
Lil Wayne 'jumped on it,' Raymond v. Raymond writer tells Mixtape Daily.
By Alvin Blanco, with reporting by Rob Markman
Behind the Beats: Rico Love
If more people read the credits behind some of R&B's biggest hits, Rico Love should be a household name. Born Richard Preston Butler Jr., the former Florida A&M University student is now one of the music industry's most-sought-after singer/songwriters.
After writing hits for Usher ("There Goes My Baby"), Beyoncé ("Sweet Dreams") and Diddy-Dirty Money ("Hello Good Morning"), to name a few, one of Rico's biggest hits to date is Kelly Rowland's "Motivation."
"It came about in a truly organic way," Rico told Mixtape Daily of the Jim Jonsin-produced "Motivation." "We had this meeting in New York: myself and Sylvia [Rhone] and Kelly. And they just were saying, 'We need to find that single; we need that big single.' Everybody was asking for an uptempo, actually.
"I flew down to Miami the next day, and that Tuesday, we got back in the studio, and Jim started playing these chords, and then coming up with these little sounds — the signature sounds that Jim comes up with. I just told him to lay it like a skeleton idea, and I jumped in the booth, and I started with the verse, and I kind of sang my way all the way through the record."
Rowland, formerly of Destiny's Child, was in the studio while Rico was laying down the reference track and made her regard for the song known immediately. "Kelly was there and watched the whole process," Rico recalled. "As soon as I finished singing the demo, usually an artist wants to live with it or listen to it for a little while. She just said, 'I want to cut it right now.' So she jumped in the booth, and we cut the record."
"Motivation" became the lead single for Rowland's third album, Here I Am, which was released in April. The song, which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, features a verse from Lil Wayne.
"Lil Wayne got out of jail a few days later, and as soon as he got out of jail, [Rowland] went to see him, and he jumped on it," Rico explained. "It was the most organized situation ever. It was nothing contrived about it."
There's been nothing manufactured about Rico's accomplishments either. Starting his musical career as a rapper, he has signed former Roc-a-Fella rapper Young Chris to his Universal/Motown-distributed Division 1 label.
After leaving Florida A&M to pursue music, Rico caught the attention of Usher, and penned songs for the R&B singer, including "Throwback." Other artists soon benefitted from his songwriting, including T.I., Pleasure P and Mario. Rico takes pride in being versatile with his talents, preferring not to make specific songs intended for specific artists only.
"Sometimes, when you keep an artist in mind, you'll limit yourself," Rico explained. "You won't go a place that they probably would go because you're thinking, "Nah, she wouldn't say this," or "He wouldn't do this," or "He wouldn't say this," and "This melody is out of the way for them."
"When I get a chance to just get into the studio and just write music and just produce music and sit at the piano and tell a guy where I want to hear the chords and create the progressions and just freely make music, it's a lot more fun."
Lately, Rico has been back in the studio with Usher. In 2007, he was signed to the singer's former US Records via J Records. But his debut album was never released, and he and Usher went their separate ways.
But as Rico become a songwriting force, the two eventually started working together again. The first song they recorded was the Grammy-winning "There Goes My Baby" from 2010's Raymond v. Raymond. Now, Rico is working on Usher's forthcoming album and embracing the pressure of surpassing its predecessor's platinum sales and critical success.
"I feel like this is what separates the boys from the men," Rico said of working with Usher. "This week, we been creating records together. We had two mics, two headphones set up in the booth, and we just sit there and vibe out.
"These first few days have been amazing. We got four records cut so far that sound super amazing. I'm super excited about it. I'm just anxious for the world to hear it."
For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.
Related Videos Related ArtistsSinger surrounded by paparazzi after his Ferrari was dinged.
