Adrian Marcel is a storyteller. He makes beautiful music and he without a doubt knows exactly what you’ve been through.
His speaking voice is just as smooth as his singing voice, and he’s “hella” sweet [as my ode to his hometown in the Bay Area.]
You can tell from his records, but even more so once you get to know him a little better, that his star will grow and make a comfortable place for itself in the R&B scene.
I chopped it up with the recent Atlanta transplant, where I had the chance to get to know him a bit better, and as a fan of his music, the stories behind his latest mixtape 7 Days of Weak made the album even more likeable.
7 Days of Weak has continuous themes of love, love lost, infidelity and just the right amount of drug references – it’s not too hard and not too soft. There’s no signs of weakness – all real, raw emotion.
Raphael Saadiq’s co-sign of Adrian is enough, but he has everything and more to back it up. Raphael got himself a winner with AM.
Check out what he had to say below…
On getting his start:
I had been talking to my manager, Yancey Richardson, he had seen some different shows that I did around Oakland, he had just been kind of keeping up with me and we had a lot of dialogue, talking about plans and ideas and things, and he had to get his ducks in order, and they ended up flying me out [to Atlanta] last year around January and I was supposed to only be out here for about 2 months, I was gonna record about 30 songs and just make a demo, but 2 months turned into me living here and I never went back. I had 2 outfits. I moved here on faith and it just ended up happening for me.
We recorded some music and ended up signing with Republic in April of 2012.
On meeting Raphael Saadiq:
My managers were doing some work with Raphael and they slipped some music of mine to him. He heard it, he liked it, he flew me out, we met up, we talked, we had a long conversation, it came to be we had a lot of the same views on things, we come from the same neighborhood, we both grew up in east Oakland, he took a liking to the music and I mean, he’s just a musical genius, so how could you not feel blessed to be in his presence. Just to be able to work with him and for him to even give me the time of day, we built a good bond and that’s like my big brother now. The rest is just history. We started working and the next thing you know, 7 Days of Weak was created.
On connecting with the fans:
That’s always what I wanted as a fan, as a supporter of an artist, I always wanted to be able to feel like there was that moment. Even when twitter first kind of came about there was that moment where you were like ‘I want so-and-so to tweet me back’, as a fan, that’s a big moment, and though I don’t feel like I’m that big or I’m worthy of that, there are fans of mine, twitter followers of mine that do and they let me know it like ‘wow I got retweeted by him’ and then I have to stop and think like ‘wow, this is something that I wanted as a fan.’
Connecting with them is so important. At the end of the day this is who it’s for, that’s what I do this for. This is who’s buying it, these are the people who are helping it spread the word. We went out and we passed CDs out hand-by-hand and it was by word-of-mouth that it got to these other places and other people that I had no idea it could and it’s in that connection that it’s holding on.
As it gets bigger of course it gets harder to connect with everybody when you’re getting hit so much but I never want to lose that about me, that I do do everything in my power to connect and continue talking to them. We’re not busy 24 hours a day, there is some time that you can take and give to them, because they give so much to you.
On joining The Lights Out Tour with Kelly Rowland & The-Dream
It was weird because I got thrown into it. We had just come back from Oakland, I did a homecoming week for Memorial Day Weekend and we were just going everyday, just jam packed and right when I thought I was gonna get a break, come back to Atlanta for a few days, they called me up and said ‘hey, everything you got, take it to Baltimore, that’s where you’re headed’ and all of a sudden it was like ‘wow, we’re on the tour’ I didn’t even have time to celebrate.
It was definitely a great experience, it was all that I dreamed of being even though it wasn’t the most lavish thing, but it was what it needed to be for me. It was constant moving – you go from hotel to hotel. You get up, get on the plane, go check-in at the hotel, try to get some sleep but then you have to get ready to go to sound check, you do sound check, you sit up, you wait, you go, you perform, you watch the show, you go back to the hotel, you wake up, you do it all over again, it’s like, ‘oh, ok’ you really just gotta be mentally ready and just physically healthy and good to go, because it’s fast-paced but it’s exciting, if you love doing music, if you love singing, it’s exciting.
