ThaFormula.com - Were you unhappy with the way your album was handled by the label?

Bilal - Right now, I don't think the album is finished. I think it's a lot of re-evaluating that the label needs to do for this new single we’re about to drop, "Sometimes". But basically I'm happy with the album. It's a good first album you know. It shows a lot of different dimensions of me and where I could go. But most of all, it shows curiosity. But I'm happy with it.

ThaFormula.com - So you’re dropping "Sometimes" as your new single?

Bilal - Yeah man. At the top of the year.

ThaFormula.com - Are you redoing the track with a remix or something or are you just dropping it straight from the album?

Bilal - Well, I made a radio edit of it and we’re just gonna drop the radio edit of it.

ThaFormula.com - Did the album take off like you would have liked it to and what made you drop "Fast Lane" as the first single?

Bilal - Well I mean for the obvious reasons. We were coming out of "Soul Sista" and it was a label (Interscope) issue. As far as Dr. Dre producing it and you know all the obvious things. Dr. Dre was the producer, Jadakiss was hot at the time. It was like a decision that the label made to really jump on a trend, which I mean, it gained a lot of respect from the streets. But it necessarily didn't take off like it should have. I think we could have gone with "Sometimes" right after "Soul Sista", but you know. With a new album, a new project such as myself, with so many different entities, you gotta keep stabbin’ at it and keep at the grind. So I don't even dwell on it. It did what it was supposed to do. It gained a lot of underground recognition.

ThaFormula.com - How was it working with ?uestlove, and how do you work with him as far as direction wise? Do you follow him or does he follow you?

Bilal - Well you know, ?uest is a musician. He's a lot about the jam. All about the moment. The way we did "Sometimes", basically we vibed. He and James (Poysner) were on the drums, I was on the microphone and we just basically started coming up with the song on the spot. It's just keeping your ears open you know what I mean.

ThaFormula.com - The production on your album, was it something you chose or was it something the label chose?

Bilal - Mostly yes, I chose the production, but at the end of the day there is always a compromise that you make. Like one or two, three songs that the label wants to be on there. But mostly it's what I wanted.

ThaFormula.com - Do you consider yourself a "neo-soul" artist or are you tired of the term “neo-soul”?

Bilal - I don't really like anything that can get old, you know what I mean? So as far as labeling the stuff with like “neo-soul” or “new soul” or whatever, those are things that people need to write about. But it's not something that I necessarily feel that any of us that are doing live music should be associated with. It's just live music. It's live black music with a lot of different aspects and inspirations involved in it. So I mean, giving in to one title really boxes you in and really stagnates a growth or possible growth, and that's what I tried to do with my album, is just stretch out. Try and stretch out and really get away from labels.

ThaFormula.com - Some people seem to think you shouldn't have worked with Dre and should have stayed within that certain circle. How do you feel about those people that think you should have just stayed within the so-called “family”?

Bilal - I don't see anything wrong with working with Dr. Dre because Dr. Dre is an incredible producer, and I don't think I compromised myself any by working with him. I mean that's funk right there. To really just put yourself in different labels and categories, uh, I ain't even in the game yet. I don't think that's fair.

ThaFormula.com - Do you think all this labeling that's going on in the industry with "neo-soul”, “hip-hop”, “rap”, “underground”, “commercial” and all that is killing the music?

Bilal - I think people just need to be a little more open-minded, be a little more optimistic. I'm trying to do good music. I'm trying to grow to a point where eventually 2 albums down the line, I can be my own person, my own producer, come up with my own music. To be put in one situation where it's like uh, you work with so and so and that's it. That might stop certain things that I could learn that might help me out in my growth. So I do say this, on my next project, I'm not gonna have as many producers as I did on this album, but I think the Dr. Dre stuff was funky and I appreciate the material that came out of working with him.

ThaFormula.com – I actually thought the Dre tracks on the album was some of the best material he's done in a while?

Bilal - Yeah, I thought it was good.

ThaFormula.com - Now a lot of people compare you to D'angelo, but I don't see any comparison there.

Bilal - Yeah, me neither.

ThaFormula.com - Do you think people saying, "Oh this is another D'angelo" affected you in any way?

