Los Angeles Hip Hop

Exclusive Interview: James Elizabeth

Meet the Bay Area blonde haired beauty James Elizabeth, a strong and independent signer who hails from the West Coast, specifically the Bay Area.

After a successful run in with a manger that lead her to Bay Area musical mogul Mike Mosley, James Elizabeth began working with the super producer, as she laid down hooks for numerous of his projects.

Coming up in the Bay Area, James Elizabeth talks to us about the melting pot she grew up around, but why she loves the Bay Area and what it’s taught her.

After working with Bay Area veterans such as Too $hort and E-40, Elizabeth met with Bay Area legend Big Hollis, and the chemistry was instant.

Hollis has since produced an entire project for James Elizabeth, “Bipolar”, and that is the main topic of conversation throughout this interview.

James Elizabeth on MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/jameselizabethhagen

Enjoy…

Q&A:

Interview: We’re right here with singer James Elizabeth. The first thing we want to know is, how did you get your start in singing?

James Elizabeth: When I was 18, I moved to Los Angeles.  I moved into a one-bedroom apartment with 2 other girls. We couldn’t afford TV so one of my roommates and I went down to the lobby to watch TV. A Mariah Carey song came on and I started singing it with the TV pretty loud because I didn’t think anyone else was there. But someone was getting off the elevator was and he came over to the lobby and asked who was singing? I said who wants to know? Only because I had been warned everyone was a “producer” in Los Angeles. At least they were gonna’ say that and want something else.  But he gave me his card and I called and we ended up going in and recording a few songs. He sent them to the label he was working with at the time and they really liked it. From there we recorded the album and that’s how I got my very first start.

Basically, a few years ago I ran into this guy who used to manage Mike Mosley. His name was Robert (Bowen). He was talking to me about whom he represented and everything. I believe you only get one shot to really impress people, so I kind of made more of the situation than it was. I got myself in there with him and he let me sing over the phone for [Mike] Mosley. It went about like that and I started singing hooks for them. Eventually I started writing my own stuff.

Interview: Ok, that must have been surreal. Mike Mosley has sold millions of records.

James Elizabeth: Yeah, he’s pretty phenomenal. Especially coming from the Bay Area, it was a very surreal experience. Mike Mosley is someone I always wanted to work with. It definitely was something I knocked off the list of goals I wanted to accomplish in my career.

Interview: So what was it like coming up in the Bay Area?

James Elizabeth: The Bay has a very different vibe than a lot of the areas I’ve been in. I’ve also lived in Los Angeles and New York for extended periods of time. It’s sort of a melting pot out here [the Bay Area] as far as different cultures and different types of people. Being raised here around all those different things, it’s pretty cool to get influenced from different types of cultures and different vibes. A lot of people come to the Bay Area because it’s so culturally different and there’s so much going on here. It’s sort of an area where you can meet someone at any given time from all over the world. A lot of people come here and basically set up shop here. I love the Bay Area. It gives you a well-rounded perception of all the different types of people you can meet in the world. Everybody just gets along out here; I love that too.

Interview: No doubt. How did you begin working with Big Hollis?

James Elizabeth: I did a song with Too $hort and we shot a video for it. The video director, his name is Hayves Streeter and when I was trying to get the album together, I have a bunch of different types of songs, but I didn’t have a direct channel direction in which my album was going to go in. I told the video director that I was looking for more beats and different producers to work with. Mike Mosley is constantly traveling all over the place and he’s been spending a lot of time in Atlanta as of late.

The video director drove me out to Sacramento and I got to meet with Big Hollis. We hit it off immediately and he’s super talented. I gave him my vision of where I was at artistically. He picked up what I was putting down and it meshed really well. That’s alongside Ronnie “Preach” Walton who worked on the entire record with us as well.

Interview: You mention meshing well. Was that chemistry with Big Hollis instantly there or was it something that needed to be worked on?

James Elizabeth: No, it was instantly there. We were just goofing off together. A lot of my album has some crazy stuff that I’m talking about. I’m that type of girl that if you can’t handle what I’m talking about, I don’t really care – I’m not here to censor  myself for anybody. That was really important to me with the process of making my album. I was able to genuinely be who I am as an artist. Obviously, the people that you’re working with, to be able to bring the songs together, they need to understand that. Not just understand it, but roll with it. Both Big Hollis and Preach were very good about letting me explore all sides of my brain and where I was it with what I wanted to say. They didn’t try and censor me at all.

Interview: Give us some more details on the project you’ve been working on entirely with Big Hollis and Preach.

James Elizabeth: I was coming off a really bad breakup with a relationship I was in for a very long time. In the course of the relationship, the person I was when I started the relationship and the person I was afterwards were two different girls. My record is called “Bipolar.” I think some people have a chemical imbalance but I also think some people going through traumatic experiences can also become bipolar with the experiences that they’ve gone through and having a means of survival to get through things. That’s basically what my record is about – going through a really crazy relationship and how much love can really affect a person and change them for the better or worse depending on how you flip the situation. It’s about how I’ve dealt with all of those things.

