H.E.R. says she won’t collab with an artist just because they’re ‘dope right now’

H.E.R has had an incredible year with two Grammy wins, an Oscar for Best Original Song and the release of her debut album Back of My Mind and we’re only halfway through.

The 23-year-old singer has no plans of slowing down and she told Etalk's Tyrone Edwards about the new album and her creative process when working on a track.

Back of My Mind has so many amazing collaborations (from DJ Khaled, Bryson Tiller, Ty Dolla $ign, Lil Baby, Yung Bleu and Chris Brown). H.E.R. said that she’s “all over the place with creation,” but she’s always looking for inspiration by working with others. 

When she was in Miami she went to DJ Khaled’s house and “I Can Have It All” was just an idea at the time.

“It was just the beginning stages of the song and I heard the Beanie Sigel sample and I was like ‘Oh!.’ And he was like, 'Yeah, this is one of them ones,' he called it… I put my own perspective and my own flavour on that just because I love the song so much and we had been wanting to work together.”

H.E.R. said that DJ Khaled “makes it a movie” when you walk into his studio and he even had a chef there to make sure everyone was eating good.

The “Slide” singer said that "Come Through," her collab with Chris Brown, was a song that she had sitting on the shelf for a while and then when she got him on the track she thought, “Oh my god, he kinda sounds like the old Chris.”

“It reminds me of 'With You' Chris. That’s kind of what it reminded me of because the song was just acoustic at first and then Cardiak, he produced it out and killed it. It just kind of happened," she said.

H.E.R. explained that she doesn't like "to force anything" when it comes to her music.

“I don’t believe in [thinking] ‘Oh, this person is dope right now. This song is going to get popular.’ I don’t believe in forcing things because of a name. I believe in the sound and the thing you’ll bring to the song.”

She said that it all “starts with a song for me" and both DJ Khaled and Chris Brown understood the assignment.

"Those artists understand the song. DJ Khaled understands it starts with the song and Chris, he really appreciates and admires the song. That’s what I start with.”

Another artist that H.E.R. has jammed with in the past is Coldplay's Chris Martin after she met him at the Global Citizen Prize festival in 2019.

"I was fangirling. I sang 'Yellow' at my uncle's wedding and I've always loved their albums and have been super inspired by their music, lyrically especially. Recently, I got to work with him and we had been talking about working. I think we started something special and I want to keep it going. I'm a huge Chris Martin fan," she told Tyrone. 

What she wants fans to take away from Back of My Mind

H.E.R. has said before that her music is like her diary. With Back of My Mind, she wanted fans to know who she is “at the core.”

“This album, because it’s my first album and I wouldn’t call it a debut with four Grammys and an Oscar, but this album is pieces of everything. Volume 1 and Volume 2 put together was just as specific to that time. It was a very specific sound and peek into what I am."

"Then I Used To Know Her was a lot more musical and a lot more raw," the Grammy-winning singer said. "Now, this album is all of those things and more and I felt like it was important for me to make an R&B album because that is who I am at the core.”

H.E.R. doesn't have any plans of slowing down anytime soon. She revealed that she has a reggae EP “that’s going to come soon” and she has a Christian song out.

“I don’t limit myself just because music is a playground for fun. I listen to so many different types of music and that’s how I make music because I’m inspired by so many different things.”

H.E.R. noted that it's not "an easy time we live in" but when you "make music that reflects your own truth, it's kind of inevitable."

Taking in her wins and looking forward to touring

With all of her wins this year, the "Could've Been" singer said that she's been trying to take time to smell the roses and digest everything that's happened so far.

“I’ve been going non-stop, so everything’s kind of been [like], ‘OK, that’s done. On to the next thing, on to the next thing.’ But I’ve definitely taken a few moments to celebrate with my family and just to kind of chill but for the most part, it’s just been non-stop."

"Every moment I’m kind of seizing as opposed to feeling that pressure to celebrate. I’m taking that moment and taking it all in as it’s happening.”

Just like the rest of us, H.E.R. misses being able to “bring the music to life” onstage during her concerts.

“That’s why I’m so anxious to get back on the road… It’s been a long time since I toured since I’ve been working on my album and doing all kinds of other stuff. I really miss the road. It’s been more than a year for me and I’ve done a few shows before the pandemic but it’s been over a year as far as being consistently doing shows," she said.

"When you experience it live and you experience me live, you really get to see me and you get to see H.E.R. You get to experience all the things that I am and all the things that I've uncovered thus far," the "Best Part" singer added. 

H.E.R. has plans to make her way to the big screen

The stage won't be the only place we catch H.E.R. in the future. After winning an Oscar for her music and appearing in the Netflix comedy Yes Day, H.E.R. said that acting could "absolutely" be in her future.

"After doing Yes Day, it was so much fun. I have been acting a little here and there for fun since I was very young. I've always wanted to do it and it's something I will be taking further. I had to get the music and focus on that but now is the time to get in on the big screen and maybe some TV stuff so you'll see me very soon," H.E.R. revealed.

The process of creating her Oscar-winning song, "Fight For You"

H.E.R. also opened up about working on her Oscar-winning song "Fight For You" for Judas and the Black Messiah. She said that so much went into working on the song.

"After watching the film, the main thing for us —my collaborators D'Mile and Tiara [Thomas] —we were looking at each other like, 'How did we not know all the details of this story?' And the narrative that has been put on the Panthers for so many years. The negative things that we hear about the Panthers or the things that we don't hear at all."

"We kind of just started to think about that and, you know, Fred Hampton he was only 21 years old or younger doing all these things that he was doing," she said.

"He was trying to bring all communities together, not just the Black community. That was just so, so powerful to see a young person doing that. I kind of felt empowered and I felt like, 'Wow, I have a voice.'"

"With all of those things, all of those themes—him fighting for the love of his life—I started to think about this theme and I started to sing that 'I will always, always fight for you,' I picked up the bass and we started jamming a little bit."

She said that they were all listening to a lot of Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye. The singer said that they tried to bring what was happening then to what is happening now in the world. 

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