing is this: "Yeah!" was an incredible record for me and it put me on the map. "Run It" solidified me as a hitmaker and a groundbreaking songwriter and producer good artists can work with. When I wrote "Goodies" for Ciara and broke that artist, it was a whole different scenario. So, I like to break artists.
Ballerstatus.com: Last month, you were responsible for the top three songs on the charts: "Grillz" (Nelly) at #1, "Run It" (Chris Brown) at #2 and "Check On It" (Beyonce) at #3. To be partially responsible for the top three songs in the country, how does that make you feel?
Sean Garrett: It makes me feel great. It makes me feel appreciated and it makes me feel that God is definitely looking out for me and giving me the opportunity to do everything I wanted to do. It also makes me know that being a good kid is alright, because I'm one of the people who isn't in this cut throat business and I play fair. It makes me feel proud and appreciative that good guys can still win too. I consider myself a good guy. I don't lie or screw or disrespect people. I show love to everyone, even my competitors and I'm just blessed. I'm really appreciative.
Ballerstatus.com: I can see you work with a variety of artists, ranging from the likes of Janet Jackson to Bon Jovi. Is it important to be able to work with any genre of music?
Sean Garrett: Yea, especially for me because that's the kind of person I am though. Right now, I'm working with Beyonce and last week, I did the first single for Fergie. I've got the next single for the Pussycat Dolls, which is called "Loosen Up My Buttons," which is gonna be a market smash. It is definitely important for me to work with artists in different genres because I love music and I feel like God has been given me this outlet. I'm supposed to work with some country, I'm supposed to do some pop music, some rock, R&B, you know...if it's not for me, it's for the world. My songs bring the world together and it makes people feel good, makes people party and makes people have fun. I feel it's my responsibility to work with every genre that's accepted.
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