By Gil Kaufman
Justin Bieber
Photo: WireImage
Just two days after taking home a Moonman at the VMAs, Justin Bieber chalked up another young pop star rite of passage: his first paparazzi-witnessed fender bender.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Bieber was in a minor auto accident on Tuesday in the San Fernando Valley, caused by a Honda Civic that collided with his black Ferrari. "No one was injured and there was no damage to either vehicle," the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement. Of course, when LAPD officers rolled up, they were the second ones to arrive on the scene, trailing a horde of photographers who were eagerly snapping away at the 17-year-old singer, who was driving the car. The accident reportedly occurred in an underground parking structure, when the Civic driver attempted to drive around Bieber's luxury ride and its front side clipped the left rear side of the "Baby" singer's car, according to E! Online.
Check out backstage photos of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez at the VMAs.
There was an unidentified passenger in the car believed to be Bieber's assistant. No police report was taken, as there was no visible damage to either car.
The crash came less than 48 hours after Bieber scooped up the Best Male Video award at the VMAs for his "U Smile" video, and surprised viewers by showing up to the big show toting his snake ("Johnson"), not to mention planting a kiss on the cheek of his lady love, VMA pre-show host Selena Gomez.
The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards have wrapped, but the real action is just getting started! Stick with MTV News for winners, fashion pics, video and behind-the-scenes stories about everything that went down. Visit VMA.MTV.com for the latest.
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Hashtags #whatwillgagawear and #DemiYouAreBeautiful also made an impact on Sunday.
By Kara Klenk
Lady Gaga at the 2011 VMAs
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
Just as predicted, the 2011 Video Music Awards generated even more buzz than last year, with over 3 million tweets sent from 8 p.m. ET at the start of the pre-show until the end of the West Coast broadcast, 11 p.m. PT. Which makes perfect sense when we're talking about a show in which Selena Gomez interviewed Justin Bieber, Britney and Gaga almost made out, and, oh yeah, Beyoncé announced her pregnancy!
Female artists definitely ruled Twitter this year. Bey's baby news made her the most tweeted-about celeb overall, with the first twitpic of her touching her pregnant stomach on the red carpet passing 600,000 views in six hours. In that same six-hour window, the VMA Twitter Tracker clocked the top subject as Nicki Minaj in the first hour, Adele in the next, and then Lady Gaga and Beyoncé alternating in the final hours. But the guys weren't far behind, with Jay-Z and Kanye West (a.k.a. the Throne), Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and Tyler, the Creator giving the ladies a run for their money.
Britney Spears talks about Jo Calderone after their onstage encounter.
For the entire duration of the VMAs, over half of the worldwide Twitter trends were VMA related, and at points they dominated eight or nine of the top 10 trends. Trends tended to coincide with a celeb's arrival (Wiz and Amber), a live interview (Selena and Justin) or the live performances (Adele). But some humorous trends emerged as well: The Karate Kid himself, Ralph Macchio, might have been surprised to see his name trending if he didn't tune in to see his doppelganger, Lady Gaga as Jo Calderone, appearing several times throughout the show. And Happy Trees trended briefly after Rick Ross appeared in a sketch in the show channeling the late painter and personalitya Bob Ross.
The trend #whatwillgagawear was one of the longest running of the evening, as was BEYONCE IS PREGNANT, which clearly called for caps, and #DemiYouAreBeautiful was a message to Demi Lovato from her many fans. Joe Jonas, Bruno Mars, Adele and Justin Bieber were all the subject of trends with words of encouragement started by their supporters.
The Twitter Tracker is continuing to monitor VMA activity, under top 10 celebs to check it out and see who's up in the days following the big show!
Top 10 celebs by number of mentions:
Beyoncé 280,000
Lady Gaga: 237,000
The Throne: 183,000
Adele: 159,000
Chris Brown: 110,000
Lil Wayne: 104,000
Tyler, the Creator: 72,000
Nicki Minaj: 66,000
Bruno Mars: 57,000
Katy Perry: 54,000
The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards have wrapped, but the real action is just getting started! Stick with MTV News for winners, fashion pics, video and behind-the-scenes stories about everything that went down. Visit VMA.MTV.com for the latest.