You’ve heard Harmony Samuels work before. Maybe it was only in passing, a catchy tune blaring from a car stereo at a stoplight. You probably wanted to dance.
The ubiquitous UK producer’s fingerprints are all over hits from Kelly Rowland, Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Lopez, and on and on. Most notably, he was behind Ariana Grande’s smash debut single, The Way, that inescapable pop/r&b masterpiece you just started humming to yourself.
Samuels moved to Los Angeles after catching the ear of legendary producer Rodney Jerkins. We met up at his Studio City studio to talk about the future of hip-hop, industry fol de rol, and keeping an ear to the ground.
Are you enjoying yourself?
Umm…yeah! There are ups and downs. I could bullcrap you right now and give you that industry answer.
I think one of the things I’m trying to show people is the authenticity of this music industry, and how to stay authentic in the music industry. So no it’s not always happy. Sometimes it’s really…painful. Sometimes you work more than you gain. And sometimes you gain more than you work. *Laughs
And you have where you’re really inspired and really motivated and you want to help the world. You’re like ‘I’m gonna do what Michael Jackson did, I’m gonna do what Jesus did and inspire the world.’ And then some days you’re just like, ‘Look. I’ll kill every one of you.’ *Laughs
On perseverance
As long as you’re a creative person you can never be washed up. You can never be shut down. You’re always one hit away from changing the world or touching the world. What I’m building myself toward is being happy with me and being happy with what I’ve done. Never really be depicted by the industry, but be depicted by the people who love the music. The industry are kind of like critics. They sit down and they say this sounds like a hit and this doesn’t.
But they’re kind of behind the curve, right?
They don’t know what’s going on. No disrespect to them, but you have a bunch of suits who don’t really listen to the music that’s coming from the ground. I’m pretty much from there. *Laughs
How do you still hear that music?
Ain’t nothing changed. *Laughs
The rent might change. The car might change. But I’m still the same person. I still roll to the same places that that music grew from, you know what I mean? And even though I live in Los Angeles, when I go home to London we’re still in that environment. Even in Los Angeles I go looking for those environments. You should never disconnect, cause that’s the future.
On the state of pop music
This generation hasn’t had its greatest superstars yet. It’s time. We’ve birthed some: Drake, Kendrick, J. Cole, the elite of this generation of rap. But there’s a new generation that’s coming through. Rae Sremmurd, etc. You gotta pay attention cause it’s shifting again. And it kind of shifted quite fast from when Drake and the rest came through. Jay-Z’s generation had a loooong run. It’s still running, but you’re talking 1994 through like 2009. It’s like ‘Do you stop’? *Laughter
But I’m excited, cause it’s time for new. I’ve helped birth one or two, Ariana Grande being one. Just being able to watch her go and become one of the leading female pop stars of our generation is awesome to me. And that’s where I get my fun. That’s what I get excited about.