Even if you don't like R & B you have heard the name Joe. He was the man who helped make Big Pun's club classic "Still Not A Player" such a hit. He has also worked on many soundtracks and given that extra vibe that people just love to hear. Along with this he has had quite a long and successful career in the R & B world. Now three albums deep and platinum status achieved, Joe is ready to take his game to the top of the charts, and debuting number two on Billboard with his latest effort is a pretty good way of doing that. When I recently sat down with Joe, he talked about how he has gotten to where he is today and where he is planning on going.

JC: What have you learned in the last seven years about making a song and making an actual album?

Joe: Biggest thing was simplicity. The more simple I got, the better song writing became and the better it just started sounding. The overall picture. I learned so much from that first album. I felt like when I came out with the first album it was just like a big learning experience. I was trying to sing and show people that I can really sing as opposed to really writing great songs and simple songs. I mean there was good songs, great songs. But it wasn't as simple as I think they should have been. So I think that is some of the things that I have learned in the seven years that I have been going.

JC: So it that how you felt you kept yourself relevant and come out with a better album every time?

Joe: Well I think it was a growth process. I definitely had to grow into my own. I am so glad that my first album didn't come out to be a huge success because I can't imagine where I would be right now. Where would you have to go. So I think it's a blessing that I didn't start out so large. It's part of the reason why I am still around today. Because competition, it just gets harder. Which is good because I love competition and I love that challenge to strive for something better than I have done before.

JC: Do you feel this album was easier to make than the first two or was it harder?

Joe: The way to answer that question is the last album I did, the All That I Am album, I wrote 11 to 12 songs and 11 to 12 songs went on the record. So it wasn't like I had a choice to choose from anything else, but the record did very well. The difference with this album, I had a chance to pick and choose. I want to try it and if it works good. If it doesn't work, it's still good.

JC: Now when you say try it, does that mean playing it for yourself and your friends or do you actually go out and test it with other people?

Joe: No I didn't test it for anyone. It was just me. It was all about a vibe that I wanted to create for myself. I have to like it first. If I don't like it, I'm definitely not going to put it out for anybody else to do it.

JC: So how far back do you go when you pull your influences?

Joe: I go further. I go back far back to the Marvin Gaye stages. I am a huge fan of Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. That's where everything, the core of today's R & B is coming from. Marvin just had an incredible vibe. He had a story to tell and he got his point across and you felt everything he was saying. As well as Stevie was on the other hand was very, very poetic in a sense. That way you can sit and if you are a critic, you could appreciate everything he was saying because it's like "wow, this guy is really talking about something major here, and it's different." And that's what I wanted, to incorporate the two. And that became something clever. I wanted to write clever songs as opposed to just writing anything.

JC: What does it take for you to sit down and write a song? What happens in the writing process?

Joe: I have to be in the mood. I can't just up and write because I get bored really quick. I have to be in like "OK I'm going to write for this person. I'm going to start my album. I'm going to set out a certain amount of time to do this and do that." So I definitely have to set aside time to say I'm going to write. Ideas do come to me. It's weird because I can be in a conversation and someone can say a certain phrase and that could be a title of an incredible song. Like I used to date this girl and she had this comment, I was joking with her about a one night stand and she said, "nah I don't want to be with you for a one night stand. I want to be with you for a one life stand." I said, "wow, that's dope. I'm going to use that in a song." So I wrote a song about it and put it on my album.

JC: Is there a favorite song that you have over the past three albums?

Joe: I don't even know. I don't even think I have written my favorite song so far. I think I am still destined to write that favorite song.

JC: You actually had a chance to work with Big Pun and you didn't it at time when Hip-Hop/R & B was still real poppy, but you took a hardcore artist and then put an R & B song to it. Did you have any idea of the affect that that song would have?

Joe: Well I knew it was going to be a good song once I heard his vocals and the two together. But I thought when they heard the chorus, they had already heard it before and it might not have the same affect. But man that song came out and it was like. I remember correctly, I think I was in upstate New York somewhere and I was getting ready to do a show. And I didn't have the Big Pun version to perform yet, like I do know. And I was doing the original version to "Don't Want To Be A Playa." And before the show during sound-check, the other artists that was on the bill was like "whoa, you and Pun are killing it right now." I was totally not aware to what was going on. It was like "y'all did it with this song. This is it. This is the summer song." They was telling me this before I actually knew what was going on. And man before you knew it, this song was like out of here. It was like an anthem. Every DJ had to play it. You couldn't go to a club without that record being played. Everyone was playing that record.