Interview: “Bipolar” is quite the interesting title. Tell us about how that’s affected your personality.

James Elizabeth: I definitely think that when you go through an abusive experience or some of the crazy things I’ve gone through, sometimes when your that traumatized, I don’t feel like that sometimes as a normal person, you can’t handle everything that comes at you. Sometimes different faucets of your personality will become stronger depending on the situation you’re dealing with. It all depends on the certain instances and situations you’re put into. I’ve definitely had that happen to me; when I’ve had to stand up to somebody or if I’m stuck in a situation where I have to defend myself or if I’m put in an awkward position where I have to fight for something I believe in, or if I’m having a normal conversation like I’m having with you right now, it really depends on the situation I’m in, which girl you’ll be talking too (laughs).

Interview: (Laughs) Ok, no doubt. Who else appears on the “Bipolar” record?

James Elizabeth: Rick Rock is making an appearance on the record with me. We were kind of toying with the idea of having more features on the album, but because it’s such a personal record, and honestly because of the fact that recording me is like having three different girls on the album, it sort of feels like there are features on the album already (laughs). That’s not completely closed. We haven’t taken the album to mastering yet, so we have a couple weeks to figure that out, if we want to add anyone else.

But as mentioned, Rick Rock is on there and the song I did with him is called “Monster” and it’s ridiculous. It’s a really dope song. I think people will like that one a lot.

Interview: Ok Rick Rock appears, phenomenal. What’s the first single off the project?

James Elizabeth: We’re sort of in the air with that right now. We’re doing a listening party in two weeks to see which single we want to go with. We’ve narrowed it down to “51/50” or “The Night I Shot the DJ” (laughs).

Interview: That sounds like an interesting one. The DJ better play it, or else…

James Elizabeth: (Laughs) Exactly! Did you help me write this song?

Interview: (Laughs) it sounds like it, huh? I’m in your head on that one.

James Elizabeth: We may have to give you some copyrights on that one (laughs)

Interview: (Laughs) Seriously, I want my royalties.

James Elizabeth: (Laughs).

Interview: I understand there are certain things to be worked out, but what’s the label situation like right now?

James Elizabeth: I was going to come in with major distribution but upon going through this whole process, we figured out that it would be a better situation for me if I just did it independently.  When you’ve been in this business for a while and you work with good people, they generally have the contacts to make stuff happen. It’s a different game now thanks to the internet creating all the different ways that you can come into the game. It’s not necessary all depending on having a major label. It’s definitely something you want because they have a lot of contacts and the well-oiled machine to help plug you in.

But as an independent artist, to have a little more control over my masters and the process, already having the contacts to get my music out there myself, we’re going in that direction.

Interview: That’s the right direction to go in. with you being in charge of everything, are you eyeing a specific release date or time frame to get the record out?

James Elizabeth: We’re shooting to release in the end of summer – August, or beginning of September.

Interview: Cool. You’ve done some previous work with E-40 and Too $hort. Tell the readers about that.

James Elizabeth: As I said, growing up in the Bay Area, there are certain people that I really looked up to as a fan and that I wanted to work with. E-40 and Too $hort were definitely huge presences in the bay area. I told Mike Mosley that I wanted to work with them. I did a song with E-40 first. I didn’t get to record that with him. We sent him the track and he got on it.

I knew that when the time came for me to work with Too $hort, I wanted to actually be there with him during the creative process. It just provides a very different experience when you get to write the song with someone and sit in the studio and vibe with them, hold your own and throw ideas back and forth. I definitely enjoyed being able to go back and forth with Too $hort in the studio.

I want to do that with E-40 in the future for sure, if we happen to collaborate again. I’d like to write the song with E-40 as opposed to just sending him the track. Both of them are phenomenal artists though.

Interview: What’s next up for James Elizabeth?

James Elizabeth: Next up for James Elizabeth, we just finished wrapping up a couple videos and my album cover shoot is all done. Now it’s about choosing what material we want to put out. I’m definitely going to be releasing a single soon and from there, I’ll definitely be going on a promo tour and start meeting some people and let people get to know who I am as they hear some of my music.

Interview: No doubt. We wish you the best of luck with the project miss James Elizabeth. “Bipolar” the album will be in stores at the end of the summer. Will definitely keep in touch with you and get our readers updates on you when you’re ready. I really appreciate your time James; do you have any last words before I let you go?

James Elizabeth: Men should be very aware of the effect that they have on woman. I was treated in such a way that I was traumatized. I’m never gonna’ be the same girl again. As I say in “5150″, “I could’ve stayed the sweetest girl but you made me go psycho, insane, and now it might blow, up in your face.” I’m here to tell the females side and so are Suki and Karen. I may just be crazy now. But it’s his fault. And in “Monster” I say, “you made this crazy so… Deal with it baby no… Shady shit going down or your ass will end up under ground.” Sometimes I think it was good that I didn’t get what I really wanted for my birthday…  A gun.

James Elizabeth on MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/jameselizabethhagen

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