On his mixtape, 7 Days of Weak:
7 Days of Weak is kind of a mixture of different music. Some of the songs we did earlier, before the deal, most of them were after. Our thing is we just record. Whether we have any deadlines, our thing is we’re gonna record 30 songs and we’re gonna knock them out. And once we do 30 we’re gonna do another 30. We’re always recording. So it was kind of easy, but I think the hardest part was picking which songs to put on it, honestly. That was the hardest part. It wasn’t getting the songs, it was picking through them. The decision is what took the longest. I wanna say about 2 or 3 months.
On his favorite songs from the album:
Besides “Waiting” I’d have to say – even though it’s all of them, I love all of them, but “Change My Life” would have to be my #1. It’s absolutely honest and everyone can relate to the song. It shocked me when we did it because I was like ‘wow’ I became a fan of my own music. I don’t want that to sound cocky but I truly did, it was just an amazing record to me. It’s exactly what I hoped it would be – a great record that people can enjoy, truly believe in and find inspiration in.
On the raw emotion in the album:
I have to give all that credit to my best friend and my writer Jane Hancock. We went to the same school, we grew up together and she’s always been my right hand and also [being in the process] and us illustrating those emotions. I’m just not afraid to be me, to let it all be out there, to wear my emotions on my sleeve, I’ve always been that way and my team has always been very supportive in helping me stay that way and stay grounded and humble and just be myself. Like you said they sound like diary entries and it’s crazy that you say that because in a way they are. I like to tell stories, I love that about my music.
Me and L7, we definitely work hard to make that a core part of who we are and the music that we make because it is personable, you have to be able to relate to it at the end of the day. I don’t always go to the club, pop bottles in VIP, I’m not always out partying so I have to speak of what I know and what’s real to me and the things that touch me and what do I know about? Different relationships and being hurt and being in love and when I’m in love I wanna talk about the most vivid love and when I’m hurt I wanna talk about the most vivid hurt. I want you to see the picture, and in diary entries that’s usually when you give that picture because it is a personal thing, a personal feeling, I want to be able to connect with my audience so I think that’s the best way to do it, is to just let it all be out there an
d for them to be able to see it raw like that, so that it’s like ‘ok, wow I can relate to that, i can connect with that’
What’s coming up next:
We have a new mixtape about to drop at the end of this month [so that should be like any day now!] Can’t say the name yet. It’s definitely gonna be something to remember in my opinion. If you love 7 Days of Weak and you got what I hope you got from it, then you’re gonna truly, truly love and appreciate and understand just who I am. I feel like this next mix tape is really gonna give you Adrian Marcel, even more. Like you said 7 Days felt like diary entries – this is more in depth I wanna say and I think that’s what people appreciate about my music and I just wanna make sure I’m giving them exactly what they want.
So we have that coming out, we’re getting ready to shoot the video for “Waiting” finally, I’m excited because a lot of people have been hitting me up asking when it’s gonna come out, so I’ve been waiting too, so that’ll be out really soon. And like I said, we’re always recording, doing a lot more shows now, so I should be in a city near you very soon, I’ll be out there giving my all.
What he’s listening to:
I’m scattered all over the place. 2 Chainz, Drake, we got some Maxwell in there, we got some Chris Brown, we got some E40, I’ve just recently been on this whole Dr. Dre tip, Kendrick Lamar, One Republic. I’m all over the place.
On his influences:
I grew up listening to Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Aretha, Patti LaBelle, Maxwell, Michael Jackson and Prince. As I got older I started getting more into my generation so of course ya know Usher, Ginuwine. Anybody who was just a great vocalist who you could feel their passion for what they do I pull inspiration from.
Adrian’s message to the fans:
I want to let all my fans and all my supporters know I love you guys, you’ve been great supporters – thank you for all the love and support, I’m going to continue to do my best to connect with you guys and bring you great music, quality music. All of this is still new to me so I appreciate it all. I can’t thank you enough.
You can download his mixtape, 7 Days of Weak HERE. Follow him on twitter @AdrianMarcel510, tell him @RachelSamara sent you.
