You can’t talk about urban songwriters without mentioning Terius Youngdell Nash, better known as The-Dream. From his signature “eh-eh-eh’s” on Rihanna’s smash hit, “Umbrella” to J. Holiday’s “Bed” to the relatable love tales he weaved on his own debut project, Love/Hate, there’s just something about The-Dream that people flock to.
As one of the few R&B cats that men publicly claim to like, The-Dream is a jack-of-all-trades. Having gotten the writing portion of his career down pat, he’s looking to expand in a different area — networking.
“I’m trying to take a little bit more initiative in who I’ve become,” he says from the red carpet of his pre-Grammy party in L.A. “I get a lot of calls [from people] that say, ‘you don’t ever go anywhere, you only sit in the studio’ so I’m trying to get out here more.”
With a slew of hits under his belt, the Grammy-nominated songwriter has proven that social skills don’t have to be high on his list of concerns. He has upcoming projects with everyone from Lionel Richie to Mary J. Blige to Mariah Carey, and recently entered into a joint venture with pop singer, Christina Milian, who has joined his Radio Killer imprint.
“I’m inspired by the people around me,” the Atlanta-reared songwriter says. “There are a lot of families involved in what I do. I’m not just feeding myself. I feed a lot of people, so that’s what inspires me to get up.”
On his sophomore album, Love vs. Money, which dropped March 10, he put his inspiration to the test — and got a passing grade. The smooth lead single, “Rockin’ That S—” features the singer crooning in signature style and the rest of the album follows in the same direction, which is undoubtedly a good thing. Even still, at the end of the day, The-Dream remains astoundingly grounded, given the level of his success. He says that he mostly works hard for the people in his inner circle.
“If it was up to me, if I just had to live for myself, I’d probably just lay on the couch and watch football all day,” he says.
Keep dreaming.
–jh
