By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: Variety
R&B singer, songwriter, and co-founder of LaFace Records, Babyface, has achieved long-term success in the music industry.
Babyface is considered one of the greatest living songwriters. The New York Times sat down with Babyface for an interview about where he got his passion and love for writing R&B music and the artists he has worked with throughout his career.
“I fell in love with this girl, who had a crush on this girl in the 6th grade,” Babyface said. “I wanted to write about it, and it felt easier to sing these feelings in a song.”
His story is about writing love and sad songs that he fell in love with, which began in middle school. Babyface turned his pain into passion and projects. It turned out to be the best thing that happened to him.
Babyface experienced great music and sound through the 1980s and 90s. He worked with great artists such as Whitney Houston, Tevin Campbell, Aretha Franklin, Boyz II Men, and Madonna. The list goes on and on. It’s amazing how many songs he wrote for many artists.
Record companies would call Babyface back in the days, asking him if he would like to work with this artist or that artist. One of the artists he enjoyed working with at LaFace Records is Toni Braxton.
“When Toni Braxton auditions with her sisters, she sits down, plays the piano, and starts singing something. I don’t remember the song she started singing, but when she started singing, I heard this pain in her voice, and that’s when I got excited. I was like, “Oh, I can work with her.”
Babyface wrote the song “Breathe Again,” which came out in 1993, and Braxton sang it. In addition, when Babyface wrote “Don’t Be Cruel,” he was thinking of Elvis Presley. Babyface loved the song’s feeling and title. Bobby Brown sang the song, released in 1988.
Babyface wrote “I’ll Make Love to You” by Boyz II Men. At first, the male R&B group was against singing the song, but, according to producer Dallas Austin in an interview on VladTV, Babyface insisted that he sing it.
“I’ll Make Love to You” turned out to be one of the greatest hits of the band’s career. The song was released in 1994.
Babyface also worked with Mary J. Blige, often called the “Queen of Hip Hop Soul.” Babyface refuses to call himself a “genius artist.”
“I cannot call myself that because it’s so simple for what I do,” Babyface said. “It’s just something that’s in me that God gave me, and I think we pass the word genius around too easily.”
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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