I've seen a lot of interviews
you conducted. I haven't seen the answer to this question.
Can you tell me the story behind the name Bobby Valentino?
Bobby
Valentino-Valentino is a nickname.
I've always been a ladies man and everything I do
is for the ladies, so I just think its only appropriate
I also read you used to be in a group named Mista.
Was that in the 90s?
Bobby
Valentino-Right.
How long have you been performing professionally?
Bobby
Valentino-Since I was probably like
12 or 13.
You had a big year. What was your highlight of
2005?
Bobby
Valentino-My highlight was to
have a number one record. I would definitely have
to say that was the highlight.
Are you on tour now?
Bobby
Valentino-Just doing a lot of shows
here and there. You know I'm out of town constantly.
Rap is very big right now so as an R&B artist you
have to do a lot extra to promote yourself and R&B
but you know just trying to get the word out I'm featured
on a lot of peoples albums coming out. I think I'm
on Lil Wayne's next single. I recently did a song
with Dem Franchise
Boyz and I have a song on the Biggie Smalls duet
album. I'm also working on my next album that's coming
out next year.
When is the new album coming out?
Bobby
Valentino-Next summer.
Are you also a songwriter?
Bobby
Valentino-Yeah. I wrote almost
every song on my album. Except for one.
Do you a lot of plans for the holiday season?
Bobby
Valentino-I'm going to be in
London for the New Years. I have some shows in London.
.
I know you went to Clark. What did you study in
college?
Bobby
Valentino-Mass communications.
That's what I studied too. Were your plans always
to go into performing after college?
Bobby
Valentino-Yeah. I always wanted
to be a singer but you know the industry is real fickle
and I just wanted to get my degree so I would have
something to fall back on.
If you weren't singing now what do you think you would
be doing?
Bobby
Valentino-I'd probably be working
at a television station or working at a label, trying
to get on.
Now your single "Slow Down" was one of the biggest
singles of the year for an R&B singer and you didn't
have a rap on the first version of it. Am I right?
Bobby
Valentino-Right.
Okay so I ask all of the R&B artists this. Rap is
bigger right now. Do you think that you need to have
a rapper on the single for an R&B artists to get adequate
airplay?
Bobby
Valentino- That's a good question.
I think it's all about the song a lot of times.With
R&B being how it is now, only a few make it threw
the cracks without a rapper on it. I really wanted
to go the other route and test myself and not put
a rapper on there. I easily could have thrown Ludacris
or anybody or had a lot of features on there. I wanted
to bring R&B back to that real music. I think that
was kind of missing. I think everybody was doing that
and I didn't want to fall into that same genre.
I wasn't too sure about this but since I have you
on the phone I thought I would go ahead and ask. Where
you part of the Scream Tour this summer?
Bobby
Valentino-Yeah.
How was that?
Bobby
Valentino-It was a lot of fun.
I learned a lot about this business. Just everything,
I learned a lot and had a lot of fun.
Can you share some of what you learned this year about
the music business?
Bobby
Valentino-Just having a business
that tours, there is a lot of stuff that goes along
with having a tour. It's really a lot more fun that
anything. I had a lot of fun and can't wait to go
back on tour again.
Now to a lot of people looking from the outside
things appear to be a certain way. I know it's probably
a lot of fun , but I know it's probably a lot of work
too. What's the hardest part about being an artist?
Bobby
Valentino-That you have to always
be happy. You are always on the job no matter where
you are at, you are always at work. You always ….you
can lose fans real easy just by you saying or doing
anything. It's not as easy as people think it is.
Do you still reside in the Atlanta area?
Bobby
Valentino-Yes I do.
Do you get recognized a lot?
Bobby
Valentino-Yeah.
So I guess that is what you mean about being on
all the time.
Bobby
Valentino-Yeah its part of the
job.
Will there be another single released from your
album?
Bobby
Valentino-Yeah I actually have
a single called "My Angel." I have the video on TV,
they play it kinda late night. Once it hits...we are
just working that song. We aren't working it as hard
as "Tell Me," or "Slow Down" but we are still working
it. |
Ludacris Presents Disturbing The Peace-In
Stores December 13th |
Coming from a mass comm background do you find yourself
doing a lot of the hands on stuff with the concept for
your music videos?
Bobby
Valentino- Yeah definitely with
Shaka Zula; whose the head of Disturbing Tha Peace he
is always asking my input on everything and I actually
helped write the treatment for the "Tell Me" and "Slow
Down" videos. I'm definitely very hands on with that kind
of stuff. I try to be in control of things I do.
What is your live stage show like?
Bobby
Valentino- My live stage show is
just a lot of fun. I'm very crowd interactive and I like
the crowd to feel like they are on stage with me. It's
not like a show where, "He's unreachable." It's
cool, calm, everybody kickin it having fun,
Can you tell me about the single you contributed to
the Disturbing Tha Peace Compilation?
Bobby
Valentino- It's called "Table Dance."
It's talking about life in a strip club.
A lot of artists when they get in the door they branch
off in a lot of different directions. Are you going to
focus on the music now ?
Bobby
Valentino-I'm actually working on
my jean line. I have a jean line for women.
I knew you were going to have something to do with
clothes. I saw the behind the scenes of the Scream Tour
and I said, "He's going to have a clothing line." But
it's jeans for women right? Make sure you get the hips
right.
Bobby
Valentino-Its going to be right
for the women with the hips and the women that don't got
the hips to accentuate what they don't have.
Get the curvy girls to come in there because sometimes
when the hips are right there is too much room in the
butt part and you don't want your pants saggin
Bobby
Valentino-You thick in the hips
with it?
Yeah.
Bobby
Valentino-Oh okay, I gotcha.
Also check out our interview with Disturbing Tha Peace
artist Shareefa.
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Bobby Valentino interview copyright Dorrie Williams-Wheeler,
and Thabiz.com 2005
Dorrie Williams-Wheeler is the author of Be
My Sorority Sister Under Pressure and the Unplanned
Pregnancy Book for Teens and College Students. She
is the founder of Thabiz.com
and Imissthe80s.com
and writes for the Rap,
Teen, and 1980s
section at Bellaonline.com. She is an ASCAP member as
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Bobby Valentino interview may not be reprinted, copied
or distributed. You may link to this interview. Interview
copyright Dorrie Williams-Wheeler, thabiz.com December
2005.
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