Revealing a bevy of emotions from happiness to sadness and anger to excitement, burgeoning recording artist Kristinia DeBarge put it all on paper for “Exposed,” her debut album. Penning much of the album, DeBarge, with the help of Award-winning entertainer, producer, songwriter and humanitarian Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, admits the time it took to produce the effort was well worth it. In this exclusive interview with Singersroom, DeBarge discusses the process of recording her debut; working with Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, and the inner struggle that has now become her next single “Sabotage”.
Singersroom: What was the best part of recording your debut album “Exposed”?
Kristinia DeBarge: Being able to be involved in the writing and being able to express myself. Before each session I would meet with the producers and talk with them and let them know what’s going on with me as person and as an artist, so they could get a feel of who I really am.
Singersroom: With that said, would you say the album is about being empowered, while also being vulnerable like an open diary ?
Kristinia DeBarge: Yeah it is actually. That is probably the best way to describe it. I actually have a diary that I write in every night and I’ve had it since I was fourteen. The whole album pretty much signifies empowerment, dreams and confidence and vulnerability, sadness, happiness, excitement, anger and basically every emotion you could think of wrapped up.
Singersroom: So fans will be able to see different sides of your personality and the ups and downs?
Kristinia DeBarge: You see all sides of Kristinia and that’s what I mean by “Exposed”. It’s me exposing myself to the world, really exposing me not just musically but emotionally.
Singersroom: How was it working with your father (James Debarge) and Babyface?
Kristinia DeBarge: He [father] and I did some work in the studio. He took me on tour with him. He’s pretty much been singing with me and grilling me, making sure that I’m prepared for this. He saw how hard I worked and really knew that this is what I wanted. From there I decided that I wanted to pursue this on my own. I met with Babyface after I stopped working with my dad. Face and I worked on writing for a long time. He was a pleasure to work with. Even though he is, who he is, he is very humble and very open minded. He allowed me to work with other producers and songwriters. It’s just been like a big family effort.
Singersroom: You kicked things off with the single and video “Goodbye,” are you shooting a video for “Future Love” soon?
Kristinia DeBarge: Actually the new single is “Sabotage,” at first it was “Future Love” but we decided to switch it up. It’s going to be an interesting video. I’m really excited about it. The song is about a girl who is feeling very confused and a little crazy in her head about what is going on in her relationship at the time and her love life. She’s battling being a good girl or bad girl. And the bad girl is pretty much taking over. —— By: Interview By Njai Joszor
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