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You may not recognize the name yet but
Johnta Austion has written songs for some of the top performers
in the industry including Toni Braxton, Chris Brown, Ciara,
Tyrese, Aaliyah and many more. He recently won a Grammy
Award for his song writing contributions to the Mariah
Carey smash "We Belong Together." Johnta had
a record deal as a teen that didn't work out. Jermaine
Dupri gave Johnta a new deal and he will be releasing
his album Ocean Drive this fall.
After the first deal didn't work out was there ever
a time when you thought about pursuing another career
or did you always know music was for you?
Johnta Austin-I always
wanted to be a doctor. So when the deal didn't work out
I was always on the fence about the music industry. I
wanted to stay around it. I just didn't know what capacity
I could stay around it and the opportunity to write for
Tyrese presented itself.
A lot of the current R&B artists depend on a lot
of dancing and choreography in their live shows and music
videos. Is that something that is important to you as
an artist?
Johnta Austin-I certainly
hope not because when the dancing gifts got passed out
I was absent. I don't have two left feet but I'm no Fred
Astaire or Usher. So I have to rely more so on the strong
vocals and the good song and the emotion as far as the
performance end of it.
You've written so many great songs for so many artists
it seems like if you wanted to get a deal you could have
gotten a deal sooner. I know you appreciated the time
you got to be exposed to the industry but was there ever
a time you were like why is it taking me so long to get
a deal?
Johnta Austin-No,
because I kind of put it on the back burner for awhile
because I think one of the things that hurt me in my first
deal was I was an artist. I was singing the songs that
other people wrote for me so I wanted to have more to
offer as far as my artistry was concerned. I wanted to
get better as a song writer and that was the main thing.
No regrets.
I was happy with the time. I've always been one who likes
to work and take the long way around.
Do you have a lot of ASCAP awards or BMI or industry awards
for your songs?
Johnta Austin-Oh yeah.
I'm with ASCAP so I recently at the pop awards won song
of the year for "We Belong Together." "Shake
It Off," won a couple and I won three at the R&B
Awards. Aaliyah's won some stuff and Tyrese and Toni Braxton,
yeah I have a few awards on the wall but none more important
than my favorite award which is my Grammy.
Which song did you win the Grammy Award for?
Johnta Austin-"We
Belong Together," Best R&B Song of 2005.
You say you have no regrets but was it ever weird for
you that your songs were on the radio and in videos?
Johnta Austin-It still
is. I used to always feel that way in the beginning and
then it was kinda like "Cool, great the song is doing
well." It all came back when this Mariah thing came
and took off and just blew out of the box and you couldn't
really get away from it. I've seen it with Babyface and
some of his songs get that big but to have one of my songs
myself where its huge and taking every format and every
genre by storm and it's like "I participated in this
record." That was unbelievable.
Did you ever miss not having the visual recognition? Like
nobody is running up to you on the street and everything.
Johnta Austin-Those
things come in time and you wait your turn and pay your
dues. Of course when you work with Jermaine Dupri he is
going to get more of the credit or recognition but to me
that doesn't bother me because Jermaine has always acknowledged
me and I've listened to interviews where Mariah has acknowledged
me. It's really no big deal. I'll take the money.
Song writing is so lucrative and there is so much money
in it what made you decide to want to try the artist thing
again?
Johnta Austin-Everyone
always asks that. They are like "What are you doing?
What are you thinking?"
I was just wondering because you don't see Diane Warren
releasing an album?
Johnta Austin-Well you
know I tell you I wasn't thinking about it at the time and
Jermaine offered me a deal. He's a star maker when Jermaine
says I'm interested in giving you a deal do you want one,
yeah I want one.
What can you tell me about your album Ocean Drive?
Johnta Austin-It's everything
that Ocean Drive in Miami is. It's sexy, its very provocative
and bold, no inhibitions and we colored outside the lines
a little bit. We dared to say some different things.
One song I wanted to ask you about was the song "Miss
You." Now obviously Aaliyah was alive when she recorded
the song and when she passed away it was used as a tribute
song and now I see it used at funerals and memorials and
those kind of things. What was going through your mind when
you actually wrote the song?
Johnta Austin-Ginuwine
and I worked on it and the first line explains the whole
thing. It was actually written about my ex-girlfriend from
high school. "Off to college, you went away, straight
from high school, you left me." That was the inspiration.
Yeah. No it wasn't about somebody dying.
Next song, "We Belong Together." It's such
a great song. It was like an international hit. And it's
really a simple song when you really listen to it. Where
were you coming from when you wrote that one?
Johnta Austin-Like you
said it's just simple. When the hook came it came. Mariah
and Jermaine and I were all there having a blast. The record
just kind of came. We knew we had something nice with the
beat. I don't know, it just came. We got the hook and then
the verses came and that second verse was really fun to
write about the whole being awake and this song is on the
radio and then she turns and this song is on the radio.
Now that you are launching your solo career are you going
to have to do a vice-versa and put the songwriting on the
backburner?
Johnta Austin-No. I'm
still writing for other people. I collaborated with Jermaine
on the entire Janet project with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
I'm working with Fantasia and Tyrese and I did some records
with Jessica Simpson and Jermaine and I worked with Monica
and we're working with Enrique Iglesis right now. No, still
putting the pen to the pad not forgetting where I came from.
Related Links
http://www.johntaaustin.com/
Johnta Austin-interview
copyright Dorrie Williams-Wheeler, and Thabiz.com 2006
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 a
writer and a publisher. Please contact Dorrie for advertising
inquiries, lyric writing inquiries, reprint rights,
paying
entertainment jobs, or general comments.
Visit Dorrie on the web at www.sparkledoll.com
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Johnta
Austin-interview
may not be reprinted, copied or distribute without permission.
You may link to this interview.Interview copyright Dorrie
Williams-Wheeler, thabiz.com August 2006.
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