THE IT FACTOR

One thing about music that is very necessary is of course, the producer. Even still, a producer shouldnt jump beside themself and begin to do things that are prima donna like. This may come as a surprise to some, but I have always believed that as an artist, when dealing with various producers, in certain situations, its like dealing with a rival artist. Some producers believe that without them, you would be nothing more than just a voice. I beg to differ. I happen to know how to produce my own music and admittedly, am fairly decent in doing so. It has never been much to me to sit down in front of any computer program or piece of production equipment and create a listenable composition. Ive always done it myself, so when it came time to really allow myself to be a true artist and work with people outside of my comfort zone, I was a little skeptical. It seems now that my apprehensions were correct.
I sat down with the producers for the new album about two weeks ago and we mapped out everything that was initially going to happen. Everyone seemed to be on one accord. One of the reasons that I bring this up is that I have never HEARD of an artist meeting with all of his producers at the same time. It just seemed kind of absurd, but I was game to do anything that would bring a cohesiveness to the project. As the meeting went on, it became clear that one of the producers, in my opinion, had a serious problem with my opinions towards the Dallas music scene and various other things. It was very evident in the way that he addressed me during the entire meeting. Me being me, I was ready to kick him off of the project from that point, but I felt that musically, he would still have something to bring to the table and the label wanted him as a PRODUCER. As an artist, I dont ever want to shoot myself in the foot or stifle growth and movement, so I remained calm. Im not one for holding my tongue, so I am happy that I was able to convey my feelings on certain aspects of his thoughts without immediately reverting to my normal South Dallas mentality. "Screw you and what you stand for, the door is to your left. Go through it, never look back, and may God have mercy on your soul." What can I say Im from the hood? We dont play that sh*t!
Yesterday it came to my attention that the SAME EXACT PRODUCER that had all of these "CONCERNS" at the meeting, now had concerns about how he was going to get paid. This, to the best of my knowledge, had already been addressed between said PRODUCER and my label. Now there is a reason why this bothered me, Im not just complaining about this guy. In the time between the meeting and me writing this, HE HASNT PRODUCED ANYTHING!!!! Hence my problem. Producer=produce music. Im not sure how this is going to work out, but I will definitely keep you posted.