Eric Roberson: Left to Be

1973 I was a kid born into hip hop. My influences are Stevie Wonder, Comission and A Tribe Called Quest. When I heard Tribe Called Quest they changed my life and the sound that was dancing in my head that I never heard before, didn’t believe could be done, or didn’t see that was tangible I saw a passage way and found that it was reachable. Hip Hop is important to me it’s just as important as any other music or art form. I’ve been freestyling before I was singing so I’m really a hip hop kid trapped in this music world, but I have to much respect for the art to try and rhyme. I’m one of those shower rappers.(laughs)
Eric Roberson

Remember the first time you were in a real relationship and you got dumped, or when you were cut from the varsity basketball team or when everyone on class got a 90% or better on the exam and you posted a 79%? Remember what it felt like to be left behind and or forgotten? For some people it makes them stronger and for others they curl into a corner and remain in the fetal position for a long period of time. Patterson, New Jersey native and Howard University alum Eric Roberson did not remain in the fetal position, I’m sure there were times when he wanted to, but through an unwillingness to settle and having the ability to move out of the way of his own creativity Erro has made quite a name for himself, and he’s done it independently. Before assuming you know his story or what he’s going to say, I warn you this is not another underground artist with a sob story of how he just wants to be heard. Eric Roberson’s selling point is his voice, charisma and intimate relationship with the crowd to the point where you feel like he already knew everyone that was coming to the show. I met up with the closet sneakerhead after a show he did in Philly, and I left feeling that I had caught up with an old friend and when you listen to the music and the lyrics you will too.

Scheme: Did you ever think you would make it this far going the independent route?

Eric Roberson: Probably not, when I started this I really didn’t think about where it was going. I really thought that I was acting very foolish but the fact that I was following my heart I had to protect it more than anything else. To a degree I was sabotaging the other sides of my career which were writing and producing for other people. At that point I was like let everyone know I’m not writing right now I’m not interested in selling any of these songs because these songs were pieces of my life and that was the main thing. It all started with the album Esoteric when I got out of a relationship and I decided to write about that relationship that was the whole focus. Esoteric was only supposed to be for a small unit of people and then it just kept growing and it was really up until a half a year ago my whole career was facilitating those ask performances, like, “You want me to perform here?, You want another album ok.” It really wasn’t lets settle here and do this or step out here and see what happens.

Scheme: How important is family to your career and life because I notice they surround you everywhere you go, especially the relationship with your pops, describe that and how important that is in your life and in your music?

Eric Roberson: It’s important one, because it’s always been there from my parents to the relationship with my sister, to my brother-in-law to my friends in general. I’m a libra so I’m always in search for balance. With everything when you celebrate something you want your friends and family to celebrate with you and that’s all art is for me is a complete celebration and we do it every single day. So it was easy to implement the family into it. Pop and I always talk about everything, I mean when I met a new girl I was like, “Pop man you got see…(laughs)” so it was cool my pop retired and gave us a great opportunity and helped out the business as well. My mom has always been an inspiration as well and I think one of the reasons we are so anti-corporate has to do a lot with my mom in general. I’ve based my life and my steps off of people that I admire and respect what they’ve done. All the way from building a studio in my parents house I followed a cat named Kevin Jackson out of DC and I watched what he did and how he built his empire.

“The overall goal is to grow old doing music, so for me it’s trying to maintain that innocent energy when I walk into a studio, and there should be no reason for it to not be that way.”

Scheme: So what would you call this phase that your in now and where would you like to see yourself at the end of 2007?

Eric Roberson: This phase is what I call the crossroads, we are at a crossroads because most independent artists at this point usually go with a major(label). I don’t know a group outside of Fertile Ground that carried further on without getting that major support. I’m curious to see what happens when we push pass where it’s gone in the last 5 or 6 years, if it grows the same way for the next 5 or 6 years I’d be very, very happy. The overall goal is to grow old doing music, so for me it’s trying to maintain that innocent energy when I walk into a studio, and there should be no reason for it to not be that way. I have no obligations that I have to fulfill musically outside of I hear something in my head and I have to solve the puzzle to get it out of my head onto paper onto tape. That’s the overall goal, just to implement business and make it more balance and organized as we keep going. There was a period where we were performing in front of 50 people now we perform in front of 250-500 people. I would love in 5 years if we’re performing in front of 5,000-10,000 people and yet still controlling, owning and dropping albums that we want to drop.

