The Way I See It is the third album by American R&B singer, songwriter, and producer Raphael Saadiq. It was released on September 16, 2008, by Columbia Records. The album charted steadily on the Billboard 200 and became a sleeper hit, selling 282,000 copies in the United States by 2011. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and was nominated for the 2009 Grammy Award for Best R&b Album.
About The Way I See It in brief
The Way I See It is the third album by American R&B singer, songwriter, and producer Raphael Saadiq. It was released on September 16, 2008, by Columbia Records, his first for the label. The album charted steadily on the Billboard 200 and became a sleeper hit, selling 282,000 copies in the United States by 2011. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and was nominated for the 2009 Grammy Award for Best R&b Album. It garnered Saadiq a newer, more diverse audience as he toured extensively in support of the album, performing concerts in the US, Europe, and Asia. Saadiq had independently released his 2004 album Ray Ray, recorded with the songwriting and production duo Jake and the Phatman. He developed a creative partnership with their colleague, audio engineer Charles Brungardt, who shared Saadiq’s fascination with historic recording techniques and equipment. In 2008, the singer returned from a vacation that had inspired him to pursue classic soul music. He described it as a series of love songs about music and remaining faithful to it despite trends. He wrote the songs extemporaneously, often playing guitar and improvising riffs while playing each instrument one at a time, including guitar, bass, piano, and basic piano parts. He attributed this secluded approach to the state of the industry and idealized ideas off other people and people do not say the same things to him.
He said of Rick Rubin’s advice to him as a solo artist: I just have to be myself. You’ve got to follow your own path. I’ve always gone down the road less traveled, but now I do it even more aggressively.“I’ve never paid 100% attention to going in that direction before. So the difference this time is that I took a more focused route.” – Saadiq, in an interview for Sound on Sound. “The music for this album flowed naturally, and since I have my own studio I was able to perfect it and take my own time to make it right. I think that had a lot to do with how the album turned out with how I had a day after day, and it was a lot of fun to do it with.’” Saadiq, on the album’s subject matter. “I was like ‘Wow, maybe I should tap into this vibe, because it’s actually what I LOVE!’… I realised that, though you can hear it in many of the records I’ve done throughout my career, I’d never paid100% attention… So I’d like to tap into that vibe, and I think it’s what I love.’” Saadiq on the music of Tony! Toni! Toné! during the late 1980s and 1990s, Saadiq has incorporated influences from theMusic of Motown in his songwriting for the group.
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