A Quote by AJ Tracey

Honestly, I always think it's cool when artists name their first album after themselves. It's confident it just means like this is me, this is my project, here you go. — © AJ Tracey
Honestly, I always think it's cool when artists name their first album after themselves. It's confident it just means like this is me, this is my project, here you go.
The album is always definitely the goal, because I think that albums are like captures and bookmarks. After five or six of them, you can always go back and be like, 'Well, what was his first?'... I think an album really gives you a chance to make people feel something.
I think most bands probably peak on their first album. We peaked on our third album. On the first album, I feel like I wish the production was a little better. I'll always hear a song I don't like. I look for what I could have done to make it better. It's always difficult for me to listen.
Honestly, I’d prefer to live with gay guys. They’re the cleanest, and they just take care of stuff. Because I’m always away, coming home to a clean house means a lot to me. Trust me, I’ve lived with a lot of roommates, and straight guys are just kids who don’t pick up after themselves.
'Unbreakable Smile' was based off one of the songs I wrote for the album - it was actually the first song I wrote for the album without realizing it yet. I think I wanted to name the album that because it seemed like that was just the theme of that chapter in my life and just the theme of all the songs put together.
It's interesting, because I named my first album after my dad because I wanted to find him. My second album was named after my mom because I felt like I learned all my creative talents I learned from her. All the survival stuff, too. And then the next album is 'Maya,' which is not my real name. It's fake.
I've been debating with people over what an album actually means in 2018. Certain artists who have paid their dues and proven themselves have almost the privilege to put out a full length album.
I read the reviews sometimes, but I don't let it really affect the next album because, for me, when I approach an album, it's usually coming to me pretty naturally. It's not like I set out, like, "Okay, I'm going to write an album this month." It's more like I'm just always writing songs and eventually I start to realize that a group of songs sort of fits together, and I go from there in putting together the album and themes and artwork and things like that.
I love doing third albums. A group makes its first album, and then the record company rushes them into the studio to make their second album. After that, they go, 'Whoa, wait a second.' They get a little more confident. They step back and say, 'Okay, now we're gonna do it.'
It wasn't necessary to speak on the recession, you know what I mean, but I just though it made a lot of sense. I was like, "okay, cool," I'm going to go with this approach for the name of the album [ The Recession].
The first album I was given when I was quite young was the 'Whoa, Nelly!' album by Nelly Furtado. After, I also got the 'Missundaztood' album by Pink. That's when I was like, 'Oh my God, I want to be just like them!'
Maybe after my third album, I'll just go to uni. That would be really cool.
When I had a record deal in the '90s, that was my dream - to make an album like Barbra Streisand's Broadway album - and they laughed me out of the room. Broadway wasn't cool. But artists like Michael Buble and Josh Groban have brought the classic genre back to the forefront, so I'm trying to find my way inside that market.
I never go to the Grammys. I just never go. I don't know if I care enough, and I went because my son wanted to go, and they asked us to present Best Hip Hop Group of the Year. You know, we had two records from Compton in there, and it was just like a cool thing to do, and to do with your son, and it was just cool. But we was the first award up, so after I did my thing I just jumped in the car and came on back home.
Our first album sold a million copies. Because we had such a big hit on the first album, it's always like, 'You can't top the first album.'
What's cool is when people send me messages or tag me in their photos, which definitely happens more after a project comes out. The best part, I think, is that the DMs and tags are always from young girls, and reaching them is the most important thing for me.
I spent two of my checks in telemarketing when I was 18 years old on my first pair of Gucci slippers, and this was before H&M and Zara. You couldn't just find cool stuff growing up, and for me, I care about cool stuff, it means a lot to me and people like me.
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