Singer John West has been making waves in music with his two infectious singles “Lovely” featuring Pusha T and “Already There” featuring Big Sean.
Inspired by artists like Erykah Badu and Jack Johnson, John West (who playfully refers to himself as Kanye West’s cousin), is mastering the art of fusing genres with soulful ballads like “Nobody.”
GlobalGrind caught up with the busy singer to chit-chat about working with G.O.O.D. music artists Big Sean and Pusha T, performing on the street and of course, his forthcoming album.
Check out our exclusive interview below!
GlobalGrind: We really love your song “Already There” featuring Big Sean. How did you link up with him?
John West: Thank you so much. We got Brian Kennedy to make that beat. We’re still labelmates a little bit. He’s with G.O.O.D., but he’s also with the Def Jam camp. We had been talking about doing a collab with him. I went by a photo shoot that he was doing. He’s a really cool guy, super down to earth! We met up, and he already heard a song I had done with Pusha T called, “Lovely.” He was a fan of that, so I played him some records. Big Sean did his verse. That was really cool to get to collaborate with a rapper. It was a great deal of a co-sign.
How old were you when you first really started getting into music?
I was doing music back in high school. I went to a performing arts high school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. At the time, I was editing some of the musical theatre stuff, choir, but I was always writing songs on the side a little bit. It wasn’t until college I really started getting into the music. Until I started figuring out soul type chords!
Erykah Badu came out around the time I was in high school. Once I started figuring out the chords, I just started making songs. I went to Columbia College in Chicago and it wasn’t really until the end of college. Before that, I actually went to school to be a political cartoonist for a while, so I was doing that, comic strips.
You mentioned Erykah Badu, who else has influenced you musically or inspired you?
I remember when I was in college when Jack Johnson first came out! It was cool someone was playing an acoustic guitar. The guy had a laid back sort of vibe. I listened to some of that there.
Growing up, I never had a huge old school soul collection. I wasn’t some aficionado there. I was into some old stuff like Otis Redding. My sister got me into Cat Stevens. In high school, Erykah Badu came out, Lauryn Hill’s album dropped, and then from there, I sort of backtracked to check out The Fugees stuff, and Jill Scott.
As I continue to make music, I continue to be inspired by all of the cool stuff coming out. We got this great album that’s basically done now for the label, but I’m always working on a lot of cool home studio productions. As far as hip-hop, I think Drake has had a big influence on all sorts of urban music, especially when you’re a singer.
Yeah, Drake does the whole singing/rapping thing.
Yeah, and I got involved in the whole spoken word scene when I was out in Chicago. Then I saw hip-hop for the first time up close when I moved out there when I was in college, checked out the cypher, and seeing some kids breakdancing. Now I get to be the kid with the guitar, who instead of being another kid playing Dave Matthews Band covers in Baton Rouge, I have the label saying, “Oh you play guitar, put some chords behind this guy beat boxing.” Some of that introduction to the hip-hop scene, even youth poetry, the spoken word stuff, it was cool! It was a great time to spend my college years, as I was developing my music.
If you could work with anybody, a dream collaboration, whom would you work with?
There’s always my cousin Kanye West! He never texted me back. (laughs) Just playing!
You’ve already collaborated with Pusha T and Big Sean, so Kanye maybe next.
That would be amazing! I’m aiming high. Definitely hip-hop producers, other emcees. I love some of the rappers out of Chicago like Lupe Fiasco and Common. Any of that could happen, that would be amazing. If Rihanna’s ever down for collaboration, I’m definitely in! Let’s not forget about Rick Rubin!
What’s your favorite thing to do besides making music?
I live out in West Hollywood now. I think L.A.’s great because there are so many places to go within an hour of here. I’m really into going on adventures, trying to find unique areas of L.A. that I haven’t explored. I haven’t travelled abroad too much, but I think travelling and eating good food is the best way to spend your money and your time if you have a choice, besides making music.
If I sent you to a deserted island, and you could only bring three albums, what three albums would you bring?
Can I bring my own stuff? No, I’m just joking. (laughs) If I could bring three albums, and hopefully a CD player to play these albums, probably my favorite song would be from this one guy named Grant Green who has this one song called “Idle Moments.” I used to be really into the group Midnight Oil, an Australian rock band. They have an album called Diesel and Dust. It’s really good. Then, maybe something more soulful! I think a classic album. Although, I do like Carole King’s Tapestry. Maybe only classic tried-and-true classic albums, that would be the look.
You mentioned you like to do shows at the Paramount, what’s been one of your fondest memories while performing on the streets?
There’s always some nice moments. Sometimes people will come up, and be like, “We used one of your old songs at our wedding,” but I think probably the best times when you get a random crowd, and everybody’s vibing out. Probably the most memorable moment, one dude just walked by and pulled his pants down a bit, so he could sort of moon us, but he was sort of dancing. He was a little drunk. There’s a lot of awesome homeless drunk people at the Paramount.
Do you have any celebrity crushes?
Is Kim Kardashian going to put out an album? I have an on-going crush on Rihanna. She continues to kill it, and put out amazing music, and just looks awesome! It’s pretty much Kim and Rihanna.
What’s one thing people don’t know about you?
I was in a barbershop quartet in high school. We killed it! We were total ladies men. At least the main singer was. I was more like his wingman. That was amazing! I sang everything in my falsetto, the high voice. I also got busted in Utah for weed once. I got probation. That was the irony. I got busted in Utah in a National Park. I had to go to California where weed was legal. I had to get permission to leave the city for a year when I was doing a bunch of college shows. I like to say I was shot at one point. That’s my badass moment. I was in a barbershop quartet and I was put on probation.
What projects are you working on right now? You mentioned your album.
The album we’re hoping on dropping in the summer. We have a June or July release date for that, and that’s going to probably be called The Humble Hustle.
I love that, The Humble Hustle!
You like that. Yeah, that’s what I call my trials and tribulations on the Paramount. I think the whole album has that feel. It’s about the beautiful struggle for the vibe, keeping it upbeat, and some nice little love songs for Mercury/Island Def Jam we’re trying to drop over the summer. Besides that, I’m trying to always hook up with other emcees, other artists to do some features on their stuff. There’s Bobby Brackins who had the song “143,” a year or two ago, with Ray J. Remember that track?
We did a song together about a month ago. He’s looking to put out a new mixtape. I’m excited to share that with the world. It’s a little more like a dirty song, but you’ll have to wait for it. It’s really good though. Again, I’m working on some cool stuff in the home studio I’m hoping to put out. Even possibly as a separate project. Maybe this thing called Art of Conversation. I’m always working on new music. I’m not going to stop writing songs. You keep singing them; I’m a keep writing them. The Humble Hustle continues.
Is there anything else you would like to share with your fans?
Keep it humble! If at first you don’t succeed, add a monkey to your show, and if you want to hit me up on Twitter, @JohnWest. Also, “Already There” and “Lovely” featuring Pusha T are up on iTunes, so definitely check that out!
