Jagged Edge (July 2007)
Wingo: What's happening man?
MiddleChild: Nothing much? What you got going on?
Wingo: Me and Brandon just in the studio with our producers and engineers. We just, you know...
MiddleChild: Working it out. So tell me what we can expect from this new album you got coming for us in September.
Wingo: What you can expect from this album is bigger Jagged Edge, but heat! Let me tell you something. These boys, we done got back with JD and it's going all the way down. We know we really love him and cause he worked on all of our projects. He really didn't have much input on the last two projects, so until now. He's our eye to eye. He's creative, so it's going down. "The Baby Making Project".
MiddleChild: So do you feel that the last album wasn't true "J.E." since it had no real affiliation with So So Def or JD?
Wingo: It's always true J.E. because we've written everything you've ever heard from Jagged Edge. It's just that we kind of parted ways with Columbia Records and Sony because of our experience with them. You know things just happen so we made due and fulfilled our obligations, so they let us go and we got back with family. And it's going down from there.
MiddleChild: Okay. And what do you feel is going to make this album more successful than the last one?
Wingo: Just Jagged Edge man. Def Jam/Island Records gave us our label deal. 551 Music, so it's cool. It's going down man. We're excited about this project. Everyone at the label. The executives, marketing and promotions, radio, everything. Everyone is excited that Jagged Edge is in the building, man. That's all we've ever wanted, you know?
MiddleChild: I hear that. So you mentioned JD working on the album. Who else did you fellas hook up with for the project?
Wingo: Naw, basically it's Jagged Edge and JD. It's another reason we got back with him. He believes in our creative side. He believes in our work ethic. The whole nine. So we did half the album and he did the other half. So you know, two heads are better than one baby.
MiddleChild: Aight. So you got this new single out with Ashanti called "Put A Little Umph In It". How did you guys come to the decision to let her lace the record with you?
Wingo: Well basically, Ashanti been doing her thing and the Twins happened to have did Ashanti's demo tape. Her first demo tape down here in Atlanta, so the relationship has always been there. We've always been cool. So friends, business partners, the whole nine, so wwe just wanted to hook back up with her. She is sexy, she sounded good on the record, Let's go!
MiddleChild: As far as the image this time around. What you plan on bringing the ladies who adore you and the fellas who want your style?
Wingo: We gon give you Jagged Edge. We've always given you Jagged Edge man. Fresh to def with a little edge to it. You know? That's how we do it. We grew up in Atlanta, so you know that swagger. That "A Town" Swagger. That southern hospitality. That's what we tryna give you. We ain't tryna invite none of that negative BS. We tryna focus on Jagged Edge and being successful in this business. More successful. We thank God for the road we've taken, but we're tryna be more successful.
MiddleChild: Alright. As far as the music scene today, there are not many male groups out or I guess groups period. We saw a shift in music where groups were sort of ushered out or put to the back. How do you plan on helping to bring groups back to the forefront?
Wingo: Well Jagged Edge. We're here. We're the only one. We're the last band standing. We plan on holding that title until someone comes in and pushes us out. Like Jagged Edge, we're still here. We love music. When you're with the same guys everyday, you're gonna have your differences because everybody wants to win. It may come at a different angle on how to win, but it's all for the same purpose. So that's what it's all about at the end of the day. If everybody got the same purpose and that purpose is to win, then shit you can't lose.
MiddleChild: Right. Right. Last year when I spoke with you after you dropped the last project you told me that although you had just released that one, you fellas were already like six to eight songs deep into the new album. So I'm curious to know how many total songs you did for "The Baby Making Project".
Wingo: Let me tell you. We're always recording. We've completed "The Baby Making Project" and we're already eight songs in for the next project. What JD wants to do is give yall a little reintroduction to Jagged Edge. Let yall know we here and this is like an appetizer. We gon actually drop another album late December, early January. So we back to back with it.
MiddleChild: So how does that work. Will that not conflict with the promotion for the current album or do you plan to push both albums at the same time?
Wingo: It's not going to conflict. We gon hit you with two quick videos and we out man. Jagged Edge, we got so much bottled up inside us and we have to get it out man. You can't do that by laying off for a year or two or three. We do music everyday. All the time man. New ideas come up. We might do three to four songs a day. Easy. That's what we do. We love music. That's what we're here for. We give yall music.
MiddleChild: And from the title of this new cd alone, I am expecting to hear some grown and sexy ballads. Harmony and love type songs. Do yall still take us to the club with this album?
Wingo: Oh yea. Definitely. We gon get you in the clubs. That's one thing that we got. We got them hot ballad joints in the club. You gon get your uptempos and your party songs and your get crunk songs, but I mean come on. What's Atlanta? Strip club capitol. So we in the strip club on this album baby. We got the slow jam stuff. That's how it go.
MiddleChild: Are we still going to get one of your songs. You told me you were going to submit some of your tracks for the new project also where you were up front. We still going to get those?
Wingo: Most definitely man. Believe that too. It's going down. I did one of the first sessions. We just work man. We ain't gon over over over kill you, we gon give you Jagged Edge all the time. When you come see the shows, you really gon get Jagged Edge. I got a few joints on the album, but like I say, come see us live. Come see us live.
MiddleChild: When are you hitting the road for us?
Wingo: Actually, they tryna hook us up a House of Blues Tour early fall, beginning of September. Go around and do like thirty to forty dates on a nice little House of Blues joint and then after that, they tryna hook up a big Def Jam arena joint. So we tryna be all over. It's going down.
MiddleChild: No doubt. Well we will keep the people posted on that when dates become available. Seeing that you have done this thing for well over a good decade plus, what would you say is the biggest lesson that you fellas not only learned as a group, but also as individuals?
Wingo: As a group, we've matured and we know what it takes to get the job done. That's why we're here. To get the job done. What we've learned about the game is to be true to it. Love your fan base. Without your fan base, you ain't nothing man. Alot of the time, we might be in a bad mood. We get those too man, but you may be in a bad mood or whatever and a fan may come up to you and you're not in the mood to give it up right now, but you still gotta give it up man. That's what it's about. That's why we're here. At the end of the day, when we put out them albums and the fans go get the albums and they say something about it changed their lives, that's all it's about.
MiddleChild: Cool. Well we will definitely look out for the album. Dropping September 25th, right?
Wingo: September 11th, I'm sorry. September 11th.
MiddleChild: Alright. Yall shot a video for the single yet?
Wingo: We're shooting it this weekend!
MiddleChild: That's what's up. Well good luck with that and the albums. We'll keep everyone posted.
Wingo: Thanks alot my man.
MiddleChild: No problem. Have a good one.
Wingo: You too.