JC: How did that collaboration come about? Did you approach him or did he approach you?

Joe: Pun came to me. He had a song called "I'm Not A Player." So he wanted to combine the two together and I was definitely all for it. I love the original version he had with the sample. It was real cool to work with him. Pun was a great guy. A lot of character.

JC: Have you ever run into any problems in the R & B industry?

Joe: I never really ran into any problems with anyone. It was always a respectful situation. I have been pretty fortunate to not run into nothing really crazy.

JC: Are you very well respected by your peers in the R & B industry or do you feel you get a lot of trouble because you are so influential and you are so popular?

Joe: I don't know how it is now but I have gotten a lot of respect from my peers. All the male and the female R & B singers, they have my tapes. To me it's still shocking and surprising that they would listen to my music because I am fans of there's as well. But I never had a problem with any. As a matter of fact I had a problem with Jodeci when they first came out. For some reason word go to K-Ci and Jo-Jo that I was trying to compete with them singing. And it's something that I never try to do. I never compete with anybody. And someone said to them, that I sing better than them. They were spreading a lot of lies and a lot of rumors and stuff. I think DeVante stepped to me one time, which was a very brief situation because I don't go for things like that. And kind of stepped to me and said "oh you the guy that said you sing better than K-Ci." It was just a real short moment but that was the only situation that kind of occurred like that. It was nothing else that really, really jumped off. But it was funny to me though. Because they were larger than life. I was a big, big fan of Jodeci. I still am. I would love to see Jodeci get back together.

JC: You have always had a hand in the production of all of your albums. Do you feel that has made the albums more complete because you have had more creative control?

Joe: Yeah it definitely kept a consistent kind of vibe to it, a consistent sound. I try not to stray away to far from the style of my music because when you got a whole lot of different producers who are doing their own thing, something totally opposite of what you are used to doing, it kind of confuses your fans and your audience to your style. So I always wanted to be apart of my production and have hands on.

JC: So you like to spend less time in the studio or more time in the studio?

Joe: I like to spend as much time as it take to get it right. But normally I will spend two days in the studio or I will work on it for a while and stop and then come back.

JC: So is that why each album has had a three year interval in between?

Joe: From the first album to the second album, there was a big gap because I went through a whole legal situation with my record company. And that took a while. And then after that, with the Jive album, once I brought the album out in 1996, I just started working on a whole lot of projects and doing duets. So I was out there for a minute doing soundtracks. So that kept me kind of busy for a while. I don't know why, it just seemed like why am I not working on a record. So I said I need to get into the studio and do my own thing and I just went back at it. But it's definitely not going to take that long for the next record.

JC: Do you consider yourself a songwriter first or a producer first since you wear both hats?

Joe: It's hard for me to split the two apart because nine times out of ten if I am writing it, I am producing it. If I'm producing it, I'm writing it. But I have produced stuff that I didn't write. But I love to write and writing is very important in my career. It plays a big part.

JC: Well this album really has a complete vibe and I must give you a lot of credit for that. What did you do different?

Joe: I wanted to bring different producers. I had to go and find my boy All Star because I worked with him on a lot of the SWV projects back in the day and he is a great producer. He did like three songs on the album. Teddy Riley of course, he did "Stutter." He is still off the hook. And She'kspere did a song on there. So I just wanted to kind of split up the producers and bring them in.

JC: You said you looked for All Star, when you look for them, do you tell them what you want or do they say "I got this and I think you could fit over it."

Joe: Nah. I definitely say "you already know my style. You know my vibe. So let's get together and put this down." And we are going to make the best Joe record, even though without trying to sound Joe, Joe, Joe, you know what I mean. I don't want to influence any ideas, but just come at me with the hottest stuff that you can come with. And we'll just make it happen.

JC: Here is an inside question that I have been wondering about, what is "563?"

Joe: 563, I got it off of the phone. It's my name J-O-E from the numbers off the phone. I came up with the track, it was really romantic and it was sort of islandy. It had this very Spanish, Latin kind of vibe to it. And for some reason, the number 143 you know means I love you. So I said, "I don't want to use that." But 143 went with J-O-E. So I said let's see what my name is on the phone. So it was 563 and it rhymed and I said hey I'm going to put it in there. And now I use it for everything. It's my production company. It's my publishing company name. It's everything now.

JC: If you had everybody in the music industry listening to you, what's the one thing you would want to tell them?

Joe: To just listen. Don't judge before you hear it. Hear it first and then make your assumption. Because sometimes you tend to hear it with a thought in your mind to critique as opposed to just listening to it and feeling it and see what's going on.

SDU