Scheme: What was it like and how did you come about working with Dilla on your latest album?

Eric Roberson: Man, a brother of mine one of my former managers D Prosper was good friends with J Dilla. It was very interesting because he and Dilla would go back and forth over my music and he would send him a lot of beats for me. I never got a chance to meet the brotha before he passed because unfortunately when I started recording songs to the beats that he was doing he was really sick at that point. I had to chance to meet him potentially; one time we were all going out in New York and we were at a hotel lobby waiting for him to come down and he never came down because he was very ill at the time, although I hoped for him to come down I understood when he didn’t. I tell you though musically he’s influenced me more than any artist of the last 5-10 years by far. Even from his production because every beat that I do I’m trying to pay respect to him from everything he’s inspired me to do musically, even down to the brotha’s singing man. People forget that the guy was an amazing singer.

“The one thing about creating is what I always tell everybody once you create to get out the way. When you have inspiration the last thing you should do is allow yourself to interrupt that inspiration.”

Scheme: Yo, when you started singing Slum Village’s Fall in Love I almost lost it, that has to be one of my top three songs of all time.

Eric Roberson: Let me break this down for you, I wrote a song for Dwele called Hold On, when you listen to that song, just listen to the hook and you can see where the direction I’m inspired. You can easily hear him singing that song. So as far as that regard the brotha helped me out a great deal and anyone that turns on a drum machine period needs to say thank you to that brotha.

Scheme: Where do you see R&B going and do you see it affecting or not affecting your music?

Eric Roberson: One part of it is it’s unbalanced, I don’t have a problem with any of the music that’s being created I just may not judge it in a high regard. What I do have a problem with is that it’s not open to other things. There’s a completely neglected demographic out there. The thing we always talk about is a thing called lost art and that can be looked at in general as the music that is done and we never hear it but in the same regard as well, just the process man. I mean there are some good songs that are written now, even from the commercial side there is a good song or two but everything right now is aimed at a certain young demographic and their(corporate) even trying to get the older artists to reach that audience as well. So it’s like a Mary J. Blige fan from 411 and My Life who wants to grow with Mary I don’t know if they are actually allowed and then they kind of kick us away; but you also have to give her props because she introduced herself to a new crowd and brought herself back up again, but if most artists don’t do that it’ll kind of get pushed to the waste side.

Scheme: Explain the title of the new album Left and where did that stem from?

Eric Roberson: It came from several different things, a lot of it comes from when the massive wave from my circle and the majors came and signed everyone up I was one of the people that I felt was left behind. I think I was left behind for a reason, and there were definite times when I felt like why me, where I went through many deals but the deals never worked out. After a while you have to realize that’s not what was meant for me. So for me it’s really just settling into this place that I was meant to be in. The one thing about creating is what I always tell everybody once you create to get out the way. When you have inspiration the last thing you should do is allow yourself to interrupt that inspiration. So when you look at this album there are a lot of songs that talk about the relationship between the creator of the music and the listener; it’s a partnership that I make it you listen to it and we are together owning the song. So when you look at the overall chair is a chair we in Washington, DC so when I sit in this huge chair its huge but what I’m really saying is that there is room left for everybody.

Scheme: Are you ever satisfied with your music or when you hear a completed song do you wish you could have tweaked it a little bit more?

Eric Roberson: (Laughs) That’s a good question, you definitely have your moments of both. Like there’s a song called Rain on My Parade on my first album and before ever recording it I sang that song so good and sang it 100 times until I had to tell myself to stop and when you get into those songs or the ending of Pretty Girl, that’s the closest thing to heaven you could possibly get. So there’s definitely some songs like…I mean the baby song almost didn’t make the record but a lot of things I do know I apply that to now. So when I walk out the studio I’m usually very satisfied.

Scheme: What is your biggest fear?

Eric Roberson: My biggest fear, well a couple of years ago I ran into a lot of vocal problems. Like getting horse for no reason, or talking on the phone, wasn’t getting enough sleep, or drinking enough liquids, but at some point you take it serious and I had to realize that this is my voice and it’s a instrument and I had to stop acting like Hercules. So my biggest fear is not pursuing my dream which is to grow old doing music.