iNTERViEWED
BY BRiAN LUSH
Washington-based soul rock songstress TOMEKA WILLIAMS
delivers the sort of debut album that sets her apart from the rest of
those
divas that have followed the BEYONCE business model to a tee.
Her SIR MIX-A-LOT produced
debut CD
‘THE BLACK
HOOD’ eschews the frills and the
benign pop psychological heartache that has come to typify much of the
current
pop set and embraces a rock sensibility that is all piss, vinegar and
passion. The
stand out track ‘HO’ (I’m hoping this is going to be the first single)
ain’t
sexual politics as usual. Armed with an irresistible groove and a
guitar riff
similar to BLACK SABBATH’s ‘IRON MAN’, WILLIAMS exposes the disparity
in a
relationship that isn’t going anywhere and proudly proclaims ‘
I can’t have game if I don’t play!’ ‘WHAT
SHE GAVE’ tells the story of a young woman’s loss innocence and trying
to carry
on despite having grown disillusioned by love. ‘HEROES’ is more than a
mere
song “for the troops”. On the plaintive ballad, she portrays the troops
as the complex
men and women that they are and not the G.I. JOE action figures that
you may
hear about in KID ROCK and TOBY KEITH songs.
In
the gospel charged chorus, she pleads the
current president to bring these heroes home.
ROCKWIRED spoke with TOMEKA
WILLIAMS over the phone. Here is
how it went.
BLACK
HOOD is an
interesting title for this album.
BLACK HOOD is basically one of the songs off of the album
and to be honest, I couldn’t think of anything else to title this
album. It was
one of those songs that took a lot of time to work on and I felt like
it would
be interesting to have an album called BLACK HOOD. I figured that a lot
of people
would look at the title and go ‘what is that?’ and would get people to
listen
to it.
Now
that the album is
out there for people to hear and all of the work that has gone into it
is
behind you, how do you feel about the finished work?
I love the finished work. I’m really proud of the work that
we did on this album. I think it’s a solid album and that it has many
different
sides to my personality. It’s like my baby so it’s kind of hard to let
it go
out into the world, but I was glad that I was able to do it and to
release it.
Hopefully it will get people out there talking and having some
conversation
stemming from this album.
You
and SIR MIX-A-LOT
made a beautiful baby. Now I think I’ve got a title for the article
now.
Yeah! What a beautiful baby! That’s a good one. You’re gonna
get a rumor started that I’m having SIR MIX-A-LOT’s baby! Oh great!
I
think you’re the
second artist that I’ve interviewed that was produced by SIR MIX-A-LOT.
OUTTASITE was the first.
Oh yeah, he’s awesome – awesome guy.
Talk
about working
with MIX-A-LOT.
MIX is a like a big brother to me. I love him dearly. We met
through a mutual friend a couple of years ago.
He heard my demo and I actually didn’t hear from him
again for a couple
of weeks and then he called me up. We actually didn’t talk about music.
We
talked about what I wanted in life and what I was doing and then we
started to
talk about music. He was very, very patient with me. He was actually
the very
first person that I ever went into the studio with and worked on my own
songs.
He groomed me into becoming a better artist and it was just awesome to
see him
totally different from what I expected. You hear the name SIR MIX-A-LOT
and you
think of ‘BABY GOT BACK’. That is the first thing you think about.
You’re not
thinking that he’s this really cool, intellectual guy. He doesn’t talk
about
butts all day. It’s been great. We’ve got our moments where I just want
to
choke him and vice versa but that is what you do when you care about
somebody.
What
drew you to
music in the first place?
I’ve been singing since I was about seven. Both of my
parents were very influential in my career as far as music. My dad
played music
all throughout the house and my mother was in the church choir. My
grandmother
sang and my great grandmother sang so it was just always around me. For
me,
music tells a story. I can relate to it more than anything else. Some
people
can relate to art and drawings and things like that. I relate to songs
and how
the melody comes to play and the vocals. Every emotion that I could be
feeling,
I could play a song and reflect on that. I can gather something form
that. I
could either feel as if the artist is talking to me or have a sense
that I feel
the same way. Music can do so many things and it’s so universal. It’s
so easy
for me to fall in love with.
What
sort music did
you listen to growing up? What informed the kind of music that you’re
doing
now?
My parents were always very open when it came to music. For
me, R&B and gospel were a big part of my life and when my
family moved up
here to the Northwest, it was a lot of alternative music. There was a
lot of
west coast rap here and then through my parents, I listened to a lot of
blues
and R&B and old soul. All of those sounds became infused for
me. I love
live instruments. I love going to a show and seeing someone sing live –
no
lip-synching – and instruments playing. As far as people that I’ve
listened to,
it was a combination of everybody from JANIS JOPLIN to PINK to WHITNEY
HOUSTON
– who is my idol – to MAHALIA JACKSON. I could name so many people that
have
been influential in how I view music and how I present myself as a
performer.
I ask
that question
because in listening to BLACK HOOD, I notice that the album has a
strong rock
sensibility that – to be hones with you – you don’t hear from a lot of
black
performers.
I agree. I think that we as a society – even black society –
are so used to black music presented as R&B but R&B is
rhythm and blues
and a lot of that comes form rock. We have a lot of that in us. We’ve
got
LITTLE RICHARD. He rocks! That there is rock! You’ve got JAMES BROWN.
You’ve
got so much out there. I don’t look at rock as being one category.
There are so
many aspects of it. JIMI HENDRIX is rock n roll and he is a big deal up
here.
