Anthony Hamilton Shares the Point of It All
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Anthony Hamilton is on some new-new. Recently married and more comfortable with himself musically than he’s ever been, his newest album, Point of It All(due out Dec. 16) is a vivid portray of his fresh take on life. Decidedly more upbeat than his previous releases, his new project should show listeners a side of him that they haven’t seen before. –j.h.
So what direction did you take with Point of It All?
It’s a great album. I didn’t really have a direction. I didn’t want to do a 70s album with a twist, or none of that stuff. I just wanted to go in and make a great album and I wanted to make people dance a little more. That’s one thing I did concentrate on, trying to make people dance and boogie a little bit. I’m sure that will be something new for them.
With Ain’t Nobody Worryin’ you were doing a lot of social commentary—I always compare you to Curtis Mayfield because you can do the social stuff but then you write beautiful love songs as well. Can we check for that on this album?
Yeah, I think I have one or two records that are politically driven on the album. It’s not really political, but it has some social things going on in there—like how to have a good time even if you don’t have a lot of money.
Has your writing changed since you’ve been married?
Nah, I don’t think I really switched up. I try to be a little creative in terms of not saying the same thing twice.
This album is more dance friendly, do you think people have had a misconception of you musically in terms of what you can do and who you are as a person?
Well, I think people know musically that I can do ballads, I can do those songs all day. And they are expecting to do mostly ballads and they know I can do some hip-hop hooks all day. So for them to get a dance song, or something real urban, they might be like ‘oh my man’s trying to speed it up a little bit!’ They may not know about the boogie, and the boogie boy, the boogie man.
I think in your live shows people get more of a sense of who you are as an artist because you’re really playful on stage…
Yeah, they gotta see it first hand. You know how black folks is.
How long did it take for you to record this album?
I’ve been working on this album for a while now, probably like a year, year and a half. Off and on. Plus I had the time to do it. I wanted to take that time and enjoy recording and not be in a rush.
Do you think not being in a rush works to your advantage musically?
It was a headache. I had too many songs to choose from this time. Man, what you talkin’ bout? Nah, it was okay, but afterwards it was definitely challenging picking a song.
Do you think music’s role and artist’s roles change in times like these as the days get a little darker, or more troubled?
Yeah, because we can get the point across to the people when the president can’t get nobody to turn the TV on. People listen to music before they go to church and listen to the pastor because we gotta have it. It’s one of those things, music can get in there.
What are the key points to maintaining a healthy relationship?
Communication and respect are very important. If you don’t respect nobody you’re not gonna treat them good. Love yourself enough to want to make somebody else happy. If you can’t make yourself happy there’s no way you’re going to be able to make somebody else happy, it’s a lost cause.
Is that something you had to learn through experience?
Yeah, everything is learned though experience. You really get a chance to see it personally and make it make sense for you. Or not, and go out there and run into the first pole you see.
What do you want people to say about you when it’s all said and done?
That it’s sexy to be black…black and southern.Anthony Hamilton is on some new-new. Recently married and more comfortable with himself musically than he’s ever been, his newest album, Point of It All (due out Dec. 16) is a vivid portray of his fresh take on life. Decidedly more upbeat than his previous releases, his new project should show listeners a side of him that they haven’t seen before. –j.h.
