Welcome to Buzz, Rio! We love the raw and genuine lyrics in Gabrielle's recent single, "Life's Been Crazy." What inspired you to write this song with Gabrielle?
First and foremost, I want to say Gabrielle is absolutely an incredible songwriter. I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was in the studio with her friends, family, Ivan, and myself. I started playing the main progression you hear in the song on the keyboard, and then Ivan added some drums to it.
After that, I went into the studio recording booth and just did a melody. One thing with Gabrielle and myself: I would just do a melody, and then Gabrielle would just fill in the words.
As time passed and I was in the main studio room, letting the music loop while talking with her family and friends, we noticed that Gabrielle just went off in her own space. I remember walking into the vocal room and seeing her sitting on the floor with a pen and paper in her hand, tears falling down her face. She was crying all out. I asked her if she was okay.
She looked up like she was okay, and I knew she was ready to record. We went back in, and I was like, yo, she's ready to record. And what y'all are hearing is Gabrielle singing that song in one take. That's the first and final cut of her singing the song all the way through. She was literally crying as she was recording the song. It was an incredible moment that none of us will ever forget.
You have had an illustrious career and are still writing that story. You have worked with a list of fascinating artists. How did you meet Gabrielle? Or what’s the story of how you all connected?
Thank you. I appreciate it; I'm always in the business of trying to find talent. So, I came across Gabrielle singing on the Instagram Explore page, and she was just singing a cappella, like maybe 15, 20 seconds, and I immediately noticed her tone. That's the first thing I noticed. I was like, oh, who is this? Her tone is incredible, and I just wanted to know more about her and what she was doing with her incredible voice, so I reached out to her.
We talked back and forth a few times, and then we just started working on music within a week or two right after that. It was so organic, and it felt like we were meant to work together. Our creative chemistry is one of a kind. The most amazing part was that we did two music videos and recorded five songs before the meeting. We worked together for an entire year-long before we even met in person. That was awesome!
What was the process like writing with her? Is working with artists just beginning their journey easier or more challenging?
You would think that it would be more challenging, right? She was not new to working with music, but as far as our working together, she was fairly new in the music business. It's like we were meant to work with each other. Everything just flows, and it’s always easy.
I remember I sent a melody to Gabrielle, and she was able to fill in the melody with her lyrics perfectly. I would tell her repeatedly that I've worked with many songwriters, but I've never worked with a songwriter who can fill in every melody with the perfect word. She's an exceptional songwriter. So, working with her is super easy.
It was said that you are positioning yourself to still do collabs with established artists, but your heart and passion is in developing artists. Please tell us more and how can developing artists work with you?
Well, I'm a firm believer in the process. I believe that every artist you have to go through this process of learning how to become an artist, how to speak, how to deal with the music industry, how to move in the music industry, you know, how to deal with people even if you don't like them, and that's something that you have to learn. Every profession, if you think about it, has to go through a process. Like to become a doctor, you have to go through a process to become a doctor.
To become a lawyer, you have to go through a process. But for some reason, people think you can just wake up and become an artist and be famous and know how to deal with it. I think artist development is where you learn these skills and where you learn your sound as an artist, your identity as an artist, again, and how to move as an artist.
I have a great passion for finding, discovering, and helping develop artists. I think that's important and something that I have a true passion for, and I will continue to do that as far as in my music career. I will say that every single time I've worked with a new artist who's come out on a major label, they've either been nominated for a Grammy Award or they have won a Grammy Award. Ashanti's first album won a Grammy Award. B.J., the Chicago Kid's first album, I believe five times he was nominated for that album that year. Cardi B's first album, which she won. So, I just think the developmental process when it comes to working with artists is so important.
What are you looking for? What makes an artist someone you feel has “it?"
I come from the era where artists, you know, the Ushers, the Michael Jacksons, the Janet Jacksons, the Mariah Careys, the Whitney Houston, it's like they all had this certain look, right? Please don't take this the wrong way, but I feel like the difference between an artist and a singer is that an artist can walk into a room full of people, and by the time they get from one side of the room to the next, at least half of the room is going to turn around and say, yo, who is that?
And I feel like if you look at the megastars in the industry, they all have that thing that when they walk into a room, they just have this energy, this personality, this look, this vibe about them to say, who is that? And when you can get half of the room or more to say that for walking from one side of the room to the next, to me, that's when you know you have an artist. And then from that point, you add on or they can sing, you add on their talents and work ethics.
Known as Rio, They Need A Hit…when you hear “Life’s Been Crazy '' do you say to yourself, this is a hit, or are you supercritical, hearing more to be done or improved upon?
I've been in this business for a long time. I knew once this song was recorded, immediately after Gabrielle recorded this song, I looked at her mom, I looked at her friends who were in the studio, and I looked at producer Ivan, who was also in the studio with me, and I said, bro, this is a hit song. I said this is a hit song. I knew immediately that this was a hit song, and the way that people are responding to it now is proof that I wasn't wrong. The amount of people who are loving this song, the streams, the Instagram reels, which is like at three million right now, and we're just on the second week, it just shows the magnitude of what this song can become. As much as I can take credit, I say it again: Gabrielle wrote an incredible song, and she's literally crying on this song when you listen to it.
What was your favorite part in creating this song?
My favorite part about creating this song was the process. We literally started with just some chords; the fact that we were able to create this song with her friends and family in the room, the fact that she wrote this song on a pen and paper, and the fact that she was crying while writing the song, the fact that she was crying while recording the song, the fact that it's a real story about her life, the process of creating this song by far is one of the best sessions I've ever been a part of.
And I'm not just saying it, being a prisoner of the moment, I really feel this way from the bottom of my heart. This is probably one of the best recording sessions I've ever been a part of because after she recorded and did her one-take, everybody in that room had tears in their eyes.
Not a single person was just sitting there like, oh, cool. Everybody had watery eyes. Some people were crying because she was crying, and the words were so heartfelt. She really is a single mom with two babies, and she did have to work two jobs, and she did struggle.
So it's just such an incredible story, and I hope the world, I know the world, I see the world already gravitating to this song. Mark my words: Life Been Crazy is a hit record.