The way he could play a guitar was amazing. For me, rock music feels
good and
it carries a lot of emotion in it. You’ve got these huge guitars coming
in and
it makes your heart go ‘wooooooo!’ I wanted that. I wanted to be
different. The
norm is to see a pretty black girl out there singing ‘Oh baby I love
you! Come
home I miss you!’ and I’ve got my own thing. I really wanted to talk
about what
was going on in my life and in the life of my friends. Rock made it
happen.
At
what point did
songwriting figure into your life?
With MIX. I used to try to write. My cousin and I would try
to write songs when I was young and believe me, if you could read some
of the
things that I wrote, you would just die. It was so corny. It was pretty
awful.
I thought I could get a deal by singing these songs and they were just
horrible. When I met MIX, we did a lot of talking. All of the songs
came from
conversation and experiences. One
day I
was coming into the studio to record and he was like ‘You know, let’s
just sit
here and write.’ We actually wrote the songs on this album together.
That was
how I really started writing and I loved seeing how he would go about
writing a
song. It was a great experience.
What
songs stand out
for you the most and why?
I love the entire album, but ‘HO’ stands out for me the
most.
Yes! I
think you have
a hit with that one.
I really love that song. I think that it’s a really fun song
and it’s catchy. Personally, I love ‘WAY BACK HOME’. It’s a tribute to
my
roots. It’s dedicated to my grandfather. I love that song. It reminds
me of
home in so many respects. I love the title track ‘BLACK HOOD’. It’s an
in your
face type of song and I like in your face type of songs. I like songs
that make
you think. There are so many songs on this album like ‘GIRLFRIEND’. The
song
that I always had issues with was ‘THINK ABOUT ME’, which is the last
song on
the album. I love that song, but I was so afraid of how it would come
off. Now
that it’s actually on the album and now that I’ve listened to it a
couple more
times, I think that it’s a really good song and definitely one of my
standout
songs as well.
Are
there any live
shows at the moment?
We’re gearing up for some live shows now. I’ve just put
together this awesome band and we actually did a few rehearsals this
past week
and we’re going back into rehearsal made this weekend and we’re looking
to do
more shows next month and the month after. Hopefully people will get
the album
and start requesting to see me. I definitely have a really good show. I
think
it will be great for people to start going back to seeing live shows
and
hearing great music. It’s all about crowd participation with me.
Have
you gotten any
feedback with regard to the sound that you’re putting out now? Has it
been
along the lines of ‘what is this’?
Most of the feedback that I’ve gotten is mostly good
feedback. A lot of people are saying that it’s very refreshing and that
it’s
different than what the norm is right now. I know that tin this
business that
not everyone is going to like what you do but I make music for the
people who
will like it. I personally think of this as soul rock. My music is soul
rock
because I’m not a hardcore rock person. That’s not who I am but I do
appreciate
good music of all facets. For this album, we wanted live instruments.
Despite
what many people think, MIX is a rock guy. I was so shocked. You would
think
that because he is a rapper and did ‘BABY GOT BACK’ that he wouldn’t be
into
things like KORN and SLIPKNOT. He’s actually turned me on to more rock
music
than I was into before I started working with him.
I’m
gonna have to
interview him one day just so I can get a sense of this myself.
Yeah.
Every
time I think of
his name, I think of two large, brown, butt cheeks squished together.
You’re
not the first to tell me that MIX is a rock guy, so I’d love to talk
with him
one day.
He’s a great guy and he’s very open. As a society I think we
need to get to the point where music is music. I love country. I love
all kinds
of music. If it’s good music and it touches my soul then I like it and
I don’t
care what color the person is. If we could get that going, then there
would be
so much damage out here. There are a lot of talented people out here.
When PINK
came out, she was R&B but that wasn’t her. Then she came out a
second time
and did it here way. I love music. She’s true to herself and is still
able to
get that back audience or that R&B audience. The music she is
putting out
is good music. For me that is the biggest thing – putting out good
music.
In the
opening of ‘HO’,
is that you and MIX on the phone?
That is!
Improvised
or
scripted?
Improvised! Definitely improvised! He is not a scripted
person, believe me.
Playing
darts? That
was too funny!!
That’s why I was like ‘Darts? Are you kidding me?’ That’s
how we are. When we get together, we talk and that is always the best
way for
us to do things. We knew that the song was great but we needed a way to
bring
it in. We had to gear people up for it. He was recording and I didn’t
even know
that he was recording. He is not a scripted person at all and that is
what I
love about him. He has taught me so much by being on the road with him
and
learning to be able to be on the fly and to be able to relate to your
audience.
Prior to meeting MIX, I used to sing at talent shows and the church
choir and
everything there is so confined and perfect. You had to look like this,
sing
like this and act like this. With MIX, it’s an audience that stands up
and
screams and moves. They don’t just sit there and watch you. It’s
totally
different. I got to put a little bit of myself in there and what I know
from my
past. It’s been a wonderful ride so far and I can’t wait to get out
there and
do some shows and see what I can do.
What
would you like
someone to come away with after they’ve heard this album?
I would like people to come away realizing that there are
many side to a person and that it’s okay to talk about these things.
I’m hoping
that these songs bring about conversation. Maybe someone could listen
tot a
sing like ‘HO’ and know that they’ve been in that situation or maybe
they’ll
listen to a song like ‘WHAT SHE GAVE’ and a young woman can come to the
realization that they don’t want to be in that position. I think the
songs represent
every personality that I have and everything about me and hopefully it
will
touch someone else.