When I came back to my studio in San Francisco, I cut it for her and put a big choir on it out here because I knew I wanted to put a gospel tinge on it. She went bananas and was so excited, it was like a six-minute-long jam. She sang it hard for six minutes. Just killing it. Reid and Babyface. Narada: Recording her was the best thing in the world. We were best friends, it was the best times and I had the best seat in the house. For me, it was the very best in life. To sit there and have her be so comfortable that she could just do her thing.
The thing about Whitney Houston that you need to know is how much she loved what God gave her in her heart. The sound that came out of her, she loved. It was phenomenal.
Davis: The vocals were spectacular, not surprising from the amazing Whitney. However, with the exception of a Japanese album release that included it as a bonus cut, consideration was tabled for the next album. What ultimately happened was, for the next eight years, Whitney's albums were exclusively motion picture soundtracks; so there was no studio album recorded. When Whitney passed away on Feb. Seven years was enough time to be a bit more strategic where her legacy was concerned.
He and I worked on a million dollar deal with Whitney in the early '00s. Seth Faber, senior vice president of marketing and artist development, Primary Wave: Our company does a lot of acquisitions and partnerships with various music rights and publishing masters, name and likeness.
We were immediately aligned on the idea of focusing on her music and reminding people that she represents the height and pinnacle of vocal achievement.
In May, the Houston estate and Primary Wave Music Publishing agreed to a 50 percent arrangement for upcoming releases, branding and even a hologram tour. This is mind-blowing, this is incredible. When I was listening to the tempo of the record and the vocal performance, I was thinking of what producers could make sense for it. Seth Faber came to see Keith Naftaly and myself just a few weeks ago. Brace yourself. Some things might feel a little forced.
But Keith and I listened to a stripped-down version of the vocals and I was floored. We sent it to Kygo that day. I remember I got it in my inbox and I just loved it. When I listened to it, I thought it was something I could really work with. I ran to my studio and started producing around the vocals. The song is obviously perfect the way it is. But a lot of my fans were asking me if I could try, and one day I decided to do it. She has those ad-libs that she does that no one else does, so I wanted to get that in there.
Faber: Kygo did two things that speak to his brilliance. One, he did not overproduce the record. He could have easily gone nuts, but he let her voice be her voice. Two, he has the audacity to make a drop by chopping up her vocals. But in doing so, I think he let them shine even further and made the record a little more forward thinking.
Kygo: I wanted to let her shine. I cut up her vocals and did this vocal chop section which is kind of interesting to do with a Whitney vocal. Some people were skeptical about actually doing that, but I think it just really worked out. The first time I heard the original track, there were so many ad-libs that I just decided we definitely had to have a full section of just her doing these crazy ad-libs. It was meant to be. Kygo: My best songs are the ones that go pretty quick.
When I start producing them things just come naturally, so it might only take a couple days before the song is actually finished. That was the case with this song, it came so quickly and I just knew what direction I had to go in. It definitely felt like that with this song.
Edge: There was something kind of elevating listening to that song. She was so talented, hearing that voice. And thank God for Kygo because he did a fabulous job.
He really did. It was like lightning striking. The track debuted at No. Edge: We decided to release it at the beginning of WorldPride weekend and the 50th anniversary of Stonewall because we felt the lyrics and the feeling of the song were particularly appropriate for what was going on that whole weekend in New York.
Read: Whitney Houston and the holographic hell to come. Her phrasing moves from clipped haughtiness to gentle consideration; toward the end of the song, she does what she was born to do and belts. It debuted at No. Read: Whitney Houston and the persistent perils of the mainstream. But the choice also raises the memory of tensions that ran throughout her career.
Houston always walked aesthetic tightropes , performing a balancing act involving genre, race, spirituality, and questions of creative agency. Posthumously released music typically starts in ethically murky territory—who can say how an artist wanted unfinished or unheard recordings used? Skip to content Site Navigation The Atlantic.
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