Bilal - It didn't effect me. I think it affected probably the listener. I'm not really sure, but I mean it didn't affect me and my creativity and what I was doing. I think music in general stems from something else. You can look at D'angelo and say that evolves from something. At this point in music, it seems like everybody is really listening to the same cats. As far as like Prince, Curtis Mayfield, Funkadelic, etc. I followed a path that the masters took, not the masters. It's all about trying to really listen to the old shit and come up with something new that's fresh from that. Listen to those old records and come up with your own interpretation. That's how people identify with stuff. I always remember when R. Kelly came out. Everybody said he sounds like Aaron Hall you know. Or when Prince came out, everybody said he was he was singing up in his falsetto like Marvin and so and so and what have you. Everybody wants to simulate the same high. That's just the stage of music were in you know. I feel like the music is changing and everybody is coming to the same peak.

ThaFormula.com - At the point that the music is at right now, where do you see it going next?

Bilal - I think right now everybody is coming to the same pause. A lot of times when music gets to this point everybody goes to Europe and sees what Europe is doing. That's probably what will happen, or something like the stuff will get more computerized, speed up, or possibly get grungier, dirtier. But I think the music will definitely change.

ThaFormula.com - What made you decide to produce the last half of your album yourself. Is it something you have been doing for a while?

Bilal - Well, you know a lot of the songs I had written myself. I write on pianos and keys, and from the time I’ve been signed, I've had a band. So just as a musician I know what I wanted to hear, so why get another producer to do it when I already know what I want to happen? I already had the song in my head so that's what I did.

ThaFormula.com - You recently recorded a track with Mystic right?

Bilal - Yeah, I got up and did some adlibs on a remix of hers. She is cool people's.

ThaFormula.com - Are you working on any new projects right now besides your album?'

Bilal - Right now I'm performing with the band and just contemplating a new album and a new sound. Just break grounds for myself and find a sound for myself. Something fresh and new. I'm all about putting myself in a situation where I have to challenge myself and that's the state I feel everybody is in. So basically that.

ThaFormula.com - How was it working with Jaguar Wright and how did that come about?

Bilal - It was fun working with Jaguar. Jaguar is such a lively spirit you know. We had mad fun. She had a song, "I Can't Wait" that she had done on the album and basically brought me in at the end of the song, and I basically just came in and changed a few words and we made it like a play off of words. It was cool. It was a freak song.

ThaFormula.com - ?uest referred to you as the best singer out there right now in this whole so called “neo-soul movement”, how does it feel when someone like ?uest speaks about you in that way?

Bilal - Well, somebody on ?uestlove's caliber, that means a lot. I'm not out here trying to be anything better then anybody else. I'm trying to be better then what I am. So stuff like that just inspires me to really stay on the grind and push. If cats respect you and respect the music like that, you ultimately got to think like, "man, I got to get this out here and I got to make it heard”. I got to make people feel it like I feel it.

ThaFormula.com - How was it working with Dre? Was it as hard as people say it is?

Bilal - It was pretty smooth. I got in the studio and he let me do what I wanted to do. As far the pickiness goes, he's a perfectionist and I am too so we was both trying to get it where it needed to be.

ThaFormula.com - Were you impressed with Dre, as far as his skills behind the boards?

Bilal - Oh yeah man. He's such a knowledgeable cat in the studio. He's like his own engineer you know. But "Sally" was done by Dre & Mel Man and "Fast Lane" was done by Dre and Scott Storch.

ThaFormula.com - How about Storch? Did you enjoy working with him?

Bilal - (Laughs) It's fun man! Scott is like a ball of ideas. He can do like 50 tracks in a day. Just a ball of ideas all the time. I mean that's very inspiring to be around people that's so creative and focused. That really makes you like evaluate your shit like Damn! Ok, I mean you rise to the occasion from there.

ThaFormula.com - Is there any plans for you and Dre to work together again?

Bilal - Well right now he's working on his new album, "Detox", I might get up on there and do something with him.

ThaFormula.com - Is there any producers out there that you still want to get at or have you pretty much worked with everyone you have always wanted to work with?

Bilal - I think I pretty much covered all of it. I think I like what I hit up.

ThaFormula.com - So where do you hope to be as far as your status in music goes when it's all said and done?

Bilal - I mean I hope to achieve what the caliber that the music holds. I hope to achieve that success. I think that the album deserved to be something looked at as great by the world. want it to succeed maximum success. I want to change music you know. I just want to claw out a space for myself in this new upcoming history. That’s what I hope to achieve for myself.

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