The Isley Brothers have managed to outlast and outshine most of their contemporaries while setting the mood for romance and love making. The Isley Brothers music helped birth plenty of babies and now they?re at it again with their newest release ?Baby Makin Music.? There are not many new ways to describe the feelings behind love, but the Isley Brothers reinvent new ways to depict and narrate the love stories. In our conversation with Ron Isley, he discussed taking our partner to Space, classic baby making songs, and Mr. Biggs.
It has been a while since your last album Body Kiss, what have you been doing during the break between your albums? Ron Isley: Well I made an album with Burt Bacharach with many of my favorite hit songs.
What have you guys done to make sure that you’re still keeping true to your sound, but keep up with making hit songs that match what’s out there today? Ron Isley: Well staying true to our sound mostly and doing songs that really related to me, Mr. Biggs.
You guys have been able to make ?Baby Makin Music? for different generations, how does it feel to be ?the room? that set the mood for people? Ron Isley: At first we didn?t think about it but being told that so many times, that is the reason we name this album ?Baby Making Music.? We have been instrumental in doing so. (laughter)
What is your favorite baby making song?
Ron Isley:Wow! That?s hard to say. I like ?Hello It?s Me,? I love ?Good to Her Memories,? ?Living for the Love of You?, ?Sensuality? and ?Make Me Say It Again.?
If you could pick one song off this album for late night love, what would it be?
Ron Isley: It would probably be ?Blast Off? or it would be a tune we have by the name of ?Show Me? and ?Give It To You.?
You have made countless love songs, how do you guys find new ways to describe love?
Ron Isley: Well you just have different ways but I don?t think they are new. If you check through the thousand years, somebody has said something before you said it. I would imagine.
But you guys depict love with different words than before?
Ron Isley: Well we just pick it up from the street. What we say in real life.
What is the different when ?Mr. Biggs? sing the songs versus Ron Isley singing the songs?
Ron Isley: Well, Jermaine Dupri did a song and in the song it describes that I?ve been in the game since fifty-nine; fifty-nine was when we first had the hit record ?Shout.? It said ?I had a whole woman that time so many young so many old? then it describes I kissed them, I tricked them, I fought them?It talks about me. This is what I did. I met this girl and I?m talking bout riding in my car and all that type of thing.
What can we expect from the duet with Mr. Biggs and R. Kelly?
Ron Isley: We have a song called ?Blast Off.? It?s talking about making love in space. Going up in the air?its crazy man. It describes the feeling of making love to a special woman, it feels like your blasting off.
Do you think the music being more edgy and street is good or bad for R&B music?
Ron Isley: It is a good thing. Even with Usher?s ?Let It Burn? and those types of songs. Jamie Foxx is trying although he went back and sampled something from a hundred years ago but he is still trying. R&B ain?t going nowhere its gonna be right at the forefront.
Who are you feeling in the new generation of singers?
Ron Isley: Well I like R. Kelly, Usher and Alicia Keys.
Approaching this from the Hip-Hop side, your songs have been sampled so many times. Songs like ?Between the sheets? that was sampled by Biggie and so many others. How do you feel about your legacy within Hip-Hop?
Ron Isley: I love it. They keep the songs alive. —— By: Interview by: Adeniyi Omisore
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